Here is an enlightening, simple look at the fall of the Soviet Union by Leslie Geib:  The Forgotten Cold War: 20 Years Later, Myths About U.S. Victory Persist.  The primary argument in the article is that the United States came out ahead in the contest due to the economic strength of the United States, and the economic weakness of the Soviet Union.  But, here is an especially revealing section of the article, from a former Soviet insider (from the later days of the Soviet Union).

“You know your country has military superiority over my country, and that your superiority is growing.”
“All modern military capability is based on economic innovation, technology, and economic strength,” he continued. “And military technology is based on computers. You are far, far ahead of us with computers.” Now waving his arms, “I will take you around this ministry and you will see that even many offices here don’t have computers. In your country, every little child has a computer from age 5.”
“We are so far behind because our political leadership is afraid of computers. The political leadership in my country sees the free use of computers as fatal to their control of information and their power. So, we are far behind you today, and will be more so tomorrow.”

And the lesson?  The company (organization, country) with the technological advantage, spread far and wide throughout the entire organization, is ahead in the contest.  So, to be behind, especially far behind, is genuinely deadly.

And, one price tag of such technological reach is that the people at the “top” lose control of some of (much of) the information.  The Soviet Union saw “the free use of computers as fatal to their control of information and their power,” as indeed it was.  But the further you spread the tools, the larger the circle of innovators can grow.

So, in other words, keep innovating, with all the technological tools you can afford (and, be sure you can afford the technologic tools), or be left far behind…