Can Large Organizations Blitzscale?

In our work with large corporations at Global Scaling Academy, one of the most common questions I encounter I get from them is "does blitzscaling apply to large companies? 

During my work and research for the book, which included talking to literally hundreds of leaders from companies large and small, I have heard so many stories about Blitzscaling that I can tell you that it absolutely is relevant both for smaller and bigger companies.

Why is that?

It is very important to remember that Blitzscaling is all about speed. As the pace of change continues to accelerate in our networked global company, more and more industries are becoming winner-takes-most or winner-takes-all markets. Whether you're in an established industry that is ripe for disruption, or in a new category, if technology is making it possible for you to serve a massive global market then blitzscaling is relevant to you.  I have never said that Blitzscaling can only be done by a startup.

If you are a large organization that has this kind of opportunity, then Blitzscaling definitely applies. When you look at large organizations you typically see them growing at 5-10% a year, and wonder "how they could possibly blitzscale?" That may be true in the aggregate, but beneath the surface, the typical large organization has business units which are growing 100% a year. Amazon scaled AWS right inside an already large company.  Apple scales the iPhone, a new line of business.  Equally well, there could be business units where the challenge is to manage the decline because they're shrinking 30% a year, or more. What will you blitzscale to offset that decline?

Do not get tricked by the numbers you see about big companies because the situation is more complicated under the surface.  All these complexities are going on underneath the surface and Blitzscaling is the key technique that can allow even the largest organization to improve its chances of success when it's tackling these breakthrough opportunities.

Keep that in mind when you are wondering whether Blitzscaling is possible at your large organization.  Corporate members of the community will enjoy the "Blitzscaling in Large Organizations" course I've developed, as well as the monthly "Heroes of Corporate Innovation" event series where we feature the stories of innovators achieving outsized results inside large organizations.