Innovator's Dilemma

Biological Parallel

Apex predators optimized for hunting large prey starve when ecosystems shift to smaller, faster prey. Saber-toothed cats excelled at killing megafauna but couldn't adapt when ice age extinctions eliminated their prey base—their specialized hunting apparatus became a liability. The dilemma: traits that make you dominant in one environment prevent adaptation to the next. Companies, like over-specialized predators, rationally optimize for current conditions until those conditions vanish and optimization becomes extinction. Success breeds inflexibility.