Strategy When the Playing Field Changes

The Information has an excellent piece on CEO Sundar Pichai's leadership at Alphabet (Google) as it plays from behind to catch up in the AI-driven tech world. In pointing to the leadership style and organizational culture factors (see image below), The Information also likens Alphabet to an academic or governmental organization: "… a corporate culture similar to that of an academic institution or government bureaucracy, in which tenured staff may or may not obey orders from above." 

We see much the same in our strategy work: incrementalism despite initially wanting something bold; an allergy to anything that would be a significant step; and an unwillingness to address problematic personnel leading to bloat in all the wrong places. In the worst cases, headcount bloat of under-performing faculty ties management's hands in bringing on needed new expertise.

As with Alphabet, the above are not problems until the playing field changes at which point they become big problems.