“Some problems,” wrote Laurence J. Peter, the business humorist, “are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.” Top-line growth is one of those, especially when it comes to creating new businesses within large, complex companies. The challenges are vast, and it’s difficult to know how, or even whether, to move forward. Most CEOs would benefit from having a few rules of the road.
A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2004 issue of Harvard Business Review.
