Past successes pose the greatest risk of future failure.

This statement, while accurate, is hardly original, whether applied to a business or a business executive. But Adam Hartung’s Create Marketplace Disruption: How to Stay Ahead of the Competition (2008) goes far beyond this commonplace observation. Hartung details its dynamics, allowing him to recommend practical ways to prevent it.

Quite a few of you asked for more information about this book. In particular, you asked about Hartung’s “Phoenix Principle” — his prescription for avoiding the stagnation and eventual disintegration that are the near-inevitable consequence of business success.