Long ago, in Origin of the Species (1859),  Charles Darwin suggests “it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.”

More recently, in Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942), Joseph Schumpeter introduces this concept: the “gale of creative destruction” describes the “process of industrial mutation that continuously revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one.”

My take on Marcus Aurelius’ observation is that an obstacle can be viewed as a peril or as an opportunity. Rather than avoid or overcome an obstacle, seize the opportunity to consume it and thereby be strengthened and enriched by it.

Attributed to Peter Drucker among others, the admonition “innovate or die” means that organisms as well as organizations are sustained by continuous improvement. As research conducted by Jim Collins and his associates indicate, what makes an organization good and even great can also, over time, cause it to stagnate, deteriorate, and eventually perish.

The title of one pf Marshall Goldsmith’s recent books suggests that “what got you here won’t get you there.” I presume to add, “and what got you here won’t even allow you to remain here, however ‘here’ and ‘there’ may be defined.”

This is what Richard Hawkins has in mind when asserting, ““Yesterday’s dangerous idea is today’s orthodoxy and tomorrow’s cliché.”

Obsolescence is inevitable and usually fatal.

Let’s let Lily Hamlin have the last word: “Reality is a collective hunch.”