The year 2020 will be remembered as a stark turning point for all businesses. The global pandemic wreaked havoc as it swept across the globe. Some prospered in the chaos, but most were devastated. Everything has changed.
Change is certainly inevitable, but the scale and breadth of this change was unprecedented. We still aren’t certain what things will look like on the other side. Fortunately, every catastrophe also represents an opportunity for those with the boldness to seize it. The landscape has been permanently altered. How will you adapt to respond to it and are you flexible enough to do it well?
Organizations evolve with the times or they perish. Deming famously quipped “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” Agility with regards to change (let’s call it changility for fun) is how we leverage these disruptive forces for our benefit. Picture the flurry of choreographed activity aboard a sailing vessel in rough seas. The task before us is much the same. Let’s take a moment to examine several indicators of our own changility.
- Policies and Procedures. Having robust policies defining the uniform execution of the business and procedures that govern the specific practices is essential for operational excellence. However, outdated or mis-crafted policies will often interfere with rapid change because they are rigidly oriented for “normal” business conditions. Examine your governing documents and adjust them properly before attempting to develop your response plan.
- Leadership. No doubt the past few months have severely disrupted your company’s 5-year strategic plan. Resist the urge to panic and instead carefully examine the leadership bench. You will need to have the right person in the right seat for the present challenge – and that might necessitate an adjustment in the leadership lineup. Some leaders have great flexibility and others simply do not. Don’t cling too dogmatically to last year’s plan. You should have a crisis management plan with an adept crisis manager. It’s time to deploy it.
- Culture. Believe it or not culture is linked heavily to talent retention. As the world spins up in the coming months, there will be numerous opportunities for your valuable talent to be lured and poached. Just because they were willing to weather this current storm with you doesn’t mean they are loyal to your flag. Take a good long look at your culture; what you value internally, how employees are treated and invested in, how engaged people are. Satisfied employees will stick around and are typically early adopters of necessary change.
- Communication. Rapid adaptation requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. The military drills for disaster scenarios around the clock. In business, we do not. Emergency activities for a soldier become second nature after repetitive drills, however they are completely unfamiliar to civilians in the midst of chaos. Without excellent communication channels in place in your organization the execution of the change plan at the ground level will suffer greatly. How well does your communications system function?
Changility represents our flexibility and preparedness to adapt to our rapidly shifting surroundings. Countless pivotal forces such as pandemics, market volatility, disruptive technologies, and others will always be present. Our response to them must be carefully measured and thoughtful, yet swift. Skillful changility will serve you well as you negotiate the current storm and the storms yet to come.
Lean in and Lean on.