From the back: "'The Keystone Advantage'" is taken directly from biology - it refers to "keystone species", which proactively maintain the healthy functioning of their entire ecosystem for a simple reason: their own survival depends on it."
One of the more formative books for me, I mean, I go back and give this a read every time I launch a new product or join a new organization, for a couple reasons:
First, it's one of the canon texts of business platform theory. Mostly because it is great insight, especially for 2004. Remember all of the crazy stuff that was happening in 2004 and you'll see just how prescient this was.
Second, the approach of using biology as a metaphor for organization ecosystems was eye opening for my 17-year-old-bright-eyed-bushy-tailed-self in '04, but it's been proven incredibly useful in the years after working on a bunch of problems in both warfare and business.
@shloky thanks for the endorsement! I am glad you enjoyed the book. The insights were drawn from the tech bubble of the late 90s... they are particularly interesting in light of the current economy. Currently working on a sequel to the book and having a lot of fun with that... let me know if you have any suggestions for what to focus on!
The Keystone Advantage