In my last post, I mentioned I was curious to read Umair Haque’s take on Chrome.  Here he comes with an insightful blog post.  He sees Chrome as a remarkable milestone in the evolution of 21st century business.

Rethinking and rebuilding business in a radically better mold is the fundamental challenge today’s boardrooms face. It is what the 21st century demands. Because as a confluence of crises tells us, tired, rusting, obsolete industrial era business as usual cannot go on.

Yet, making business better isn’t about responsibility, altruism, or
justice – it is the single most significant strategic opportunity
today’s boardrooms can seize. Google’s series of revolutions tell us
that it is when we forget how business is and has been – and instead,
focus on what business can be and should be – that we can rediscover
and reignite new paths to advantage.

So where do the rest of us start? Here’s a single, simple question.

Where is the Chrome in your strategy? What shared resource
have you invested in – or should you invest in – to expand the pie
sustainably for everyone over the long-run?

Read the entire thing and think about it.  I think he is right and he poses a question everybody should be thinking about.  Umair points out the Ford example as the obsolete business model, but as we witness natural-resource driven capital facing off to post-industrial revolution western corporate establishment, this type of innovation (business model innovation, not technical innovation) one needs to focus on to gain an edge.