Icarus Paradox

In ancient Greek mythology, Icarus had wings of feathers held together by wax which enabled him to fly. Entranced with his newfound ability, Icarus ignored his father's warnings and soared ever higher. His wings eventually melted and he fell into the sea and drowned.

This is called Icarus Paradox in Management. Many successful companies, quite confident of their market dominance or their own exceptional core competencies, develop a sense of invincibility which leads to a fall sooner or later.

Let us see how this happens. Companies which enjoy high levels of success are often unable to sustain the processes and qualities that brought them success in the first place. More often than not they get so obsessed with the factors that brought them success in the first place that they show strong resistance to change and the evolving market conditions. For example, a company which built its success on a commitment to quality at the smallest level can become enmeshed in too much attention to detail and lose their ability to understand and react to macro level changes. A classic case is that of process driven Japanes automobile industry. In their quest to make cost efficient cars, they have missed the bus regarding R&D and need to build vehicles for the future. Some of the Companies and key individuals, once successful because of their ability to be flexible become increasingly rigid in their internal structure and decision making process, leading to loss of entrepreneurial spirit and ending up showing a marked unwillingness to expand into new markets away from their core business.

In today's dynamic market environment, it is essential that both organizations and individuals do not carry baggages from the past and embrace change wholeheartedly