Corporate leaders have come to consider change as a constant, but the great paradox is that change itself is changing. Change is now more complex, more disruptive and much, much faster. The result is that it is now much more difficult to predict the future, based on what is currently known, or on what has happened in the past. The change associated with digital, then artificial intelligence, and now the Internet of Things is radically changing the way people live their lives, the way the communicate with each other, and the way in which they connect with their work.

Change seems to be compounding – each layer expanding upon the previous one – making it almost impossible for businesses and marketers to keep up.

Leaders need to change their approach to change in five areas:

1. Strategy – change can no longer be addressed incrementally. It often takes complete zero-basing of previous strategic roadmaps and reassessing the company’s ability to leverage the change, and where to divest or mitigate impact. Predictive analytics, based on historical data will in many areas lose its value; requiring instead more forethought into possible scenarios that may be modelled in ‘what-if’ applications. Core assumptions underpinning strategic models need to be thoroughly exposed and validated.
2. Business Models – adaptability and agility are crucial; and not inherent in industrial-age business models. New economic models today need to factor in emotion as a major predictive driver, and change the way in which they engage with markets and suppliers alike.
3. Leadership – many more mature leaders have not had to deal with the complexities of business that have surfaced over the past 5-10 years; and as such have not built up the resilience needed to steady the helm. They lack the malleability of mindset required to continually meet crisis situations with an open mind – and be open to jump over logical fences to pursue business in radically new ways. Leadership mindsets need to be retractable, adaptable and bouncable.
4. Operations – continuous transformation needs to be the new norm. Investment in in-house technology needs to be reduced, in favour for cloud-based infrastructure and applications. This is the only way in which a company can rapidly flex and adapt to the complexity and speed of change. Many ‘old school’ directors struggle with new approaches, and insist on keeping up the old guard – to their demise.
5. Human Resources – need the same adaptability as technology, with more outsourcing, contracting and ecosystem relationships with strategic partners.
6. Adaptability for tomorrow is as much unlearning the lessons of the past, as it is predicting the models of the future. Mindsets need to change. Measures need to change. Relationships need to change. And, conversations need to change.

Only when leaders understand the interplay between these four attributes, will they fully understand the adaptability and resilience drivers needed to sustain and grow their businesses into the future.

Author: Gail La Grouw. Insight Mastery Program Director, and Strategic Performance Consultant for Coded Vision Ltd.