Essential element #4 – Organisational Adaptability
Reframe: When incrementalism isn’t the best option.
In today’s continually changing business landscape, incremental tweaks aren’t always enough. You might find your company is enjoying a period of stability, where routines and processes become second nature. But when those internal inefficiencies and external disruptions build up, a sudden, transformative change isn’t just inevitable—it’s essential. That’s where the punctuated equilibrium model comes in.
Adapted from evolutionary biology, the punctuated equilibrium model illustrates that companies often remain in a state of equilibrium for extended periods. However, as pressures from outdated practices, market shifts, or new technologies build up, a tipping point is reached. At this juncture, incremental improvements become inadequate, necessitating a comprehensive overhaul.
This model is particularly relevant for businesses that have become complacent in their routines. When disruption finally occurs, it requires a radical rethinking of strategy, operations, and even culture.
Rethink: Needs Before Wants
As Henry Ford famously concluded, if he had given customers what they wanted, he would have focused on creating ‘faster horses’ instead of motor cars. As a visionary, he was able to concentrate on the public's future needs rather than their current wants. This attribute of envisaging the future enabled him to create a whole new category of transportation before we knew we needed it.
There is a danger that leaders become overly focused on current operational desires and too reactive to client requests, which keeps them anchored in the present. They allocate too much of their time and thinking to incremental improvements and not nearly enough to radical shifts.
This ‘trap’ is easy to fall into, as the noise from the operational demands of your business can be deafening and relentless. The key is to find a quiet space and dedicate sufficient time to visualise new ideas, alternative ways of working, and innovative solutions.
What will the future needs of my current clients be?
In which direction are most of our competitors heading, and is there a viable alternative direction worth exploring?
What are the demand curves telling me about the popularity of our current offerings?
Leadership needs to focus on these types of questions before you can begin to adapt your current organisational structure and processes to align with the future needs of your clients and customers.
Refocus: No Sacred Cows
Become the ‘transformer’ instead of the ‘builder’; this evolution is essential for your leadership style during times that require radical change. You must advocate for change and challenge the status quo to build both the necessary momentum and urgency for creating a future-proof version of the current company.
You must take a stand here and cannot remain neutral. You are either supporting the status quo or the yet-to-be-defined future version. Your voice carries significant weight during regular times, and in periods of transformation or disruption, that weight increases exponentially.
You need to communicate the reasons clearly and frequently so that others understand this is not a micro adjustment but a required macro strategic, operational, or tactical shift.
Leaders need to be prepared to dismantle what they have previously painstakingly built if the consensus is that a certain service, way of operating, or strategic approach is not deemed to be required in the future. There can be no sacred cows.
Organisational adaptability is a mindset as much as an attribute. The longest-lasting organisations are those that accept adaptability as an essential element and are comfortable continually challenging their own status quo.
