BEACHED
WHALE
Learning To Swim In The New Ocean
DAREN MARTIN, PhD
Beached Whale: Learning to Swim in the New Ocean
©2016 by Daren Martin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Published by Clovercroft Publishing, Franklin, Tennessee
Cover and Interior Design by the amazing Tamyra McCartney-Burleson
Copy Edit by Lapiz Digital Services and
editor extraordinaire Valerie Johnson
Conceptual Edits by the great Tammy Kling
Illustrations “Drawrings” by the talented John Pechacek
The drawing of Dr. Martin by Madison Martin
Printed in the United States of America
978-1-942557-89-0
Dedicated to my best friend and
business partner, Kevin Burgess.
Thanks for your coaching, inspiration,
and amazing friendship!
I felt more like we had stumbled upon
a beached whale that had already died
than defeated a fierce enemy in battle.
—
Peter Gadwa, cofounder of Ticketmaster,
upon putting Ticketron out of business
“
”
“AT SOME TIME IN THE LIFE-
CYCLE OF VIRTUALLY EVERY
ORGANIZATION, ITS ABILITY
TO SUCCEED IN SPITE OF
ITSELF RUNS OUT.”
—
BRIER’S FIRST LAW
BEACHED WHALE
40 Tons of power and might.
To see a whale move with force and
grace through the ocean depths, is
beyond glorious.
Beach that same whale on a sand dune
and it is a very different experience.
Helpless bystanders look on aghast.
They want to help what has become
“
the poor creature.
”
The sheer size keeps the onlookers from
doing what the beached whale needs
most—to get it back in the water.
7
BEACHED COMPANIES
With all the advances in technology over
the last few years, the world of business is
over as we know it. Your company or brand
may be in trouble. Or it may not.
Are you a trailblazer or a beached whale?
Many large companies are coasting on
the fumes of past successes and dominant
market shares.
But much like a beached whale, all that size
and all that power are meaningless if you
are beached on the sand dunes of change.
COMPANIES DON’T
BEACH THEMSELVES
ON PURPOSE.
9
The beached whale doesn’t automatically decide to swim up
on the shore. The whale is sick. It’s lost its ability to know where
it is going.
Companies that become beached whales have systemic
issues long before they get beached.
WHY DIDN’T THEIR LEADERS…
SEE THE WRITING
ON THE WALL
?
11
THIS BOOK WAS BORN
OUT OF MY EXPERIENCE observing
hundreds of corporations and cultures while
providing strategic insight to their leaders
and executives within them.
In it, I provide indicators that you may
be a “BEACHED WHALE” while
providing clear steps to “UNBEACH,”
so you can swim in the New Ocean.
—
Daren Martin, PhD
In the movie Other People’s Money, the
character played by Danny Devito makes
a compelling speech to shareholders who
are trying to decide whether to sell the
company or try and save the company.
“
”
Obsolescence. We’re dead alright. We’re just not broke.
And you know the surest way to go broke?
Keep getting an increasing share of a shrinking market. Down the
tubes. Slow but sure. You know, at one time there must’ve been
dozens of companies making buggy whips. And I’ll bet the last
company around