Change is becoming much faster now (the suddenly-off-the-cliff effect)

This graph, below, reflects a growing trend and interesting phenomena that I have observed with many business that are impacted by the dramatically accelerating disruption brought on by digital technologies. For many incumbents, it may often look like 'things will be OK, regardless (i.e. we still sell a lot of XYZ - why worry)' but when a certain pivot point is actually reached (as below, in US newspaper ad revenues, around 2006), the entire business logic suddenly falls off the cliff, at which point it is often too late to still re-invent from a position of strength.

The lessons: foresight is crucial, and should be part of everyone's job. Look for likely change when your business is still doing well. Anticipate disruptions.