Extinction Events

"Extinction Events" by business analyst Robert Keane is a post-mortem examination of the titans of industry that vanished. Keane moves beyond the standard "Kodak moment" anecdotes to analyze the structural and cultural rigidity that prevents successful companies from adapting to change. He treats the market as an evolutionary ecosystem where "survival of the fittest" applies ruthlessly to corporations.



The book dissects the internal politics, the "sunk cost fallacy," and the "innovator's dilemma" that blinded executives at companies like Blockbuster, BlackBerry, and Sears. Keane reveals that these companies didn't die because they didn't see the future—often they invented it (like Kodak and the digital camera)—but because their internal revenue models were addicted to the past. He introduces the concept of "organizational calcification."



Keane also studies the survivors—companies like IBM or Netflix—that managed to cannibalize their own successful businesses to survive a shift. The book provides a diagnostic tool for leaders to spot the early warning signs of an extinction event in their own sector. It is a stark, data-driven look at why success is often the biggest threat to future survival.