SEO - Optimization to an isolated peak

The successful act of optimization involves distinguishing up from down, and then moving in the direction of up.  Sometimes the peak of whatever you are optimizing is obvious.  Sometimes a peak is recognized by the fact that a move in any direction is a move downward.  All too often, gaining the vantage point of a peak merely allows you to see higher mountains and taller peaks across the valley.

Maybe the final victory step in surmounting an optimization mountaintop and the step that springs the trap of being stuck on an isolated peak are one and the same step.  When the higher ground can be achieved only by abandoning lesser goals, many dither.

"Instability and disequilibrium are the norms; optimization won't last long. Sooner, rather than later, a product will be eclipsed at its prime. Indeed, an innovation at its prime increases its chances of being eclipsed. In Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation, a study of innovation in the automobile industry, Utterback concludes that "an unhappy byproduct of success in one generation of technology is a narrowing of focus and vulnerability to competitors championing the next technological generation." The product may be perfect, but for an increasingly smaller range of uses or customers.

"While one product is perfecting its peak, an outsider can move the entire mountain by changing the rules."

Kevin Kelly - New Rules

See: Seth Godin - Getting unstuck: solving the perfect problem

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky
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