Thermal Runaway
At 40.6°C (105°F), human proteins begin denaturing and organs fail - no amount of cooling can resurrect dead tissue. Corporate thermal runaway follows the same physics: when costs accelerate faster than revenue, a critical threshold triggers irreversible collapse. WeWork, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Toys R Us all crossed that threshold.
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.