"The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence itself; but acting on yesterday's logic." - Peter Drucker
Walking through the streets of Rome for the first time is a feeling that stays with me for days. You see ruins everywhere... and among them; cats. Cats that are now the silent inhabitants of what was once an empire.
During those days; I kept asking myself:How can so many buildings be abandoned? Why; after having had so much power; is so little left?
Theories about the fall of Rome abound: external; internal; economic; political; military factors. But what continues to haunt me most is the image of the abandoned buildings.
Empires—like companies—do not fall overnight. No one believes that what they have today could disappear. So it is not dismantled: it is simply neglected. The marble becomes covered in dust; day after day.And then; one day; the cats move in.
I think of companies. They also believe they will last forever. They settle into a comfortable and familiar logic; leaving no room for anything new to enter.
The signs are rarely strident:
• Obsolete business models that do not adapt.
• Arrogance disguised as stability: "we've always done it this way".
• Loss of connection with the customer.
• Worn-out organisational culture: talent leaving; departments at odds with each other; more concerned with marking their territory than collaborating.
• Processes that no one reviews; costs that skyrocket; decisions that are repeated without question.The decline begins quietly.Not with an announcement.
Not with a crisis.
But in the systematic repetition of everyday life.
And then; the question:What if the cats are already here?
