CHAPTER 2

Creating a High-Speed, High-Growth Culture

Avoiding the Cultural Danger Zone

In Chapter 1, we described the decline and fall of Nokia’s mobile phone business. When Stephen Elop realized that Nokia had to radically change in order to survive, he asked the Nokia organization in his “burning platform” e-mail, “How did we get to this point? Why did we fall behind when the world around us evolved? This is what I have been trying to understand. I believe at least some of it has been due to our attitude inside Nokia. We poured gasoline on our own burning platform.” In other words, Elop believed that, over time, the values and beliefs that permeated the Nokia organization inhibited the level of decisiveness and innovation that had created its ...

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