Abandoning Linear

Traditional linear thinking simply cannot compete in our emerging Exponential World. Salim saw this firsthand at Yahoo in 2007. Despite its Web bona fides, Yahoo operated within a classic linear matrix organizational structure. Every time a new product or feature was launched, the team behind it had to jump through multiple approval hoops—branding, legal, privacy, PR, etc. Each step took days or weeks to complete, which meant that any potential competitive advantage had already been lost by the time it was finished—usually to some new startup that sprang up to take quick advantage of the opportunity. Indeed, it was Salim’s experience at Yahoo that led him to search for a better way—and to elucidate his model of the Exponential Organization. 

Even the most lauded, progressive companies have not entirely escaped the linear trap. It may surprise the reader to learn that the mighty Google struggles with this, too. For example, it took two years and enormous effort to get its Google+ social network system out the door. That product was brilliantly crafted, but by the time of its launch in the summer of 2011, Facebook already had an almost insurmountable lead. In the end, Google closed down Google+ in April 2019. 

While we focus in this chapter on big companies, let’s not forget that the struggles we’ve documented are even worse in governments and nonprofits. And even some of our established institutions have terrible immune systems: academia, for example, or—even worse—organized religion. To their credit, in 2017, the Vatican asked Salim to run a workshop for their senior leaders. The immune system of the Catholic Church is 1,500 years old!