The Innovator's Solution

Biological Parallel

Christensen's solution: create autonomous units that can pursue marginal niches without being constrained by parent organization priorities. This is speciation—when populations become reproductively isolated and evolve independently. Hawaiian honeycreepers diversified into 50+ species because island isolation let each population optimize without gene flow homogenizing adaptations. Lake Malawi cichlids speciated into 800+ species through habitat isolation within the same lake. Even within a single organism, the immune system maintains isolated B-cell lineages that evolve independently, competing to produce the best antibodies. Forced integration kills adaptation by reimposing parental constraints—just as connecting isolated lakes would collapse cichlid diversity.