“Yet all things must die.
The stream will cease to flow;
The winds will cease to blow;
The clouds will cease to fleet;
The heart will cease to beat;
For all things must die.
All things must die.”
Tennyson, All Things Will Die
Everything dies (apologies for the sombre, melancholic note).
And that includes companies.
No company can de jure say that their service guarantees a continued place in the market.
You can wax lyrical about innovation, but there is a dearth of companies willing to break apart their profit-earning model in the hope of building something remarkable.
Companies are over managed but under-led. Who wants to fail; but, sometimes, any decision is better than no decision.
As to Total Quality Management, the lemon can only be squeezed so hard before it bleeds dry.
To create something truly remarkable, you have to give yourself space to think (your desk is your biggest competitive threat!).
There is no such thing as a bad idea until it has been allowed to breathe beyond the usual sand-box.
The past is no predictor of future success. Act accordingly.