Lately, I have been delving deeper into the study of evolutionary theory and its application to non-biological entities, such as structures and businesses. This blog article marks the beginning of a potentially brief series, aiming to offer fresh and more profound perspectives on implementing evolutionary changes inside organisations to drive Business Agility.
If we don’t change, when does it become okay?
When there’s no pressing need for change in a company, it’s a reasonable question to ask. There are some businesses that can be passed down through generations with little to no change in what they make or how they make it, other than maybe expanding to accommodate more family members. Sitting here in Bangalore, India, I can’t help but think about the 520-year-old brewery that used to be located just 8 kilometres (5 miles) away. Although there have been minor changes in size and location over the past five hundred and twenty years, the products offered and manufacturing process have remained mostly unchanged. The core business, what they make, and how they make it hasn’t changed in 520 years, even though they have a new building and new technology in their offices. Production equipment changes every generation or so, and transportation and distribution technology changes (trucks, not horses and carts).
Thus, certain companies are quite strong. So when is this accurate? Finding robustness turns out to be as easy as plugging in a few numbers.
Are we robust without any need to evolve?
Are you able to affirmatively respond to the five questions that follow…
- Can you identify the goal(s) of your clients?
- How well-suited are your offerings to meet customer needs?
- Do you think those goals are so ingrained in being human that they won’t evolve throughout time?
- Has the technology and production process used to meet the customer’s needs changed much over the past twenty, fifty, one hundred, two hundred, or five hundred years?
- Is your service or product generally resistant to fads and changing consumer tastes?
Even after reading this, a few bosses would likely maintain the attitude that “nothing stands still” and “we are always changing.”
How can we apply this method to build a strong company?
One must not presume to be robust unless one knows the reason behind the customer’s engagement with one’s firm. On the contrary, you are operating in the dark; tomorrow, those clients might vanish without a trace. Your journey towards resilience begins with understanding your customers’ goals.
The second piece of advice is to keep growing and developing until you reach your full potential. You are unprepared, vulnerable, and unfit for duty.
Find out what your customers use to judge if your service or product is up to snuff in terms of meeting their wants and expectations; this is known as their fitness criterion. In the absence of these standards, you remain oblivious; you have no idea how to advance or what steps to take.
Lastly, evolution occurs for a specific reason. Structures evolve as their functions and uses evolve. The mission, vision, goals, and objectives of a company are dynamic and subject to change as the company evolves.
The fourth reason is that businesses’ offerings evolve over time. This could be due to changes in (a) consumer needs or (b) technological advancements in the production or delivery processes, or the emergence of more efficient, cost-effective, or dependable alternatives.
In the end, fads come and go, and people get tired of a certain colour. Selection will shift over time from one option to another if there are numerous viable ones that can meet a customer’s needs. Because of our social structure, certain people naturally take the lead and the rest follow. People tend to follow the lead of others when faced with a difficult decision among numerous acceptable options; this is particularly true when there is a perceived social status or membership benefit to doing so. As a result of living beings, trends come and go. Everyone enjoys a change of pace every now and again. When fads come and go, a competitor that offers more colour options will outsell you if you stick to just black, like Henry Ford did with his Model T cars. You need enough size to, metaphorically speaking, offer all the colours if you want to be resilient to fleeting fashion.
In summary
The organization has to evolve and progress if it lacks these five things. It must change. The organization needs to be able to lead and manage evolutionary change if it wants to be strong and not go extinct. The organization must be designed to adapt and remain functional throughout time.
No Comment! Be the first one.