The case of how the shared workspace company We work turned from being a darling of American business to bankruptcy is an example of a long line of business failures stemming from senior management's inability to do so adapt to a big change that has happened in the world.

Many do not see the iceberg ahead, but some can change course

The RMS Titanic sank in 1912 because everyone thought it was unbreakable. Human arrogance and pride is a flaw we all have. Even C-level executives have it despite their thoughts to the contrary, and old practices that worked well in the past are hard to change.

Take for example Nokia, a giant in the analog mobile sector. When Apple launched its iPhone and Google came out with the Android operating system, the Finnish giant that had previously turned from the radio business to the lumber industry to mobile phones decided to set it apart with its own Symbian operating system. The market disagreed and soon after Nokia lost its industry lead alongside players like Sony Ericsson and Motorola to newer phone makers like Samsung and Apple.

When Netflix was a weak startup, they offered themselves for sale for $50 million Blockbuster, which turned down Netflix's movie-by-mail DVD business. During that time, Blockbuster was the giant in the VHS/DVD rental business, with a retail store presence on many street corners. Unfortunately for them, they failed to recognize the changes that had occurred, namely that video streaming technology had become free. Netflix on the other hand was pretty humble about it recognize displacement and is now one of the leading giants of NASDAQ.

Connected: How Pivoting Saved My Business When Things Didn't Go to Plan

Often those with great educational backgrounds fail to recognize these changes, especially if success is all they have encountered with the status quo. After all, it's hard to ask why you're successful. Most people will simply take it for granted, and in some cases, decide that their special management skills are what led to their success.

On the positive side, an example of a major strategic shift that was successfully executed was when Intel under the late CEO Andrew Grove with co-founders Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore led the turnaround of their business from memory chips to the new microprocessor business in the 1970s. It's easy to make that change as a business if the current business is losing money, but harder if it's making a lot of money. In Intel's case, they decided that if new management came in, they would switch to microprocessors because of the upcoming personal computer (PC) business with IBM and others, so they decided to do that instead.

Grove pointed out in his bestselling management book, Only the paranoid survive, that every company and industry can face in its future what are called Strategic Inflection Points. These are key moments when management needs to realize that something big has changed and if a company is unable to pivotthe company may face a decline or even extinction.

So how should we act?

The number of eventual business failures that have graced the covers of major business magazines bears this out haughtiness it's everywhere. A true business leader, in order to remain successful throughout his career with the company, must also display some humility.

What is worse is that we often try to protect our positions and use them confirmation bias, even if the data supporting our argument is random to begin with. It means that the data, although it seems to support your position, does not.

The first step we must take is to admit that as human leaders, we are not infallible. Each of us can make mistakes. Appearing on the cover of a business magazine and being invited to speak at prestigious global forums like Davos in Switzerland or sitting in the C-Suite does not make us any less human.

Next, learn some stats, such as how to use one XY scatter plot. At least enough to know that you need enough data to show a true correlated trend. Learn not to infer a trend from a random set of data that doesn't even show a line or a curve if plotted. Just because you tossed three heads doesn't mean the next coin toss will be the same as before.

The rooster's life before the ax falls on his head is very good. The turkey is well fed and handled gently. In short, past performance is not an indicator of future performance.

If your data already shows a trend, don't suffer analysis paralysis just because you are unable to shift gears. If it's time to change course, just do it. Discuss with your team what to do if you are wrong and actually make that change in direction. Have a pre-approved exit strategy from the position you initially took, no matter how strong you were. If something has changed, be ready to roll.

Connected: Knowing when – and how – to pivot is key to your business's survival. Here's what you should do.

Don't disappear

Having the ability to recognize when something has changed and the willingness to abandon past success that may no longer hold true for a new, uncharted course is part of good business leadership.

It is not without risk, but it is necessary. It can last your business for decades to come if your company possesses this skill – otherwise, you'll become just like the dodots and dinosaurs.