Challenges to implementing an MTP

• An MTP is not easy to retrofit into existing companies and risks ending up as a brand promise rather than an existential motivation.

• Holding the vision of the MTP over time and not giving in to short-termism (for example, Kodak vs. digital cameras) is difficult over the course of generations and economic and cultural change.

• Imbuing the MTP into every level of an organization and then living it every day requires great discipline, as well as steady support from top management.

• Once you start, you have to keep the MTP alive, otherwise you lose the community you’ve worked so hard to create and maintain.

• Staying on track with the MTP is often difficult for public companies that face the demands of a market geared to quarterly and annual returns.

• Companies with multiple unrelated product lines will develop an MTP per division. For example, Samsung’s conglomerate includes divisions for electronics, life insurance, securities, and biologics!

• Governments have natural MTPs to serve their citizenry, and we expect them to become explicitly stated.