Page 101 - MS Year in Review 2020

or Uber. Nevertheless, they are an early “wake up call” that there are

issues to be resolved by Zoom.

Regardless of the nature of the specific problems faced by Tesla and Zoom, growing

pains are an indication of potential vulnerability to the “Icarus Syndrome.”

THE UNDERLYING CAUSE OF THE “ICARUS

SYNDROME”

Why do enterprises experiencing “Dazzling Success” sometimes become victims of
the “Icarus Syndrome”? To answer that question, we must look to the Roman deity
Janus. The Roman deity Janus is always depicted with two-faces. This is symbolic of

change, transitions, and (of most relevance in this context) multiple dimensions of
the universe.

With respect to business enterprises, the symbol of Janus represents two different
but related dimensions or sides of a business: The “product” dimension and the

“organizational” or infrastructure dimension:

The “product dimension” refers to the products and or services offered by an
enterprise. For example, at Tesla it refers to the automobiles manufactured and
sold by the company. For Zoom, it is the service provided for video

communications.

The “organizational dimension” refers to the architecture and infrastructure
required to operate a business on both a short and long-term basis. In my model of
organizational development (The Pyramid of Organizational Development™), the

architecture and infrastructure required operate a business consists of the
resources, operational systems, management systems, and culture of an enterprise
(the top four levels of the Pyramid).
85

85 For a discussion of this model, see Eric Flamholtz, “Is Tesla Being “Built for Sustainable
Success”℠? Linkedin, September 2. 2020

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