The look on Lucy's face did not change in any way because of Xu Xincheng's surprise, and it was still calm, "Steve, when I was in Berlin, Germany, I said that I would discuss some topics with you from time to time, remember?"

"Yes. ”

"This time, the topic was 'the relationship between capital and technology', and this time, we explored two topics, the first was the plight of large enterprises, and the second was disruptive innovation. ”

"Two topics?"

"These two topics are actually closely related. Most people will think that when the enterprise grows big enough, after becoming the overlord of its industry, and after becoming an old large enterprise, such as Company A, they will be invincible, but in fact, this is not the case. Large enterprises have many difficulties of their own, especially old large enterprises, and some of these difficulties are difficult for them to break through. ”

Xu Xincheng looked at Lucy puzzled, it was obvious that he belonged to one of the "ordinary people", and in his cognition, a company as strong as Company A was invincible, so when Lucy said that he wanted to preempt several major mobile phone companies, especially Company A, and develop a subversive mobile phone first, he felt that it was a very unlikely thing.

He thought about it for a while and decided to say what was in his heart to Lucy, "Lucy, I very much agree, old big companies will definitely encounter difficulties, and there will be times when they face difficulties, and if they are not handled properly, they will also decline rapidly, and even eventually go out of business. However, it should be mainly due to business problems, if you only talk about innovation ability, the old large enterprises must have a greater advantage, and because of this, I think that we are the first to develop a subversive mobile phone The possibility is smaller than that of several major overlords in the mobile phone industry, especially Company A. ”

Lucy was not displeased with Xu Xincheng's doubts and obvious lack of confidence, she said lightly: "The dilemma that large enterprises are difficult to break through just now mainly refers to the dilemma they face in innovation. ”

"How is that possible?"

"I'm not talking about general innovation, or improvement innovation, but disruptive innovation. In terms of 'improved innovation', the old large enterprises do have greater advantages, but in terms of 'disruptive innovation', they do not have an advantage. ”

"Huh?" Xu Xincheng said "ah" in puzzlement, such an assertion was beyond his comprehension.

Let's start with an example. Do you remember the time when Nokia dominated the world's mobile phone market?"

"Yes. Although Xu Xincheng was still young at that time, he had never used or bought a Nokia mobile phone, but he still remembered that in those years, Nokia was the first overlord of the mobile phone industry.

"Nokia's dominance of the world's mobile phone market can be counted from 1996 to 2010, and Nokia has been in a dominant position. ”

"Yes. However, they soon declined. ”

"Many people think that Nokia's decline began in 2012, but it is not, Nokia's decline began in 2007. Before 2007, if anyone predicted the imminent decline of Nokia, absolutely no one in the world would believe him, because Nokia was in its heyday, and its market share was the largest in the world, as high as 40%. And they were very innovative at that time, or 'improved innovation', and they were able to launch dozens, if not dozens, of new models every year.

Before 2007, if anyone predicted that Company A, which had never developed and sold mobile phones before, would develop a new generation of mobile phones before Nokia, absolutely no one in the world would believe him.

However, the truth is that 2007 was the first year of Nokia's decline, because they were never able to achieve disruptive innovation, and at the same time, at the beginning of that year, a disruptive product appeared in the mobile phone industry, that is, the first generation of smartphones launched by Company A.

Because of the emergence of company A's smart phone, Nokia immediately showed signs of decline, and its decline expanded rapidly in just two or three years, and soon formed an irreversible conclusion.

In those years, almost everyone had the same idea as you: as the super-hegemon of the mobile phone industry, shouldn't Nokia have a better chance and be more likely to develop a subversive mobile phone? With their super strong R&D capabilities, why can't they develop it? Why did Company A, which had just entered the mobile phone industry, do it?"

Xu Xincheng has consulted the previous information, he still has a certain understanding of Nokia's development history and decline history, but he really didn't think about it before, Lucy said this, he also felt that this matter is indeed very strange, he was surprised: "Yes! According to normal reasoning, Nokia should have a better chance to develop a new generation of mobile phones, and it should be more likely to develop subversive mobile phones, but why did they fail in the end when they have such a huge advantage?" And it's decaying so quickly?"

This is because, although Nokia was in full swing at the time, they were already deeply mired in the "big business dilemma". ”

Xu Xincheng thought seriously for a while, but still couldn't figure it out, "However, what I still can't understand is that Nokia back then, even if it was in a predicament, with their super strength and hegemony, how could they not get out of the predicament?"

There are many reasons for this, and I suggest you take a look at Professor Clayton Christensen's masterpiece "The Innovator's Dilemma" by Professor Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School, in which he has a very good argument about why it is difficult for established large companies to get out of their predicament. ”

"The Innovator's Dilemma?"

"Yes. This book is very well written and has been regarded as a classic by many famous entrepreneurs, and the views and ideas in it have been regarded as the most reasonable. ”

"I'll buy this book on the Internet later, take a closer look, study it carefully. ”

Here, I can briefly talk to you about the core content of this book. Professor Clayton Christensen has been researching the causes of the rapid decline of many large companies in modern business society for many years, and he has finally developed a new set of theories, which he has written in the book "The Innovator's Dilemma: The Failure of Large Companies in the Face of Breakthrough Technologies".

In this book, he expounds a theory that provides a very good answer to how the big and good companies such as Kodak, Nokia, Motorola, and other big companies that were good and once dominated their industries quickly declined.

Of course, the reasons for the rapid decline of every excellent large enterprise must be multifaceted and multi-layered, and each has its own special circumstances and reasons, but the book summarizes the most fundamental reason, the most common reason. ”

Lucy paused deliberately.

Xu Xincheng knew that this was Lucy giving him time to think, he frowned slightly, and repeated Lucy's words, "One of the most fundamental reasons, one of the most common reasons." ”

His brain spun around dozens of times quickly, sacrificing a lot of brain cells, but, although he had Lucy's guidance just now, he only had a little understanding, and he couldn't figure out the reason thoroughly, and he couldn't deduce the reason.

About half a minute later, Xu Xincheng, who already had a headache, could only say helplessly: "Lucy, I'm sorry! I really can't deduce it." Excuse me, what's the reason for that?"