Abstract

Creative destruction presents a tough implementation challenge. It's expensive in terms of physical goods and executive and employee time. Creatively destroying requires stopping all or part of the existing system, destroying it, redesigning the new system, putting it in place, debugging it, and habituating employees to its entirely new features. That means retraining and re-establishing informal networks among longstanding employees, customers, and new employees. Finally, it means creating a new culture and aligning people, processes, networks, and structures with it. It starts with the assumption that organizations frequently have in-house all the people, processes, structures, technology, cultures, and social networks they need to bring about change. The alternative, creative recombination, relies on pulling out these assets, redeploying them, and recombining them to reach new ends.

Citation

Abrahamson, Eric, and Brian Keane. "Recombining Resources." Optimize (March 2004): 44-52.

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