Profit from the Core

4

The Redefinition Dilemma

When naturalist Charles Darwin wrote of life on the Galapagos Islands in 1842, he noted an unusual strain of finch that had adapted to its environment to survive, and now looked and acted very differently from its continental cousins. These birds had elongated beaks that enabled them to eat local foods (insects, nuts, nectar from tropical fruits) that European finches didn’t encounter. The evidence that a species had essentially redefined itself to successfully compete in a new environment became the cornerstone of Darwin’s theory of evolution.¹ In the world of business, a similar evolution is taking place. Out of the turbulence in today’s world, new environmental conditions are emerging, forcing companies to redefine ...