Breaking the Identity Trap

A company's very soul can be the reason it fails. It’s called the identity trap.

Companies, just like people, have a core identity—a story about who they are.

For Polaroid, it was "instant film." For others, it's their location

or a specific technology. This identity is their anchor. But when the world changes,

that strong identity becomes a cage. Any new strategy that doesn't fit the old story gets

rejected by everyone, from employees to customers. It feels like a betrayal.

To truly survive, sometimes a company can't just change its strategy. It has to change

its soul.