The financial turmoil and economic downturn are changing the rules for everyone, by the hour. Governments and businesses are making policy on the hoof in response to the immediate pressures of current events. So whither all the carefully laid strategic plans for business development? Probably in the bin, I suspect.
Nevertheless, this crisis is the ideal time for sorting ourselves out. More of the same is no longer an option, to survive we will need to do things differently.
Our strategies have been turned upside down and tactical management is the order of the day. For the forseeable future we are now in the realm of making it up as we go along. Non-discretionary spending has already been impacted, due to the recent uncertainty, and it could now dry up completely.
But wise enterprises will not just kick their heels in the dust, muttering about external influences, they will recognise the opportunity to look at the fundamentals of their business and spot opportunities for business optimisation.
With luck this will mean that more organisations start to realise their natural role as living systems, that interact with other living systems, within complex ecosystems populated by uncertainty, ambiguity and variety. This realisation might also make more people aware of the need to move forward from the redundant IT-centric paradigm.
The current business climate is precisely why I have developed The Effective Enterprise Framework™ – because it helps organisations to make sense of an uncertain, ambiguous and complex environment.
