Chapter Two

WHY ORGANIZATIONS, LIKEELEPHANTS, NEVER FORGET

AS SUGGESTED in chapter 1, NewCo can fail because it adopts the very habits that have made CoreCo successful. Ensuring that this does not happen is the essence of the forgetting challenge. This chapter explores the root causes of the forgetting problem by continuing the story of Corning Microarray Technologies (CMT).

Corning has a long history of successful innovation. One testament to this success is simply its age. In 2001 Corning celebrated its 150th birthday, having enjoyed a much longer life than the average corporation. Building on a number of breakthrough advances in scientific research, the company had reinvented itself many times. Nonetheless, Corning’s revenues were only $6.2 ...

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