ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Knut Haanaes - Strategist
Knut Haanaes believes that the secret to creating lasting, impactful companies is to find a balance between doing what you're good at and looking for new challenges to take on.

Why you should listen

What strategy traps repeatedly entice well-meaning companies? Sweet words that lure with a sense of promise and growth, but ultimately fail to deliver again and again? How do we balance exploration and exploitation without falling fully into either ditch?

Knut Haanaes is Dean of the Global Leadership Institute at the World Economic Forum and professor of strategy and international management at IMD, formerly senior partner and global leader of BCG's strategy practice. Through his work with clients, Haanaes has accumulated extensive experience in a number of industries on issues of strategy. He holds a Master's Degree in Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics, a PhD in Strategy from the Copenhagen Business School and has been a visiting scholar at Scancor, Stanford University.

In 2015, together with Martin Reeves and Janmejaya Sinha from BCG, Haanaes published the book Your Strategy Needs a Strategy. The book has been translated into a number of languages.

More profile about the speaker
Knut Haanaes | Speaker | TED.com
TED@BCG London

Knut Haanaes: Two reasons companies fail -- and how to avoid them

Knut Haanaes: Dous motivos polos que as empresas fracasan... e como evitalos.

Filmed:
2,083,658 views

É posíbel xestionar unha empresa e, ao tempo, reinventala? Para o experto en estratexia empresarial, Knut Haanes, a capacidade de innovar despois de se conseguir o éxito é o que identifica unha boa organización. Expón percepcións sobre como alcanzar o equilibrio entre perfeccionar o que xa coñecemos e explorar ideas completamente novas, e explica como evitar dúas importantes trampas estratéxicas.
- Strategist
Knut Haanaes believes that the secret to creating lasting, impactful companies is to find a balance between doing what you're good at and looking for new challenges to take on. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
Here are two reasons companies fail:
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Existen dúas razóns
polas que as empresas quebran:
00:17
they only do more of the same,
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ou só fan sempre o mesmo
00:20
or they only do what's new.
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ou só fan cousas novas.
00:23
To me the real, real
solution to quality growth
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Para min a verdadeira solución
para un crecemento de calidade
00:28
is figuring out the balance
between two activities:
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é encontrar o equilibrio
entre estas dúas actividades:
00:32
exploration and exploitation.
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exploración e aproveitamento.
00:35
Both are necessary,
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Ambas son necesarias,
00:36
but it can be too much of a good thing.
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mais podemos caer na esaxeración.
00:41
Consider Facit.
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Pensemos en Facit.
00:43
I'm actually old enough to remember them.
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Eu son vello abondo para me lembrar.
00:45
Facit was a fantastic company.
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Facit era unha empresa fantástica.
00:47
They were born deep in the Swedish forest,
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Naceu nos profundos bosques suecos,
00:50
and they made the best
mechanical calculators in the world.
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e fabricaba as mellores
calculadoras mecánicas do mundo.
00:54
Everybody used them.
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Todo o mundo as usaba.
00:56
And what did Facit do when
the electronic calculator came along?
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E que fixo Facit cando apareceron
as calculadoras electrónicas?
01:01
They continued doing exactly the same.
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Continuaron a facer exactamente o mesmo.
01:04
In six months, they went
from maximum revenue ...
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No intervalo de seis meses
pasaron dos máximos beneficios...
01:08
and they were gone.
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a desapareceren.
01:10
Gone.
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Fóronse.
01:11
To me, the irony about the Facit story
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Para min, o que me resultou
irónico na historia de Facit
01:15
is hearing about the Facit engineers,
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foi saber que os seus enxeñeiros
01:19
who had bought cheap, small
electronic calculators in Japan
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compraran pequenas e baratas
calculadoras electrónicas no Xapón,
01:24
that they used to double-check
their calculators.
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e usábanas para testar
as súas calculadoras.
01:27
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
01:29
Facit did too much exploitation.
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Facit esaxerou no aproveitamento.
01:32
But exploration can go wild, too.
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Mais a exploración
tamén pode ser excesiva.
01:34
A few years back,
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Hai uns anos,
01:36
I worked closely alongside
a European biotech company.
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traballei cunha empresa
europea de biotecnoloxía.
01:40
Let's call them OncoSearch.
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Imos chamarlle OncoSearch.
01:42
The company was brilliant.
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A empresa era brillante.
01:44
They had applications that promised
to diagnose, even cure,
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Tiña aplicacións que prometían
diagnosticar e mesmo curar
01:49
certain forms of blood cancer.
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algúns tipos de cancro do sangue.
01:52
Every day was about
creating something new.
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Todos os días
querían crear cousas novas.
01:55
They were extremely innovative,
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Eran extremadamente innovadores
e o seu lema era:
01:58
and the mantra was,
"When we only get it right,"
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"Até que o conseguirmos"
02:01
or even, "We want it perfect."
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ou, mesmo: "Até que sexa perfecto".
02:04
The sad thing is,
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O triste é que,
02:06
before they became perfect --
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antes de se tornaren perfectos,
02:08
even good enough --
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ou, sequera, o suficientemente bos,
02:10
they became obsolete.
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tornáronse obsoletos.
02:13
OncoSearch did too much exploration.
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A OncoSearch esaxerou na exploración.
02:17
I first heard about exploration
and exploitation about 15 years ago,
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Ouvín falar sobre este tema
por primeira vez hai perto de 15 anos,
02:23
when I worked as a visiting
scholar at Stanford University.
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cando estaba como investigador
convidado na Universidade de Stanford.
02:27
The founder of the idea is Jim March.
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O fundador da idea é Jim March.
02:30
And to me the power of the idea
is its practicality.
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Para min, a vantaxe da idea
é que resulta práctica.
02:35
Exploration.
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Exploración.
02:36
Exploration is about
coming up with what's new.
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Exploración é chegar a algo novo.
02:40
It's about search,
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É investigar,
02:42
it's about discovery,
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é descubrir,
02:43
it's about new products,
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son novos produtos,
02:45
it's about new innovations.
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é innovar,
02:47
It's about changing our frontiers.
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é mudar as nosas fronteiras.
02:51
Our heroes are people
who have done exploration:
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As persoas que admiramos
son as que se dedicaron a explorar:
02:54
Madame Curie,
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Madame Curie,
02:56
Picasso,
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Picasso,
02:57
Neil Armstrong,
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Neil Armstrong,
02:58
Sir Edmund Hillary, etc.
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Sir Edmund Hillary, etc.
03:01
I come from Norway;
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Eu son de Noruega.
03:03
all our heroes are explorers,
and they deserve to be.
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Todas as persoas que alí admiramos
son exploradoras e todas o merecen.
03:09
We all know that exploration is risky.
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Todas e todos sabemos que
explorar é arriscado.
03:12
We don't know the answers,
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Descoñecemos as respostas,
03:14
we don't know if we're going to find them,
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non sabemos se as iremos encontrar,
03:16
and we know that the risks are high.
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e sabemos que o risco é elevado.
03:18
Exploitation is the opposite.
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O aproveitamento é o oposto.
03:20
Exploitation is taking
the knowledge we have
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O aproveitamento consiste
en usar o que xa sabemos
03:23
and making good, better.
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para tornar o bo en mellor.
03:26
Exploitation is about making
our trains run on time.
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Aproveitamento é facer
que os trens cheguen a tempo.
03:29
It's about making good products
faster and cheaper.
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É crear bos produtos,
máis axiña e máis barato.
03:34
Exploitation is not risky --
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O aproveitamento non é arriscado...
03:37
in the short term.
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a curto prazo.
03:39
But if we only exploit,
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Mais se nos dedicamos só
ao aproveitamento,
03:41
it's very risky in the long term.
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é moi arriscado a longo prazo.
03:44
And I think we all have memories
of the famous pop groups
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Imaxino que todas e todos sabemos
de bandas de pop famosas
03:48
who keep singing the same songs
again and again,
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que cantan as mesmas cancións
constantemente,
03:51
until they become obsolete
or even pathetic.
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até convertérense en obsoletas
ou mesmo patéticas.
03:56
That's the risk of exploitation.
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Ese é o risco do aproveitamento.
04:00
So if we take a long-term
perspective, we explore.
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Por iso, se adoptamos unha perspectiva
de longo prazo, exploramos.
04:05
If we take a short-term
perspective, we exploit.
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Se adoptamos unha perspectiva
de curto prazo, aproveitamos.
04:09
Small children, they explore all day.
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As crianzas están todo o día a explorar.
04:12
All day it's about exploration.
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Dedican todo o día a explorar.
04:15
As we grow older,
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Conforme imos crecendo
04:16
we explore less because we have
more knowledge to exploit on.
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exploramos menos, porque temos
máis coñecemento que aproveitar.
04:21
The same goes for companies.
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O mesmo acontece coas empresas.
04:24
Companies become,
by nature, less innovative
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As empresas viran, por natureza,
menos innovadoras
04:28
as they become more competent.
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conforme se van facendo
máis competentes.
04:31
And this is, of course,
a big worry to CEOs.
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Iso, claro, é unha importante
preocupación para quen a dirixe.
04:35
And I hear very often questions
phrased in different ways.
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Escoito moitas veces preguntas,
formuladas de diferentes formas.
04:39
For example,
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Por exemplo:
04:41
"How can I both effectively run
and reinvent my company?"
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"Como podo xestionar e reinventar
eficazmente a miña empresa?",
04:46
Or, "How can I make sure
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ou: "Como podo ter a certeza
04:48
that our company changes
before we become obsolete
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de que a nosa empresa muda
antes de se tornar obsoleta
04:52
or are hit by a crisis?"
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ou ser afectada por unha crise?".
04:55
So, doing one well is difficult.
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Facer unha cousa ben é difícil.
04:58
Doing both well as the same time is art --
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Facer as dúas cousas ben ao tempo,
é unha arte
05:01
pushing both exploration and exploitation.
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(promover tanto a exploración
como o aproveitamento).
05:05
So one thing we've found
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E algo que descubrimos é que
05:06
is only about two percent of companies
are able to effectively explore
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só o 2% das empresas
teñen capacidade efectiva
05:13
and exploit at the same time, in parallel.
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para explorar e aproveitar
ao mesmo tempo, de forma paralela.
05:17
But when they do,
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Mais cando o fan,
05:19
the payoffs are huge.
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os beneficios son enormes.
05:22
So we have lots of great examples.
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Temos moitos bos exemplos.
05:24
We have Nestlé creating Nespresso,
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Temos a Nestlé, que creou o Nespresso,
05:27
we have Lego going into animated films,
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temos a Lego, póndose
a facer filmes de animación,
05:30
Toyota creating the hybrids,
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a Toyota, que creou os híbridos,
05:32
Unilever pushing into sustainability --
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a Unilever, que promove
a sustentabilidade.
05:35
there are lots of examples,
and the benefits are huge.
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Existen moitos exemplos,
e os beneficios son enormes.
05:39
Why is balancing so difficult?
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Por que o equilibrio é tan difícil?
05:42
I think it's difficult
because there are so many traps
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Eu penso que é difícil
porque existen moitas trampas
05:45
that keep us where we are.
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que nos atrapan onde estamos.
05:47
So I'll talk about two,
but there are many.
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Vou falar de dúas,
mais existen moitas máis.
05:51
So let's talk about
the perpetual search trap.
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Falemos, pois, da trampa
da busca permanente.
05:54
We discover something,
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Descubrimos algo,
05:56
but we don't have the patience
or the persistence
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mais non temos a paciencia
ou a persistencia
05:59
to get at it and make it work.
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para traballalo e facer que funcione.
06:01
So instead of staying with it,
we create something new.
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E, en vez traballalo, facemos algo novo.
06:04
But the same goes for that,
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E volve acontecer o mesmo
06:06
then we're in the vicious circle
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e entramos no círculo vicioso
06:07
of actually coming up with ideas
but being frustrated.
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de ter moitas ideas que se frustran.
06:12
OncoSearch was a good example.
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OncoSearch era un bo exemplo.
06:14
A famous example is, of course, Xerox.
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Un exemplo famoso é, claro, Xerox.
06:18
But we don't only see this in companies.
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Mais isto non acontece só nas empresas,
06:20
We see this in the public sector as well.
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tamén o vemos no sector público.
06:23
We all know that any kind
of effective reform of education,
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Todas e todos sabemos
que calquera reforma no ensino,
06:29
research, health care, even defense,
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na investigación, na saúde
ou mesmo na defensa,
06:31
takes 10, 15, maybe 20 years to work.
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precisa 10, 15 ou 20 anos
para funcionar.
06:35
But still, we change much more often.
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Aínda así, nós mudamos
con moita máis frecuencia.
06:39
We really don't give them the chance.
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Non lles damos unha verdadeira
oportunidade.
06:42
Another trap is the success trap.
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Outra trampa é a trampa do éxito.
06:46
Facit fell into the success trap.
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Facit caeu na trampa do éxito.
06:50
They literally held
the future in their hands,
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Tiñan, literalmente, o futuro
nas súas mans,
06:53
but they couldn't see it.
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mais non se deron conta.
06:54
They were simply so good
at making what they loved doing,
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Facían tan ben aquilo que lles gustaba,
06:58
that they wouldn't change.
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que optaron por non mudar.
07:01
We are like that, too.
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Nós tamén somos así.
07:02
When we know something well,
it's difficult to change.
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Cando sabemos facer algo ben
é difícil mudar.
07:06
Bill Gates has said:
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Bill Gates dixo:
07:09
"Success is a lousy teacher.
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"O éxito é pésimo profesor.
07:12
It seduces us into thinking
we cannot fail."
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Sedúcenos facéndonos pensar
que non podemos errar".
07:16
That's the challenge with success.
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Ese é o desafío do éxito.
07:19
So I think there are some lessons,
and I think they apply to us.
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Penso que aquí hai algunhas leccións
que poden servirnos a nós
07:23
And they apply to our companies.
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e ás nosas empresas.
07:25
The first lesson is:
get ahead of the crisis.
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A primeira lección consiste
en adiantarse á crise.
07:29
And any company that's able to innovate
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Calquera empresa capaz de innovar
07:32
is actually able to also buy
an insurance in the future.
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está, á vez, a contratar
un seguro para o futuro.
07:36
Netflix -- they could so easily
have been content
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Netflix podía terse contentado,
moi facilmente,
07:39
with earlier generations of distribution,
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coas primeiras formas de distribución,
07:42
but they always -- and I think
they will always --
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mais sempre están
(e penso que continuarán)
07:45
keep pushing for the next battle.
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a prepararse para seguinte batalla.
07:47
I see other companies that say,
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Vexo outras empresas que din:
07:49
"I'll win the next innovation cycle,
whatever it takes."
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"Venceremos no próximo ciclo de innovación
custe o que custar".
07:55
Second one: think in multiple time scales.
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A segunda consiste en pensar
en diferentes prazos de tempo.
07:58
I'll share a chart with you,
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Vou mostrarvos un gráfico.
08:00
and I think it's a wonderful one.
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Penso que é unha marabilla.
08:02
Any company we look at,
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Ollemos para a empresa que ollemos,
08:04
taking a one-year perspective
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na perspectiva de un ano,
08:06
and looking at the valuation
of the company,
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e reparando no valor da empresa,
08:08
innovation typically accounts
for only about 30 percent.
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habitualmente a innovación
representa apenas arredor do 30%.
08:12
So when we think one year,
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Por iso, cando pensamos en un ano,
08:13
innovation isn't really that important.
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a innovación non é moi importante.
08:16
Move ahead, take a 10-year perspective
on the same company --
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Pasemos a unha perspectiva
de 10 anos na mesma empresa.
08:20
suddenly, innovation and ability
to renew account for 70 percent.
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De repente, innovación e capacidade
de renovación representan o 70%.
08:26
But companies can't choose.
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Mais as empresas non poden escoller:
08:27
They need to fund the journey
and lead the long term.
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precisan financiar o camiño
e liderar a longo prazo.
08:32
Third:
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Terceira:
08:34
invite talent.
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estimular a crítica.
08:35
I don't think it's possible for any of us
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Non penso que poidamos,
ninguén de nós,
08:38
to be able to balance exploration
and exploitation by ourselves.
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equilibrar exploración e aproveitamento
pola nosa conta.
08:43
I think it's a team sport.
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Penso que se trata dun deporte de equipo.
08:44
I think we need to allow challenging.
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Penso que debemos permitir a crítica.
08:48
I think the mark of a great company
is being open to be challenged,
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Penso que o caracteriza unha grande
empresa é a abertura á crítica,
08:53
and the mark of a good corporate board
is to constructively challenge.
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e o que caracteriza unha boa xerencia
é a crítica construtiva.
08:58
I think that's also what
good parenting is about.
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Penso que niso consiste tamén
ser un bo pai.
09:02
Last one: be skeptical of success.
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A última:
escepticismo ante o éxito.
09:06
Maybe it's useful to think back
at the old triumph marches in Rome,
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Quizais sexa útil pensarmos no pasado,
nas marchas triunfais de Roma,
09:12
when the generals, after a big victory,
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cando aos xenerais,
após unha gran vitoria,
09:16
were given their celebration.
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se lles ofrecía unha homenaxe.
09:18
Riding into Rome on the carriage,
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Cando entraban en Roma,
nas súas carruaxes,
09:21
they always had a companion
whispering in their ear,
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tiñan sempre un compañeiro
a murmurarlles ao ouvido:
09:25
"Remember, you're only human."
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"Lembra que apenas es humano".
09:29
So I hope I made the point:
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Espero que isto quedase claro:
09:32
balancing exploration and exploitation
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alcanzar o equilibrio entre
exploración e aproveitamento
09:35
has a huge payoff.
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comporta grandes recompensas.
09:37
But it's difficult,
and we need to be conscious.
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Mais é difícil,
e debemos ser conscientes.
09:40
I want to just point out two questions
that I think are useful.
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Quero apenas recalcar dúas cuestións
que penso que son útiles.
09:45
First question is,
looking at your own company:
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Primeiro, reparade na vosa empresa.
09:49
In which areas do you see
that the company is at the risk
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En que áreas pensades
que a empresa está en risco
09:53
of falling into success traps,
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de caer na trampa do éxito,
09:56
of just going on autopilot?
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de estar só en piloto automático?
09:59
And what can you do to challenge?
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E que podedes facer para as estimular?
10:03
Second question is:
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A segunda cuestión que compre facerse é:
10:06
When did I explore something new last,
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"Cando probei algo novo por última vez,
10:09
and what kind of effect did it have on me?
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e que tipo de consecuencias tivo para min?
10:12
Is that something I should do more of?
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Será algo que deba facer máis?".
10:15
In my case, yes.
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No meu caso, si.
10:18
So let me leave you with this.
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De modo que permitídeme
deixarvos con esta idea.
10:20
Whether you're an explorer by nature
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Quer sexades persoas exploradoras
por natureza,
10:23
or whether you tend to exploit
what you already know,
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quer teñades a tendencia
a aproveitar o que xa sabedes,
10:27
don't forget: the beauty
is in the balance.
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non esquezades que a beleza
está no equilibrio.
10:33
Thank you.
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Grazas.
10:34
(Applause)
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(Aplauso)
Translated by Ánxelo Gonzalves
Reviewed by Xusto Rodriguez

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Knut Haanaes - Strategist
Knut Haanaes believes that the secret to creating lasting, impactful companies is to find a balance between doing what you're good at and looking for new challenges to take on.

Why you should listen

What strategy traps repeatedly entice well-meaning companies? Sweet words that lure with a sense of promise and growth, but ultimately fail to deliver again and again? How do we balance exploration and exploitation without falling fully into either ditch?

Knut Haanaes is Dean of the Global Leadership Institute at the World Economic Forum and professor of strategy and international management at IMD, formerly senior partner and global leader of BCG's strategy practice. Through his work with clients, Haanaes has accumulated extensive experience in a number of industries on issues of strategy. He holds a Master's Degree in Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics, a PhD in Strategy from the Copenhagen Business School and has been a visiting scholar at Scancor, Stanford University.

In 2015, together with Martin Reeves and Janmejaya Sinha from BCG, Haanaes published the book Your Strategy Needs a Strategy. The book has been translated into a number of languages.

More profile about the speaker
Knut Haanaes | Speaker | TED.com