Mechanism
Thermal Runaway
TL;DR
WeWork experienced corporate thermal runaway: each new location generated heat (costs) faster than cooling (revenue) could compensate.
Thermal runaway is a physics term describing when heat generation accelerates faster than cooling mechanisms can compensate, leading to uncontrolled temperature increase and system failure.
Business Application of Thermal Runaway
WeWork experienced corporate thermal runaway: each new location generated heat (costs) faster than cooling (revenue) could compensate. Burn rate doubled annually, no cooling mechanisms worked, and temperature rose until systems collapsed. Fatal temperature reached when proteins denature (culture breaks, talent flees, reputation destroyed) - cooling can't resurrect.