Installments in the series:

Chains of Excellence

The idea of chain-link systems explains both why some organizations and even some economies get "stuck" and resist improvement. This series describes the problem, the insight into the connection between inertia and chain-link logic, and some technical aspects of the situation.

Why Was GM Stuck?

The puzzle of inertia at GM kicks off a series on chain-link systems

January 3, 2011  By Richard Rumelt 

Why do organizations get “stuck?” The standard answer is “resistance to change,” a tautology, relabeling without explaining. A more interesting answer, one which has enough bite to only apply in some situations, is chain-link-systems. In my forthcoming book, Good Strategy/Bad Full entry→

Bouldering and Focus

Boulder climbers trigger an insight about the gains to focus

January 5, 2011  By Richard Rumelt 

Thinking about the class on General Motors, I drive a few kilometers north and go for a walk. The Fontainebleau forest is old and deep, the hunting ground of French kings for 500 years. Perhaps a hundred square miles in Full entry→

How Piecemeal Change Can Make Things Worse

Incremental improvements in a chain-linked system reduces overall performance

January 6, 2011  By Richard Rumelt 

One consequence of chain-link logic is quality matching. Quality matching means that the most economical approach is to balance the qualities of the chain-linked factors. That is, the presence of low quality factors reduces the incentive to invest in improving Full entry→