Profiting from Past Triumphs and Failures: Harnessing History for Future Success‪.‬

Dismissing past events with a "that's history" attitude can be costly to managers and their organizations because a thoughtful examination may save future mistakes. Ironically, past successes are not as instructive as mistakes, since success may hide a company's vulnerabilities and exposure to changing business environments. Instead of either ignoring past mistakes or enshrining past successes, managers should pursue Schumpeter's philosophy of "creative destruction," realizing that a past mistake may or may not be a mistake in the future, just as a past success may or may not be a guide to future success. Careful analysis of the past can help with forward-looking, innovative decisions for the future. **********