Rodolphe Durand is the Joly Family Professor of Purposeful Leadership at HEC Paris and academic director of the Purpose Centre
Every executive faces a deceptively simple question: how to manage increasing complexity? Four recent studies published in respected management journals help leaders better understand how to navigate the challenges with nuance.
Consider companies’ product offerings. Traditional wisdom is to differentiate — a simple approach. A subtler approach is optimal distinctiveness, not only from competitors but from past practice.
When Juan Bu et al analysed more than 2,000 car models in “Multilevel optimal distinctiveness” (2022), they found a sophisticated balancing act: successful automakers’ designs differ sharply from industry norms while maintaining consistency within their own brand families. A BMW should look distinctively BMW — and distinctively not Mercedes.
But when a company’s overall design is already unconventional, it can afford more variation. The penalty for an unusual model is smaller when customers expect a brand to push boundaries. The key is managing a double set of values and expectations simultaneously, enjoying more freedom to transgress when distinctiveness is already established.
