HOW THE MIGHTY FALL

I have always been influenced by the thoughts of management author, Jim Collins. Starting from ‘Built to Last’ which he co-authored, I have read almost all of his articles and books. One of the most impactful of his works has been ‘How the Mighty Fall’.

It is interesting because it talks about the inability of some leaders to ‘see’, ‘feel’ and ‘perceive’ the beginning of their fall. Most often, these leaders assume invincibility. They assume that their way is the only way of doing things; often forgetting that there could be better ways around the corner! Of course, we do realise that it is extremely difficult for ‘strong’ leaders to ‘see’ their weakness; not very uncommon, the ‘strength’ itself could become a ‘weakness’ when the environment changes.

We see this phenomenon unfolding in many organisations – be they business, political, social, or spiritual. And, the fall of century-old companies, and decades-long dictators should teach us that the mighty fall, and they fall hard. Better to be humble and simple enough to be able to diagnose the cancer early so that it could be cured. Training programmes from GRGCAS can help!

Blog by Prof. S. Balasubramanian