Planner Reads

There are two broad philosophical approaches to explaining the forces that drive world events. The first one is sometimes called the Great man theory, neatly summarized by the quote ”the history of the world is but the biography of great men.”  This view was famously espoused by the philosopher Hegel and later Nietzche, who called such great people Ubermenchen (”supermen”).

The alternative view argues that history is largely determined by a complex series of societal, political, institutional, technological and other forces.  This view argues that great people are more a product of their time than the times are a product of them.

You can apply these theories to companies, in particular to the founders of technology companies who keep their companies great long after their “natural” life cycle.  Most successful companies start with one great product and ride its growth but fail to pull off a second act.

The companies that defy this natural cycle are invariable run by “supermen” (or women).  Akio Morita founded Sony in 1946 and was a very active CEO until 1994.   At the time he left, Sony had a $40B market cap.  Today it is valued at $28B.  Akio had an incredible run of hit products: the ...