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Creative Destruction Slide Show 2

John Caddell — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:30:40 +0000

For the past year, I’ve collected a photo history of two local sites undergoing what Joseph Schumpeter would call “creative destruction.” I’ve collected the various photos into a set of slide shows. Here’s the second:

Creative Destruction Slide Show 2

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[A collection of all the Creative Destruction posts can be found here, and here is the first slide show.]

Creative Destruction Slide Show 1

John Caddell — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:49:25 +0000

Creative Destruction 1

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[A collection of all the Creative Destruction posts can be found here.]

Creative Destruction? #8

John Caddell — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:55:07 +0000

Another in a series of posts tracing the evolution of two vacated business sites.

The opening up of new markets, foreign or domestic, and the organizational development from the craft shop and factory to such concerns as U.S. Steel illustrate the same process of industrial mutation–if I may use that biological term–that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one. This process of Creative Destruction is the essential fact about capitalism. It is what capitalism consists in and what every capitalist concern has got to live in. . . .

Joseph Schumpeter

32nd and Market Streets, Camp Hill, PA, 16 November 2009

The new Rite Aid is open. It’s been 15 months since we started following progress at the site – then, the T-Mobile store and the KFC were boarded up. Now, the site is back, adding to the economy.

Carlisle Pike, Silver Spring Township, PA, 16 November 2009

No progress at the LB Smith dealership. We could do an entire series on former car dealerships that are now vacant. What will end up happening to all these sites?

Prior posts in this series:
Creative Destruction?
Creative Destruction? #2
Creative Destruction? #3
Creative Destruction? #4
Creative Destruction? #5
Creative Destruction? #6
Creative Destruction? #7

Creative Destruction? #7

John Caddell — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:28:41 +0000

Another in a series of posts tracing the evolution of two vacated business sites.

The opening up of new markets, foreign or domestic, and the organizational development from the craft shop and factory to such concerns as U.S. Steel illustrate the same process of industrial mutation–if I may use that biological term–that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one. This process of Creative Destruction is the essential fact about capitalism. It is what capitalism consists in and what every capitalist concern has got to live in. . . .

Joseph Schumpeter

32nd and Market Streets, Camp Hill, PA, 07 October 2009

The new Rite Aid is almost ready to open. On the other hand…

Carlisle Pike, Silver Spring Township, PA, 07 October 2009

Prior posts in this series:
Creative Destruction?
Creative Destruction? #2
Creative Destruction? #3
Creative Destruction? #4
Creative Destruction? #5
Creative Destruction? #6

Creative Destruction? #6

John Caddell — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:44:55 +0000

Another in a series of posts tracing the evolution of two vacated business sites.

The opening up of new markets, foreign or domestic, and the organizational development from the craft shop and factory to such concerns as U.S. Steel illustrate the same process of industrial mutation–if I may use that biological term–that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one. This process of Creative Destruction is the essential fact about capitalism. It is what capitalism consists in and what every capitalist concern has got to live in. . . .

Joseph Schumpeter

32nd and Market Streets, Camp Hill, PA, 21 July 2009

The new Rite Aid is rising quickly. On the other hand…

Carlisle Pike, Silver Spring Township, PA, 13 June 2009

No activity at all at the old auto dealer’s property.

Prior posts in this series:
Creative Destruction?
Creative Destruction? #2
Creative Destruction? #3
Creative Destruction? #4
Creative Destruction? #5

Creative Destruction? #5

John Caddell — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:50:38 +0000

Another in a series of posts tracing the evolution of two vacated business sites.

The opening up of new markets, foreign or domestic, and the organizational development from the craft shop and factory to such concerns as U.S. Steel illustrate the same process of industrial mutation–if I may use that biological term–that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one. This process of Creative Destruction is the essential fact about capitalism. It is what capitalism consists in and what every capitalist concern has got to live in. . . .

Joseph Schumpeter

32nd and Market Streets, Camp Hill, PA, 13 June 2009

Excavation done, the framework of the new structure starts to rise.

Carlisle Pike, Silver Spring Township, PA, 13 June 2009

The song remains the same at LB Smith.

Prior posts in this series:
Creative Destruction?
Creative Destruction? #2
Creative Destruction? #3
Creative Destruction? #4

Creative Destruction? #4

John Caddell — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:12:28 +0000

32nd and Market Streets, Camp Hill, PA, 21 April 2009

The reports that Rite Aid was building on this corner were true; the old buildings are down and excavation has begun.

Carlisle Pike, Silver Spring Township, PA, 21 April 2009

Nothing happening at the old LB Smith dealership. Seven months of vacancy and counting.

Prior posts in this series:
Creative Destruction?
Creative Destruction? #2
Creative Destruction? #3

“Discovery-Driven Growth” – a vital handbook for developing new business

John Caddell — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:58:22 +0000

There’s nothing more fun for me than building a new business, whether it’s a startup or a new line of business within an existing company. New businesses are the life-energy of capitalism, the “creative” part of “creative destruction.”

But like most everyone who’s been involved in starting up new ventures, I’ve endured my share of missed opportunities, strikeouts and horror stories. Anyone who’s been in this business for a while knows there are no sure things.

As a result, it’s been gratifying to tune into the developing literature in managing innovation, whether it’s finding out how P&G does it, how to brainstorm more effectively, or the ever-expanding Clayton Christensen library. And I’ve been eagerly awaiting “Discovery-Driven Growth: A Breakthrough Process to Reduce Risk and Seize Opportunity” by Rita McGrath and Ian MacMillan.

McGrath’s article “The Value Captor’s Process” was one of my favorite of 2007. And in “DDG” she and MacMillan describe an entire new-business development process using the same pragmatic thinking.

The book, in page after page, honors innovation as a complex process. Failure of new projects is not a result of poor planning; it is a necessary component of the uncertainty of interplaying markets, technologies, customers and competitors. The tragedy of innovation is not failure, it’s risking huge investments and careers before the business learns whether the potential in the venture can ever be realized.

The typical tools of managing innovation have been detailed, upfront planning, hurdle rates and stage gates. By contrast, McGrath and MacMillan propose an iterative prototyping approach to managing innovation: do as much on paper as possible before “breaking ground” on expensive investments; document assumptions and launch inexpensive experiments to validate or refute them; create rough financial models and refine continuously; monitor progress frequently; compare results to expectations; disengage when the likely outcome of the project falls short of alternative uses of capital and resources; extract value from the results of failed projects.

The managers who use the DDG prescription speak almost like acolytes of the Cynefin framework:

As we go into markets where we’re trying to learn, what we’ve gotten better at is trying small things. If they are successful, we spread them like wildfire. If not, we kill them quickly. (p. 162)

And, in the spirit of “giving it away,” McGrath and MacMillan offer all the tools they reference in the book on their website. This lifts “Discovery-Driven Growth” above the level of a book and into the realm of a vital business resource.

Using this approach may not increase the yield of ideas to successful initiatives–as McGrath and MacMillan write, “remember the plan was uncertain to begin with, so there can be no question of failure–how can you fail if you had no idea of the outcome to start with?” But it is certain that a company that dedicates itself to implementing “Discovery-Driven Growth”’s ideas will improve the yield–possibly dramatically–of profit to investment for new ventures.

Creative Destruction? #3

John Caddell — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:33:17 +0000

This series of posts began in September when I photographed a couple of recently-vacated retail spaces. I’ve returned a couple of times since, most recently this week, to see how/if reuse of the sites is progressing. As you’ll see, not much change yet. Here’s Joseph Schumpeter’s famous “creative destruction” quote from Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy:

The opening up of new markets, foreign or domestic, and the organizational development from the craft shop and factory to such concerns as U.S. Steel illustrate the same process of industrial mutation–if I may use that biological term–that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one. This process of Creative Destruction is the essential fact about capitalism. It is what capitalism consists in and what every capitalist concern has got to live in. . . .

32nd and Market Streets, Camp Hill, PA, 3 Feb 2009

There have been recent newspaper reports that there will be a Rite Aid drugstore built on the above site. And there is a construction sign posted out front (not pictured).

Carlisle Pike, Silver Spring Township, PA, 3 Feb 2009

The lease sign is the biggest change here. Otherwise, no activity.

Creative Destruction? #2

John Caddell — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:31:00 +0000

It’s been two months or so since I visited a couple of places nearby in the midst of what Joseph Schumpeter might call “creative destruction.” At the moment, they’re just abandoned buildings. I’ll keep visiting and see how/when these places shape up and begin contributing to the economy again.

32nd Street, Camp Hill, PA, 10 Nov 2008

Carlisle Pike, Silver Spring Township, PA, 28 Oct 2008