Built to Suck: The Inevitable Demise of the Corporation...and How to Save It?

by Joseph Jaffe

CORPORATIONS ARE DYING. CAN THEY BE SAVED? In late 2018, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos addressed his entire staff in an all-hands meeting. “Amazon will fail and go bankrupt one day” he said. “Your job is to delay this for as long as possible!” Advertising icon, Jay Chiat, once “Let’s see how big we get before we suck.” In Built to Suck , longtime corporate provocateur Joseph Jaffe argues that the Corporate Era is rapidly coming to an end. The biggest reason? The central operating system that powers the corporation, namely SIZE, will be its downfall. Size is no longer a growth enabler; it’s a growth inhibitor. This conclusion is backed up with empirical evidence and the indisputable fact that the lifespan of the corporation has shrunk dramatically from 75 to just 15 years. And all of this has happened in just the past 50 years. Between 2016-2018 alone, just over half of the Fortune 500 companies had declining revenues. So is this the end for the corporation as we know it? Possibly. Probably. At least until companies can figure out how to “embrace their Heresy” and deliver on 4 key pillars that are outlined in this Digital Disruption, Talent Resurrection, Customer Obsession and Corporate Citizenship. Built to Suck doesn’t pull any punches and serves notice to the corporate your business model is flawed and your days are numbered. Can you meet the challenge and move your organization’s journey from “survival to thrival” – or will you fail and fade into obsolescence like so many others? This is the most urgent question facing the modern corporation today, and Built to Suck is the wake-up call and roadmap to success that every corporation desperately needs.

320 pages, Hardcover

Published March 19, 2019

Reviews

[Darya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! I wish heads of corporations and their boards get it as Christmas must read gift! The power of the content is in this quote "Learn from the past, live in the present, and plan for the future. Unfortunately, too many companies are living in the past, ignoring the present, and , in doing so, are almost certain to be denied a future. " The future is not the past and doing the same things over and over again just because they worked ten year ago won't help. Stop and think: what is the average age of people in leadership of your company? Diversity percentage? How do you think they operate? So scary and so true! Absolutely brilliant book for everyone with greatcomments, examples and ideas from the author. Confirming my point of view of corporations and what they need to do to survive.