Why do successful firms sometimes fail? Dr. Charles O'Reilly calls it "the failure of success." While the natural tendency to focus on the strategy that produced its initial success does bring a company short-term strength, success brings growth, and growth fosters inertia. When change becomes necessary, there is inevitable resistance. Thus, for long-term success, a company has to manage for "here" while at the same time preparing to move "there."The secret is having a corporate culture in which change is one of the norms. In a crisis, when the situation is ambiguous, when new people come on board, when the old way isn't working all these are powerful situations where appropriate management of informal corporate control systems can move an organization towards a culture of innovation. By gaining consensus around implementing new strategies, a company can respond to ever-changing demands.