Jumping the S-Curve

5	HIDDEN S-CURVES

THUS FAR, we’ve traveled through the exhilarating part of the S-curve: the ride up. In doing so, we explored the core elements of high performance. We saw how high-performance businesses achieve superior market focus by committing to—and exploiting—big enough market insights, or BEMIs. We then revealed that high performers create and develop distinctive capabilities before they scale the business, although they plan their approach to scaling well in advance. Finally, we showed how they create a company that serious talent finds worthwhile as a place to invest its time, skills, and energy, often for decades.

But success with a BEMI can’t last forever. Rapid, sustained growth eventually hits a ceiling. Capabilities lose their ...