What can we learn from GM failure?

Lots of things... First and foremost, no one, how big it becomes, is immune. I would never have thought that this giant could crumble and do it as fast as it did. Second, it's always necessary to remain well grounded, humble and nimble. Finally, becoming too large leads often to deadly problems, not just for people and dinosaurs, but also for companies... With that in mind, I will now look at huge institutions with a more skeptical eye. Starting with “big governments” and their “big programs,” and of course moving on to giant companies like Walmart, Microsoft and Google. This guys had better be keenly aware that they are on walking on the edge of inertia and paralysis, and they must keep on re-inventing themselves as fast as they can... Those in the extractive business, like Exxon-Mobil can can get some assurance that as long as there's oil to pump out and that no one comes up with a compelling alternative they'll last. As for us, little humans, we've have never “arrived,” there always lots of pesky little things that will remind us that we are as frail as we are limited in power and time and, we better re-invent ourselves too on a continuous basis.