If you’re an e-commerce company, you may be glancing at weekly trend reports of key performance indicators (KPI) like the conversion rate, average order value and bounce rate to make sure the company’s site is performing as expected.

But looking at these types of reports is akin to glancing at your dashboard gauges while driving. You’re just taking a second to make sure you’re driving at the speed limit, the car’s not overheating, and you’re not running out of gas.

Put simply, Starbucks has lost its Why.

This is significant, because it is the Why that is the source of great innovation in a company. It is that founding purpose that gives a company a filter - clarity about the things they should do and the things they shouldn’t do. If the filter gets fuzzy, then the ability to see clearly goes away. And if the ability to see clearly goes away, then how will a company know if they are traveling in the right direction? Without a clear sense of direction, there is increased focus on product tactics and product strategy and the blinding effect takes hold. Unable to see beyond product will cause the results to falter. As the results falter, the focus on the the product becomes more intense…and so the vicious cycle begins.

What makes the Gulf situation so frustrating however is that a certain amount of unnecessary complexity may have contributed to the disaster in the first place, and since has made it harder to resolve.

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[W]hen we amplify the complexity by adding unnecessary layers of management, confused accountability, slow and unclear decisions, garbled communications, and lack of focus, it’s our own fault.”