Berlin's Law illustration
Management / Strategy / Psychology
Management / Strategy / Psychology

Berlin's Law

Success can be its own enemy.

Popularity
Usefulness
Aliases
Success-breeds-complacency principle
Domains
Strategy, leadership, innovation, personal development

Definition

  • Berlin's Law states that the greatest obstacle to success is continued success — past wins breed the complacency that eventually causes failure.

Core Idea

  • Success can be its own enemy.
  • Winning breeds confidence that slides into complacency.
  • Staying successful requires guarding against the comfort that success creates.

How It Works

  • Success validates current methods and reduces the urge to change.
  • Complacency and rigidity set in as conditions shift.
  • The once-winning approach becomes a liability.

Usage Example

  • A market-leading company keeps using the formula that made it dominant, ignores new entrants, and is overtaken — undone by its own past success.

Famous Example

  • Example: Cited as Berlin's Law on the danger of continued success.
  • Why it fits this rule: It names success-driven complacency as the chief obstacle.
  • Verification status: A management maxim; specific attribution is not well verified, but it echoes well-documented incumbent complacency.

Use Cases / Situations Where It Applies

  • Guarding against complacency after wins.
  • Sustaining innovation in successful firms.
  • Personal growth beyond past achievements.

When Not to Use or Common Misuse

  • Do not treat all success as a trap requiring constant upheaval.
  • Do not discard proven strengths out of fear of complacency.
  • Do not manufacture crises unnecessarily.

Rule Invention / Origin

  • Invented by: Attributed to "Berlin"; provenance uncertain.
  • Year of invention: Unknown.
  • Country / context of origin: Popular management literature.

Evidence / Research Basis

  • Consistent with research on incumbent inertia, the innovator's dilemma, and complacency.