Transient Advantage
Also known as: The End of Competitive Advantage · Wave Strategy
Advantages are temporary; competitive success means continuously launching and retiring them.
Argues sustainable advantage is increasingly rare, so firms must manage a portfolio of advantages through their life cycles — launch, ramp, exploit, reconfigure, and disengage — building the muscle to exit gracefully as well as to grow.
Core concepts
Wave Life CycleHealthy DisengagementContinuous Reconfiguration
Best when
- Your advantage is eroding faster than you can defend it
- You need an explicit method for exiting fading lines
Watch-outs
- Constant reconfiguration risks organizational whiplash