Monday Morning Motivational Message - Cope's Rule

Is bigger always better?

If you are bigger, stronger, and tougher than your competition, does that give you an advantage?

In evolutionary biology, we have Cope's Rule, which was named after American paleontologist, Edward Drinker Cope.

Cope's Rule states that species evolve to get bigger bodies over time because there is a competitive advantage to being big.

But big has its own drawbacks, and can often lead to the species becoming extinct.   

So the same forces that exhort a group to become larger, can also force it into elimination.

While Cope's Law describes the lifecycle of a species, it also applies to companies and even industries.

The Blockbuster Video company went from the mainstay of how people watched movies outside the theater, to a company with only one remaining store (in Bend, Oregon), due to the rise in streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.  

The film photography industry went from being the core of how people captured precious moments, to a niche hobby, due to the convenience of digital photography.

While being bigger certainly has advantages for companies, ensuring that an  organization or industry also continues to evolve and improve will help safeguard its long-term sustainability and viability. 

Leave me a comment about your thoughts on how organizations can not only get bigger but also how important it is to continue to evolve.