[Verse 1] Navy admirals sailed the past while planes flew overhead Battleships were glory but the future they should dread Billy Mitchell warned them all the carriers would rise But tradition held them tight, they couldn't see the skies [Chorus] When you can't let go of yesterday Your tomorrow slips away Five lessons from the mighty fall Identity crisis kills them all See it coming, can't adapt Organizations caught in traps [Verse 2] IBM ruled mainframes when the personal computer came Thomas Watson's legacy became their binding chain They built the PC platform but they couldn't change their mind Left billions on the table, nearly left their future behind [Chorus] When you can't let go of yesterday Your tomorrow slips away Five lessons from the mighty fall Identity crisis kills them all See it coming, can't adapt Organizations caught in traps [Verse 3] Kodak's lab created digital photography first But film was still their goldmine, so the future was dispersed Steven Sasson's prototype was locked away from sight They chose to kill tomorrow to keep today burning bright [Bridge] Culture beats strategy every single time When change is knocking, paradigms decline The writing's on the wall but blindness takes its toll Sunk costs and sacred cows will bury every soul [Verse 4] Pentagon planned the war but not what came after Post-conflict planning met with institutional laughter State Department warnings fell on deafened military ears Iraq became the lesson paid for with blood and tears [Verse 5] Nokia ruled the old phones when the smartphone wave arrived Software wasn't in their DNA, they barely survived Hardware excellence couldn't bridge the platform gap Apple wrote the future while they fell into the trap [Chorus] When you can't let go of yesterday Your tomorrow slips away Five lessons from the mighty fall Identity crisis kills them all See it coming, can't adapt Organizations caught in traps [Outro] Navy, IBM, Kodak too Pentagon and Nokia's blues Five giants who could see the change But couldn't break their mental chains
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