The December 2008 McKinsey Quarterly features an interview with Richard Foster, "coauthor of Creative Destruction explains how the business world—and the capitalist system—will change in the aftermath of the financial crisis."
Here's our comment to the editor:
Do you mean to tell me that you expect us to get out of this downturn by creating another unregulated way to gamble on future value?
There are so many sanguine gems in this discussion, but my favorite is "The balance among creating, trading, and excelling operationally changes over time." My question is: when does the balance shift to creating future value instead of creating new ways to “bring the future value to the present?” And what is the definition of “future” when a stock swings on quarterly reports? Is it possible that the depth of this downturn is about the lack of confidence in creating future value. And isn't this lack of confidence reasonable? How long has it been since the creation of “future” value goes beyond operational excellence or creating new ways to capitalize on it?
I’ve been watching this movie since the early 1990’s. That’s when I left a large marketing corporation shaking my head. After helping my Fortune 50 client take a little investment to grow a brand 300% for a 5 times return on investment, I got a “dog look” from my CEO because he didn’t see any value in helping Fortune 50 clients do a lot with a little bit of money. I’m sure he was much more excited about getting lots of money from venture backed internet start-ups who still believed in the mass marketing model and the first-in myth. Myth you say? Ask Yahoo about it? Google is what 3rd, 4th in? Guess there are some benefits to learning from others’ mistakes.
© 2008 Katherine Warman Kern
