Best-selling author Jim Collins releases a new book today: “How the Mighty Fall.” Here’s an overview, in his own words, courtesy of BusinessWeek Video (4 mins; click on the arrow at the lower left to start, then the “||” to stop):
Here are the stages of failure:
Stage 1: Hubris Born of Success
Stage 2: Undisciplined Pursuit of More
Stage 3: Denial of Risk and Peril
Stage 4: Grasping for Salvation
Stage 5: Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death
I have the book on order; I’ll resist connecting the dots with the legal industry until I’ve read it. Mr. Collins has an uncanny knack for distilling management research into easily comprehended ideas of wide application.
Until then, here was his definition of hubris:
The outrageous arrogance that inflicts suffering upon the innocent.
Hmmmm…
(Update 23 May 09: New York Times has a fascinating profile of Mr. Collins and the process followed in writing his new book here.)