What drives the leadership behavior in a Big Ortho?
My opinion is that it’s all about incentive risk.
Incentive Risk
In the big orthos, it’s hard for leaders to really screw up.
Stick with product lines that are obvious. Sell products that have a well-developed surgical technique. Sell products that are in a proven market with proven margins.
Then restructure the sales and distribution geographies, move some assets around, say the right things and make more money each year.
Rinse and repeat.
More money, without risk.
Why would an established leader inside a Big Ortho even think about trying to innovate?
Real innovation demands that leaders throw themselves into a sea of risk. Real innovation may require an IDE study? It might take too long. Real innovation may require many starts and stops. It’s a discovery process with no guarantees. Leaders might get demoted if their proposed innovation fails. Leaders might even fired along the way.
Because of this asymmetric career risk, leaders naturally fall back into self-preservation.
Their business behavior is ultimately driven by this incentive risk.
