Roasting the Pig
Gary Hamel's Genome Strategy
© 2003 by Michael Finley
Gary Hamel
In the era of Big Science (1900-1950), science was like a big elephant dragging a log through a jungle in Thailand. Good results were achieved when science did the heavy work to crack the code.
In the era that followed, the era of Big Brands, brands were like the trainer at Sea World, training Shamu to balance a ball on the end of its nose. Good results were achieved through coaxing and conditioning.
In the era just beginning, the era of Big Ideas, ideas are like the gazelles you see in wildlife videos, pronking through the tall grass of the Serengeti, getting a fresh glimpse of its surroundings with every leap.
Never mind what Francis Fukuyama says. We are not standing at the end of history, said Gary Hamel. The contest between ideas will go on. Indeed, ferocious competition is bearing down on us right now. Only a very bind or very foolish organization sees smooth sailing for the future.
Hamel used the metaphor of roast pig. At some point in history, a pig wandered into a hut, started a fire, and was found roasted in the ruins. This was a nonlinear innovation, requiring genius on the pig's part and on the part of the person who tasted it. But luck played an important role. Incremental, linear innovations -- like using an oven instead of burning your house down every time you had a hankering for bacon -- came later.
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