20 How the Game Is Evolving the mode of organization artfully designed to prevent change and stay the course. Successful divisional structure had tied the fate of product divi- sions to the life cycle of a single, predefined product. The division, then, like the product, experienced periods of uncertainty, growth, maturity, and decline. A popular solution for this concern, called strategic planning, dominated the practice of management in the United States for more than a decade. It simply called for identifying and assigning product divisions such designations as "question mark," "star," "cash cow," or "dog" and issuing imperatives to "drop the dog," "milk the cow," "watch the question mark," and "invest in the star." By default, it created the strategy of giving up on difficult challenges by simply tagging them dogs. The divisional structure, finally, was challenged from two different directions: participative management and the lean production system. Both were emerging in tandem as alternative bases for new competitive games. 1.8.3 Participative Management The unprecedented generation and distribution of wealth and knowledge resulted in ever higher levels of choice, which changed the nature of social settings and individual behavior in America. But the enhancement of