A surprising number of people have commented on LVI’s bankruptcy filing – probably because LVI has been a conspicuous leader in the industry’s shift to a largely digital sales strategy. LVI’s business failure was certainly more startling than it would have been if LVI had simply been a traditional Massachusetts-based printer.

But there’s also a larger lesson in LVI’s difficulty: It’s a sterling example of a company with the right vision, but the wrong timetable for implementing that vision.

Despite massive changes in LVI's cost structure, the company was unavoidably burdened by many of the fixed cost elements of the old litho printing business model - costs which couldn't be managed below a certain point without losing the ability to meet customer needs.

Meanwhile, the company went about selling its new model of print optimization – a solid concept that takes time to succeed. Simply put, they weren't able to keep feeding the elephants while also on a visionary quest for greener pastures. So while they were building a model for the long-term, they ran out of food.

It's a crucial lesson about pioneering - and about managing through a fundamental change in a business model - which forms the core of WhatTheyThink’s Print CEO Forum in Chicago, before PRINT 09: How can CEOs find the right balance between being forward-thinking and being realistic about implementing their plans.

With all of the new technology driving the relentless changes in our industry, we’re still burdened with the day-to-day issues of bringing in enough work to cover our costs while we’re on the way to constructing an entirely new business model. In that sense, printing’s economics remain unchanged: Highly fixed costs and highly variable sales are a recipe for unhappiness.

Maybe Goldilocks was right about managing change: not too little and not too much. Somewhere in between is just right. It’s not a simple matter of choosing between being heroic or timid. At the Print CEO Forum, we’ll be discussing how to find that balance.