Personal & Institutional Development — FIVE STAGES OF DECLINE, AND ‘UNDERSTANDING’ AS THE ONLY MEANS OF PREVENTING DECLINE FROM BEFALLING US

I- INTRODUCTORY QUOTE

? Five Stages of Decline is a concept developed in the book ‘How the Mighty Fall’. Every institution is vulnerable to decline, no matter how great. We found that great companies often fall in five stages:

     1) Hubris Born of Success,

     2) Undisciplined Pursuit of More,

     3) Denial of Risk and Peril,

     4) Grasping for Salvation, and

     5) Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death.

Institutions can be sick on the inside and yet still look strong on the outside; decline can sneak up on you, and then — seemingly all of a sudden — you’re in big trouble ? (Jim Collins <https://www.jimcollins.com/concepts/five-stages-of-decline.html>, webpage).

II- SO, BOTH PEOPLE AND INSTITUTIONS, LET US BEWARE AND ALWAYS STRIVE TO ‘UNDERSTAND’ THE INS AND OUTS OF WHAT GOT US WHERE WE ARE NOW BECAUSE, AS THE SAYING GOES, “WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON’T GET YOU THERE”

NB: The saying “WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON’T GET YOU THERE” was particularly used by Marshall Goldsmith as the title of his 2007 book whose Summary is available at https://wikisummaries.org/what-got-you-here-wona-t-get-you-there/, whereas its Full-Text is available at https://www.pdfdrive.com/download.pdf?id=199635668&h=9e4fc76e9248d906ce22e852662a0c78&u=cache&ext=pdf. 

In other words, both people and institutions, let us beware that contexts evolve and change, and so let us not fall prey to being complacent with the status quo ― especially when our status quo is one of success ― as, indeed, ? Pride comes before destruction. Stage 1 starts when people become complacent with their success and see success as an entitlement. They fail to remember what made them great and take it for granted that what has worked before could work again. They make statements like “We’re successful because we do these specific things”. Instead they should be focusing on “We are successful because we UNDERSTAND [capitalization added] why we do these specific things and under what conditions they would no longer work” ? (https://www.academia.edu/31040229/How_The_Mighty_Fall_Book_Summary, p.1).

     On the other hand, ? Hubris of course is another word for pride. In the book, Jim indicates that “Stage 1 kicks in when people become arrogant, regarding success virtually as an entitlement, and they lose sight of the true underling factors that created success in the first place” ? (https://www.figueroafinancial.com/2014/07/20/book-review-5-key-lessons-mighty-fall/, webpage).

        Furthermore, it is worth bearing in mind the sapiential biblical observation that ? “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling ~ Proverbs 16: 18” [1] ? (https://www.figueroafinancial.com/2014/07/20/book-review-5-key-lessons-mighty-fall/, webpage). 

III- THE POINT RAISED IN THIS POST/ARTICLE IS SO IMPORTANT THAT WE MIGHT WANT MORE DETAILS ABOUT IT

The source of the INTRODUCTORY QUOTE at the beginning of this post/article is Jim Collins <https://www.jimcollins.com/concepts/five-stages-of-decline.html>.

     Further, more details on this issue can be obtained from Jim Collins’ full-text article available at https://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/a-primer-on-the-warning-signs.html, and much more details even can be gotten from the Summary of Jim Collins’ book of 2009 titled HOW THE MIGHTY FALL: AND WHY SOME COMPANIES NEVER GIVE IN, which Summary is available at https://www.academia.edu/31040229/How_The_Mighty_Fall_Book_Summary.

ENDNOTE

[1] The Bible’s particular passage of Proverbs 16: 18 can be read online at https://www.bible.com/bible/compare/PRO.16.18.8.