Crossing the chasm inside the belly of a whale

I had the privilege of attending a presentation given by author Geoffrey Moore two weeks ago. He is working on a new book, and was sharing one of the core ideas with the audience. It wasn't as amusing as when I was at Catch a Rising Star in New York in 1983 and Eddie Murphy came in to try out new material, but it was a close second :). His book is about the 'Hierarchy of Powers'. The Powers he detailed were: Category Power, Company Power, Market Power, Offer Power, and Performance Power. He focused his discussion on Category Power - the total economic potential to generate future returns. In particular he detailed, 'Horizon 2', where new businesses developing within a medium to large company have a 12 to 36 month window of opportunity to succeed. Drawing on his early famous work, he referred to Horizon 2 as crossing the chasm inside the belly of a whale. In other words, its hard. Because $10M is too small a business for a large company, and you need to get to $100M to get noticed. As a result, established enterprises kill new category investments in Horizon 2, trapping the company in legacy.

He then went to to explain how a large company could roll out a new successful business. There are 7 vectors, that he referred to as The" Seven S" Model". The Seven S's are Strategy, Style, Skills, Structure, Systems, Staff, and Shared Values. A few of the key points he made include:

• Structure: All functions report directly to GM - but the organization is temporary, and will dissolve itstelf into the normal corporate structure.
• Strategy: Focus everyone on hitting objective, market confirmed milestones in the shortest possible time.
• Style: GMs should be given unusual latitude in shaping assignments and reporting relationships , recruiting from other organizations, and replacing staff who are failing to make commitments.

Mr. Moore's observations were interesting, and gave me an opportunity to evaluate Intel's attempts at breaking out of its core business over the years. Several of his ideas were different than how Intel approached a challenge. His thesis gave me an opportunity to look at new business investments through a new lens. I look forward to his complete books when it hits the shelves.