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Three quarters of Swiss industrial SMEs rate their situation as unfavourable. Their response: optimise, secure, endure. All rational. But those who invest 100% in exploitation and 0% in exploration are not pursuing a crisis strategy – they are avoiding the future. An analysis drawing on Swissmechanic data, Harvard research and an uncomfortable savings plan analogy.

87% of new CEOs come from operational front-line roles. The selection system rewards delivery — and in doing so, systematically fails to develop what strategic leadership demands: tolerance for ambiguity, collective dialogue, genuine directional choices. An essay on the quiet effect of a system that leaves organisations well-managed — but strategically underprepared.

Transformation programmes in SMEs rarely fail because of technology – they fail because of the leadership system. This post explains why "more" is often exactly the problem, and how an integrated operating model built on ambidexterity, Lean and TOC opens a different path.