According to this article by strategy giant Booz and Company, it appears that competition and other market forces are driving down profit margins in the big pharmaceutical market.  Sound familiar?  Sounds like everyone got tossed around in this economy.

My favorite line in the article:  ”The next decade for the pharmaceutical industry is shaping up to be not only a period in which the leading companies don’t know what’s going to happen, but one in which they can’t know what’s going to happen, because so many of the conditions under which they operate are in such an unusual state of flux.”

I agree.  All of us are in a state of flux.  So here’s an idea:  let’s stop trying to predict what’s coming up next.  Let’s stop sticking our finger in the air to see which way the wind blows.  Because that dang wind can change directions in a heartbeat.

Instead, let’s focus on pockets of profitability.  What do we do best and who needs that?  Can we take our gifts to a new sandbox?  And the more important question:  how can we deliver on that need in a different way than before?  Let’s venture out some and find new folks who need what we have.  It’s time to hedge our bets with a little diversification.

This article tells me that:  (1) the days of steady, predictable growth are gone; and, (2) now is the time to make strategic bets.  A lot of good examples here.  Check it out for yourself.