Hi, Leigh - thanks for an instructive and useful post.

I enjoyed the story of Leadville and imagine that our history contains other such stories, if we only look.   The tendency to plan in terms of what has worked in the past plagues many a business and leader.  Wars have been fought, as military leaders learned this lesson the hard way.

Human nature, I suppose ... we are what we know and we all know our pasts.  I'm struck by your comment that Leadville still today struggles to diversify their economy.  This points up a very critical part of all this about failure.

We don't always die ... sometimes we just limp along in significant pain, hoping for better days without doing much of substance to bring them to us.

While your discerning words apply quite clearly to the modern workplace and business, I am reminded of this reality as I experience church decline.  Plenty of groups trying to continue doing what used to work, but no longer does.  They worship regularly in smaller and smaller groups, while bemoaning the lack of younger worshipers and vibrance in their events.  They focus on how to maintain aging and outmoded structures and buildings, rather than let go and face the perceived risk of transformational change.   They have no Plan B, but instead insist on endlessly trying to make Plan A work.

A good book about all this from a church POV, but applicable more generally:  From Our Doorsteps by Rick Morse at http://www.amazon.com/From-Our-Doorsteps-Developing-Ministry/dp/0827210442.  This might be interesting reading for anyone whose group needs to change.

Thanks so much for a very clear and useful statement about change and the cost of not changing.

John