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THE UBER SYNDROME:
A CLASSIC FAILURE OF
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
INFRASTRUCTURE
By: Eric G. Flamholtz, PhD
Once upon a time, the pejorative definition of an entrepreneur was someone able to
grow a business meteorically-- but then watch it fail! This description characterized
many once high-flying entrepreneurs. For example, Adam Osborne, founder of
Osborne Computer, was a pioneer in the developing portable personal computers.
His firm reached $100 million in annual sales within three years! However, Osborne
Computer went bankrupt in year 4! Today few people remember either Adam
Osborne or his company24.
Unfortunately, Osborne Computer is not alone in the corporate graveyard of once
spectacularly successful enterprises that are now defunct. Others that were once
24 For a discussion of the rise and decline of Osborne Computer, see Eric Flamholtz and Yvonne
Randle, Growing Pains: Building Sustainably Successful Organizations, Wiley, 2016.
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