1. n ot knowing: What is a business model? What is business model innova- tion? 2. n ot able: How to innovate a business model? 3. n ot willing: Why should I innovate my business model? Is ther e a sense of urgency? 4. Combinations of the above. Ray Lai, Malaysia In my experience, the biggest obstacle is failure to change the thinking process from the traditional linear way to holistic and systemic. Entrepreneurs need to make a concerted effort to develop the capability to envi- sion the model as a system whose parts interact with each other and affect each other in a holistic and non-linear manner. Jeaninne Horowitz Gassol, Spain As an Internet marketer for 15 years I’ve seen new business models live and die. The key for the winners was that the major stakeholders completely understood and advanced the model. Stephanie Diamond, United States THE MENTAL MODELS of executives and the board. The lack of candor and fear of deviating from the status quo sets in groupthink. Executives are comfortable with exploit phase and not ‘explore’ phase, which is unknown and hence risky. Cheenu Srinivasan, Australia In my experience as an Internet entrepreneur and investor, the biggest obstacles are lack of vision and bad governance. Without good vision and governance a company will miss the emerging industry paradigm and avoid reinventing the business model in time. Nicolas De Santis, U.K. Within large multinationals it is key to create cross-functional understanding and synergies. Business model innova- tion does not hold itself to the organiza- tional constraints that the people in it experience. For successful execution it is key to have all disciplines on board and interconnected! Bas van Oosterhout, Netherlands FUG: F EA r, u NCE r TAINT y & gr EED of the people vested in the current business model. . . Frontier Service Design, LLC, United States A lack of entrepreneurship in the organization. Innovation is about taking risks, wisely. If there is no room for creative insights or if people can’t think and act outside the boundaries of the existing model, don’t even try to innovate: you will fail. Ralf de Graaf, Netherlands On an organizational level, the biggest obstacle for a large, successful company is a reluctance to risk doing anything that may jeopardize their current model. On a leader/personal level, their very success was likely a product of the current business model... Jeffrey Murphy, United States “If it ain’t broke, don't fix it” thinking. Established companies stick to current ways of doing business until it is obvious that the customers want something else. Ola Dagberg, Sweden S tr ENG th OF LEADERSHIP can be an obstacle. Risk management and due diligence color the perceived purpose of many boards. Where innova- tion is assessed as a risk issue it's easy to relegate it to tokenism, especially within cultural institutions that tend not to have championing cultures. Here innovation often dies the death of a thousand cuts inflicted by entrenched critical business processes, instead of being placed front and center as the fuel for future strategy. Anne McCrossan, U.K. Oftentimes, companies design an innovative business model, but do a poor job of constructing a compensation structure that is properly aligned with the model and its objectives. Andrew Jenkins, Canada C urr ENT SUCCESS prevents companies from asking them- selves how their business model could be innovated. Organizational structures are not typically designed for new busi- ness models to emerge. Howard Brown, United States The companies that are the most successful in continuously improving the efficiency of their current business model often get blinded by “this is the way things are done in our business" and fail to see the emergence of innovative business models. Wouter van der Burg, Netherlands 195 bmgen_final.indd 195 6/15/10 5:44 PM