In some ways winning can be almost as bad as losing. When companies become very successful, they frequently fall prey to a variety of diseases. These undermine the very reasons why a business achieved success in the first place.

For example, hugely profitable businesses tend to allow bureaucracy to proliferate like a virus. And it does not just increase expense; it inhibits change and becomes an end in itself.

General Motors was the world’s biggest carmaker for decades. It had huge market share which enabled it to enjoy massive margins and vast cash flow thanks to rising demand. So layer after layer of management crept into the system, all justifying their existence and adding to cost and inflexibility. Only after bankruptcy has the carmaker truly started to become lean. Time will tell if the culture has changed sufficiently to permit GM to prosper in the long run.