In the last few years, business and brands have learned a thing or two about adversity – mainly, how to Flex, Pivot and Adapt.
In our previous articles and blog posts in this 3-part series, we started a conversation about recalibrating the value equation of employees, customers and brand, as well as why a business-as-usual mindset can no longer be relied on for exponential success.
Now, we want to help you and your team create a pathway that will enable your organization to evolve its corporate culture with three mission-critical steps of how to Flex, Pivot and Adapt.
Flex: Embrace Test-and-Learn
Let’s face it. Every once in a while, Individuals, teams and organizations all like to be given the chance to flex their muscles. Adopting a test-and-learn approach to your bu
siness is a type of isometric exercise for business that will help the organizations and individuals build key task-related muscle, long-term endurance, and company-wide flexibility.
In many cases this is not an easy mode for companies to take on. For organizations with a legacy of top-down management, it will require a purposeful change to loosen the reigns, to empower employees to make decisions and to introduce new internal and external programs.
Most importantly, it will require the company to take further actions based on the data points and learnings from the new programs that have been implemented. And then continue to adjust, tweak and revamp as needed over time.
Pivot: Value Lessons of Failure
This step is possibly the most challenging because valuing lessons in failure requires the entire organization to rethink and reimagine how success is defined.
Executive-level leadership needs to create an environment of exploration, creativity and thinking differently that is expected to push the boundaries of the status quo. In doing so, there is a consider “safety net” for teams to consider new ideas, new methods and new metrics to measure achievement.
To counter this dramatically different type of corporate culture, there also needs to be construct of responsibility and accountability. This will help provide the rationale and criteria for focus areas of change, as well as help determine the levels of resources, budget and time to apply to these areas.
Unfortunately, there is not a single formulation that works for all companies. That would be too easy. The most effective approach for you business will be one that is customized to fit the specific needs and make up of your people and your customers.
The one universal common thread is that you constantly find ways to apply the lessons learned from failures for continuous improvement.
Adapt: Explore and Harness Emerging Technologies
New and emerging technologies are impacting virtually every segment of business. From brand strategy, marketing and content creativity to investment strategies, human resources and recruitment to R&D, finance and production and everywhere in between, companies need to embrace new ways of doing things.
Why is this important? Because your customers are experiencing more personalized and customized experiences with other businesses and brands. And with that, their expectations
do not view companies in silos. If there is a company that is killing it in one industry, the bar has now been elevated for every other industry. Customers no longer view differences from one industry to another or from a B2C company to a B2B company. To them, it is all the same. All enabled through the same types of technology.
So, if you choose to maintain what worked in the past, and you prefer to take a pass on data management, or skip over customer experience or don’t care about exploring how artificial intelligence can help your company grow towards the future, please be warned, you do so at your own peril.
What’s Next
The economics of overcoming adversity in business is easy to acknowledge, but taking action is often a reality that is too daunting, too complex, or just too big to know where to begin. Based on our 3-part blog series, whether your company needs to Flex, Pivot and Adapt, Recalibrate Value or Let Go of the Status Quo Mindset, the most important step is the first one.
With that, try mapping your own vision of change. Then share it with your leadership team for additional input and initial buy-in. Explore if your internal teams can identify and implement small changes for improvement, and continue to expand from there.
If you need help to get started with developing your vision. The team at //NKST is only a phone call, text or email away. Feel free to reach our and connect with us to help you find YOUR next, (er, //NKST).