Great firms were able to filter through technological trends and carefully choose those that may help

them achieve their Hedgehog Concept, rather than relying on them for "Fear of Missing Out" purposes.

While researching successful firms, Jim Collins revealed that more than 80% of them did not rate
technology as one of the top five criteria for success. This surprised me as well, because we frequently
hear that a new technology will make or break a firm, and that they must jump on board as quickly as
possible.

Jim Collins also discovered that technology was never the major reason of a company's demise. Sure, if
you were behind on a technology in your Hedgehog Concept, you'd be excellent, not great, but it was
never the cause of a company's demise. Furthermore, technology will never be able to transform a good
firm into a great one, nor will it be able to avoid a disaster.

We are endowed with vast natural wealth, the majority of which remains undiscovered or is being
exploited in an inefficient manner. We are at the mercy of foreign firms to mine our most valuable
assets because our engineering institutions have failed to create mining engineers in sufficient quantity
and quality. There is no government on the planet that permits unrestricted access to its strategic
mineral resources.

As time and money squandered on IT, nano, and coal gasification technologies have proven, a
haphazard dependence on technology is a liability, not an asset. Agriculture and minerals, two of our
most valuable assets, have remained unaffected by these technologies.

To sum up, technology is unquestionably vital; you can't expect to be excellent if you're a laggard.
However, technology is never the primary cause of greatness; it is the application of technology, which
is unique to each country, that propels you forward on the path to greatness.