Across forty years of leading organizations in more than twenty countries, I have seen the same failure pattern repeat itself in companies, in alliances, and in governments.
The moment control becomes the primary objective, #performance begins to decline. Every time, without exception.
In business, this shows up as protecting positions rather than developing talent, avoiding necessary decisions because they threaten established relationships, keeping underperforming divisions alive because closing them is politically uncomfortable, resisting genuine partnerships because they require sharing control rather than exercising it.
I fought this battle directly during my years at #Renault. For years, I worked to limit state interference in commercial decisions. Politicians do not accept #accountability for the outcomes they push companies toward. When bad decisions produce bad results, blame falls on management. But the decision was made by someone whose primary objective was political, not commercial.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance worked for nineteen years because performance was the only criterion that mattered across all cultures, all functions, all geographies. The moment political logic entered the Alliance's governance, it began to collapse. The commercial results of nineteen years stand on their own.
The political intervention that ended them is a lesson in what happens when control comes above performance.
Performance above all means holding the line when political convenience suggests otherwise.
The companies that survive disruption are the ones that hold this line. The ones that trade performance for political comfort buy themselves time, but they are borrowing against a future they will eventually have to repay.
Where in your organization is political logic currently winning over performance logic? And what would it take to change that?