Narrator: Imagine the scene: January 2020. Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta Airlines, is on stage at the massive Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, painting a vibrant picture of the future of travel. His company, born from a humble crop-dusting service in 1925, is now a global titan, reporting a staggering $47 billion in revenue. The future looks limitless. Just a few weeks later, that world shatters. The COVID-19 pandemic grounds global travel to a halt, and Delta begins losing $100 million every single day. This wasn't just a downturn; it was an existential crisis, a moment that demanded a radical change in direction or face complete collapse. How does a leader, or an entire organization, navigate a storm of that magnitude?

This dramatic reversal of fortune sets the stage for Gary Shapiro's book, Pivot or Die: Lessons From Leaders Who Navigated Change and Found Success. Shapiro, the CEO of the Consumer Technology Association which runs CES, argues that the ability to pivot—to make an intentional, strategic change in direction—is no longer a niche business school concept. In our turbulent world, it has become the single most critical skill for survival and success.

Narrator: Before exploring the different types of pivots, Shapiro clarifies what a pivot truly is: a deliberate and conscious change in direction. It is not a panicked reaction or a complete abandonment of core principles. The story of CES itself provides a powerful example. In July 2020, with the pandemic raging, Shapiro’s organization made the monumental decision to cancel the in-person CES 2021—an event that brings hundreds of thousands of people to Las Vegas—and go all-digital. This was a massive financial risk, involving refunding exhibitors and investing heavily in a new virtual platform with Microsoft. It was a forced pivot, driven by a crisis, but it was executed with intention. The goal wasn't just to survive; it was to find a new way to serve the technology industry. The all-digital event was a success, but the pivot didn't stop there. For 2022, they pivoted again to a hybrid model, and for 2023, they pivoted toward creating the safest possible large-scale event, focusing on touchless environments and air filtration. Each pivot was a conscious decision, building on the last while adapting to a new reality.

Narrator: For startups, pivoting is often the difference between a forgotten idea and a market-defining product. Shapiro highlights the incredible journey of Jamie Siminoff and his invention, Ring. Initially, Siminoff created a Wi-Fi-connected video doorbell called DoorBot. His pitch on the TV show Shark Tank was a failure; the investors, including Mark Cuban, saw it as a niche convenience item, not a massive business. Cuban famously told him it might become a $20 million company, but not the $70 million he was looking for. Stung by rejection but armed with feedback, Siminoff made a critical pivot. He realized the product’s true value wasn't just convenience—it was security. He rebranded the company to Ring and shifted the entire marketing message to focus on preventing crime and giving homeowners peace of mind. This pivot transformed the product's identity. It was no longer a gadget for missing deliveries; it was a shield for the home. This change in strategy unlocked explosive growth, culminating in Amazon acquiring Ring for over a billion dollars.

Narrator: Sometimes, the world forces a pivot upon you. The COVID-19 pandemic was the ultimate forced pivot for countless industries, none more so than airlines. As detailed in the book's foreword by Delta CEO Ed Bastian, the company went from record profits to near-bankruptcy in a matter of weeks. The pivot required was brutal and multifaceted. Delta had to ground hundreds of planes, slash flight schedules, and fundamentally rethink its operations around health and safety. But the pivot was also about leadership. Bastian had to communicate with radical honesty to his employees and customers, admitting what he didn't know while projecting the confidence that they would get through it. This forced pivot wasn't just about cutting costs; it was about preserving the core of the company—its people and its culture—so that it could re-emerge stronger when the crisis subsided. By 2023, Delta had not only recovered but was once again thriving, a testament to its ability to navigate a storm that could have easily destroyed it.

Narrator: Shapiro argues that failure is often a prerequisite for monumental success, but only if it leads to a pivot. The story of Rovio, the Finnish company behind Angry Birds, is a perfect case study. Before creating their global phenomenon, the founders had developed and released 51 other games. All of them failed. By 2009, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. Instead of giving up, they took one last shot, applying all the hard-won lessons from their dozens of failures. They had learned what kind of art styles appealed to a mass market, what game mechanics were addictive, and how to design for a touchscreen. They poured this knowledge into a simple concept about slinging birds at pigs. Angry Birds became one of the most-downloaded games in history, transforming Rovio from a failing studio into a games-first entertainment empire. Their success was born directly from their willingness to learn from repeated failure and pivot their approach.

Narrator: Pivoting isn't just for companies in crisis. The most visionary leaders pivot when they are at the height of their success. In the early 2000s, Amazon was the undisputed king of e-commerce. But inside the company, leaders like Jeff Bezos were looking deeper. They realized that to run their massive retail operation, they had built an incredibly robust, scalable, and reliable internal computing infrastructure. Most companies would have seen this as a cost center—a necessary expense. Amazon saw it as a new product. They made a radical success pivot, deciding to rent out their infrastructure to other companies. This idea became Amazon Web Services (AWS). Market watchers were skeptical, but Amazon persevered, effectively creating the modern cloud computing industry. AWS is now a primary driver of Amazon's profits, a business far larger than many of its retail competitors. It was a pivot born not of desperation, but of visionary insight into the company's core strengths.

Narrator: Shapiro extends the concept of the pivot beyond the boardroom, arguing that the United States itself is at a critical inflection point. He recounts a chilling dinner with a high-ranking Chinese official who bluntly told him, "China is going up. America going down," while gesturing at the forest of construction cranes transforming the city skyline. This encounter serves as a wake-up call. Shapiro argues that for the U.S. to maintain its status as a global leader in innovation, it must undertake a national pivot. This involves rethinking its approach to high-skilled immigration to attract and retain the world's best talent, fostering a regulatory environment that encourages innovation rather than stifling it with antitrust overreach, and protecting the free exchange of ideas that has long been the engine of American creativity. Without a conscious, intentional pivot, the nation risks ceding its future to more agile and determined competitors.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from Pivot or Die is that adaptability is not a passive trait but an active, conscious strategy. In a world defined by relentless change, the ability to pivot is the ultimate competitive advantage. It is the uniquely human capacity to analyze a situation, learn from failure, imagine a different future, and then muster the courage to change direction. The stories of Delta, Ring, and Amazon are not just business case studies; they are powerful reminders that our path is not predetermined.

The book leaves us with a profound challenge. It asks us to look beyond corporations and nations and consider our own lives. We will all face unexpected crises, failures, and even moments of success that demand a new approach. The question, then, is not if you will need to pivot, but how. What intentional change in direction does your future demand, and will you have the courage to make it?