The term “missing link” originally comes from Charles Darwin’s evolutionary biology. Behind this is the assumption that during the emergence of new species there must have been transitional forms that possess characteristics from the old and the new species. As long as these forms are not found, it is not tangible what concrete properties they have. Once discovered, they represent “connecting links” between the other species.
Transferred to the corporate world, there are two options: Once Connecting Links are discovered, you can either wait or take action. However, until these are exposed, they remain intangible and strategically insufficiently concrete as missing links. In many companies, the gap between strategy and implementation or knowledge and action is large and systemic due to existing structures. Between the possibilities and potentials on the one hand and existing realities on the other, these missing links are present, but as long as they cannot be named, they are rarely actively explored or searched for. Instead, there is no deviation from the actual strategy in day-to-day operations and “business as usual” is carried out.
The missing link principle tries to turn the missing links into connecting links. In addition, there are individually specific organizational and business aspects that must be taken into account. In the context of one’s own action environment, there are five dimensions that are considered:
– Dealing with change
– Ability to innovate
– Global agility
– Flexibility of the business model
– Social commitment
If entrepreneurial evolution is developed systematically based on these five areas, it can result in a competitive advantage that can become a highly dynamically adapted process. In the digital environment, competition and customers are in a constant state of flux and missing links are more frequent and occur in shorter periods than before.
Based on the definition, missing links or parts of their properties are quite normal areas of a company at their respective times, and it is only in the temporal rearview mirror that one recognizes that these links were a transitional form that no longer need to exist today.