How the Mighty Fall

How do the mighty fall? In this book, Jim Collins tackled the question by looking at historical examples. He sought to determine what sort of factors led companies like IBM and Xerox to their downfall. What he found was that there is a five-step process or recipe for corporate suicide. The steps are: 1) Hubris Born of Success, 2) Undisciplined Pursuit of More, 3) Denial of Risk and Peril, 4) Grasping for Salvation, and 5) Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death. By understanding how companies fall from even their loftiest of heights, we can take measures to avoid the same fate.