Chapter 3. Visions from the Present

The English language—like many others, I suppose—has sayings that simultaneously sound trite, paternalistic, and pompous to many ears. Once in a while, one of these sayings actually comes true and pokes its finger in our eye. One such saying is, “What does not kill you may make you stronger.” It accurately captures how and why Nokia became adaptive.

During the mid-1990s, Nokia was going through unprecedented change. Under CEO Jorma Ollila, it was busy reinventing itself as a global player in telecommunications by selling off businesses and investments in all other areas, including, for example, electrical power, tires, and chemicals. In parallel, it was growing its telecommunications infrastructure and mobile ...

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