This sounds ridiculous in a medical situation but it happens all the time in business. A company’s sales are declining and someone picks up one of the many “prescription books.” The book says that if you do what these successful companies did (i.e., “break all the rules,” “create a customer-centric organization,” “innovate or die,” etc.) that you too will rocket to stardom. What the majority of these books don’t do is clearly diagnose the context that the organizations were in as they ascended their stairways to success.
Do you have a good feel for the current context of your business? What are the top three things happening relative to your market, customers, competitors and company? If we don’t know what’s happening around us, there’s a good chance it’s happening to us.