Before now, I have heard people saying things like: Oh, that is a big bank, that is a big organisation, that is a big corporation. But with the rate of changes and uncertainties plaguing organisations today, I think we shouldn’t be saying such things any more. Instead, we should be saying things like: that is an organisation or company adapting fast to the changing world or that is a company adapting slow to the changing world.
You will agree with me that without giving their consents, organisations globally and Nigeria inclusive have been pushed into the realities of the “VUCA” world meaning Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous.
Before now, organisations can afford to do things their own way, their own time and in their own terms. It was also easy seeing some organisations back then thinking they were fully in charge of events and situations in and around their industry (they were literally saying in their minds “no cause for alarm, we are in control”). Because of their “perceived” size, financial strength and positioning, these organisations find themselves too “big to fail” and alas start breathing the “air of invincibility.” My big question is: can this kind of mindset or thinking still exist in today’s “VUCA” business world? My answer is NO, unless such organisations are ready to go out of business.
With the rate of change, uncertainty and disruptions in the business world of today, it is not advisable for any organisation to still have the “air of invincibility” or “too big to fail’ mentality – no matter how big your balance sheet size is or your market share. It is not safe for organisations to think that they are invulnerable to failure or losing marketplace positioning.
Whenever I am leading sessions with members of the board and executive management, I always point out to them that change is a shift in the external world and not from the internal. If those shifts in the external world are not managed strategically in the best interest of the organisation, there might be a looming danger. A general case for all organisations is that change happens to all of them. But the speed of adapting to the change differs from one organisation to the other. Leaders should take change seriously as planning and change are their primary roles.
Interestingly, it is no more a question of whether an organisation wants to push itself hard or not in adapting to the changing world, now it is a must do. Like we have all known in the time past that some things in life are inevitable and are bound to happen, so also is disruption – and changing landscapes in our organisations.
So, one message I would like to drive home is that “disruption is inevitable in our organisations.” It has come to stay. Any board member or CEO or senior management that does not pay attention to disruptions would be doing that to his or her peril. In the recent times, one of my favourites quotes is the one from Budi Sadikin, the former CEO of Indonesia’s Bank Mandiri, he said “we have to keep disrupting ourselves; otherwise we will be disrupted by somebody else”.
With my experience working with boards, CEOs and business leaders across various industries, I have found out that some business leaders’ major challenge is that they allowed disruptions to catch up with them and eventually it overtook them. They were simply not ahead of the game. Now the only option left for any wise board member, CEO or leader is to be proactive – and to me, being proactive simply means being on top of your game – and avoid fighting fires that would have been prevented.
Years back, I was speaking for Institute of Directors (IoD) on board strategic thinking, and someone said something that got me thinking. She mentioned about three global and formally respected companies that failed and said “these companies are now used as case studies”. Remember I said initially that no company or organisation is too big to fail. Interestingly, a particular organisation might even be No.1 currently in their industry, but that does not guarantee longevity and sustainability if changes from the outside exceed the internal or inside changes in that particular organisation (this might sound harsh, but is the truth).
Individually, we know those big companies that have failed and we also use them to cite examples, but then, the only way we will be different and better than those failed companies is when we learn to run fast and adapt to the changing world – regardless of how big or small your organisation is.
To succeed in these difficult times will require leaders of organisation to push hard and run fast. Like Budi Sadikin (the CEO of Indonesia’s Bank Mandiri) said, let the disruption start internally for organisations, that will help them prepare and get ready for the changing world as opposed to allowing disruptions to jump on them from the outside (Like I usually tell CEOs, they may not be able to predict the future, but they can prepare for the future).
No matter how big an organisation might be, an outside and unforeseen disruption might mean the end of business for some and to others making them irrelevant. Since the changing world has come, pushing hard to adapt to that changing world is in your organisation’s best interest. Always remember that what brought success to your organisation yesterday might not be relevant again today – so we need to move from “this is how it has worked” to “how can it work today” in the midst of uncertainties.
Always, remember that the business world of today has become so unpredictable and interesting that the perceived small companies that are adapting fast to the changing world are beating big companies that are slow.
Finally, the world is changing very fast – so also the business landscape, and personally I think we shouldn’t be saying again things like what I referred to in the first paragraph, but instead we should be saying things like: “this is a fast company and that is a slow company.”
And I like the way Rupert Murdoch captured it, big will not beat small anymore. It will be the “fast beating the slow.”
Feel free to share your views or perspectives.
UJU ONWUZULIKE
