HBR Guide to Executing Your Strategy

CHAPTER 17

Start Stopping Faster

by Darrell Rigby, Sarah Elk, and Steve Berez

Business executives could learn a lot from cheetahs, Earth’s most agile land animals. Though their ancestors ran only about 20 miles per hour, today’s cats can accelerate from zero to 60 within three seconds—faster than a Corvette Twin Turbo or a Ferrari Enzo. But speed alone is not what makes cheetahs such awesome hunters. Computer models show that the best predictor of a successful hunt is not a cheetah’s top speed; rather, it’s how fast it stops and turns.¹

There is an important parallel to the executive hunt for innovations. Whether they are developing new products or processes, or overhauling old ways of doing business, it’s not enough that organizations pursue ...