How Resilient, Adaptable & Innovative are We?

One of the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic is providing lessons in business survival and innovation. Resilience means protecting business processes and procedures necessary for survival during contingencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It refers to the ability to adapt to an ever-changing economic environment.

On the other hand, adaption for businesses, very similar to Charles Darwin’s definition of adaption in plant and animal species, refers to the ability by a business to refine or reinvent its business model when changes occur in the external environment. Business innovation is about introducing new processes, services, or products to enable business survival and growth. This might include upgrading existing methods or practices, or starting from scratch. 

Since the notion “survival for the fittest” has taken on a whole new meaning in the greatest economic disruption in recorded times, resilience building, adaption and innovation are more than ever primary for business survival. These processes should be blended for best effect as business survival strategies.

Also pertinent to note, is that these needed changes will be useful for business survival during the pandemic but also for the ‘new normal’, however that may look! In a survey by Mckinsey of more than 200 organizations across industries, more than 90 percent of executives said they expect the fallout from COVID-19 to fundamentally change the way they do business over the next five years

 CHARACTERISTICS OF RESILIENCE, ADAPTATION & INNOVATION DURING THESE TIMES?

AGILITY

One of the outstanding constructions of this era is the greater emphasis in moving fast: business agility! Where in the past, business resilience to a disaster was achieved through scenario planning processes like war-gaming, it has become evident that scenario planning is not enough and is increasingly being buttressed by building agility across all business functions. The broad scale of impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its simultaneous flow across the World, means for some businesses such as multinationals, contingency reserves banked in separate jurisdictions might be inaccessible due to the massive supply chain disruption or worse-still, have themselves been decimated.

Accordingly, building resilience by enhancing business agility can be achieved through the following steps:

a)      Unite around  and communicate shared objectives as countermeasures to the pandemic

Leaders should articulate clear objectives which the organization can build upon to survive. These may include re-interpreting existing strategy for these times or where need be, making necessary adjustments. These objectives must be communicated clearly to all individuals to build the cohesion required for implementation.

b)      Plough away inhibitions to rapid business making

Bureaucracy in these times is a danger to business survival. Rapid decision making is key and will remain so even in the new normal. Flat management structures are preferable. Leadership and management should be able to coalesce around the use of the most direct communication channels which may include use of unorthodox communication platforms like Slack, WhatsApp, Facebook and others for quicker business decision making. Pre-COVID period, in the new normal, the use of blended- traditional and un-orthodox communication channels may be needed. However, what is key is that decision making around newly agreed to objectives should be fast.

c)       Facilitate a culture of innovation by empowering staff

There is need to introduce or reinforce innovation by growing more entrepreneurs. In times in which kaizen- continuous improvements across business functions is needed, It is imperative to train and support frontline workers to innovate around shared objectives: be it, tweaks and changes to the business’ operating model due to changing landscape of Government responses to the pandemic, as it is simply foolhardy to adopt a top-bottom approach to address quickly gliding changes. Therefore, all pun is intended, in routing for a “flat out” approach.

d)      Adopt use of supporting technology

An increase in work from home culture due to Governments adopted methods in curbing the spread of COVID-19, alongside, the need to pivot business models to online means that organizations should invest more in technology. This might range from short-term initiatives such as ensuring that all employees have the requisite technologies to work and communicate from home but might also take a long-term view which might include a business evaluating how technology might usefully be integrated into their business model to ensure long-term growth.

TAKE A LONG-TERM VIEW

In the midst of the crisis, business leaders have prioritized immediate survival and understandably, have focused on conserving cash by directing attention to only core business. However, whereas, survival is key, an integrated approach, encapsulating focus on the short-term and long-term i.e. prioritizing both survival and future growth is important. Promoting innovation during the crisis is symbolic of the long term lenses; business leaders should wear to not only sail through the crisis and beyond it!

Some innovative/ adaptive approaches businesses are currently using or might use include:

a)      Variations to sales models.  Partly due to social distancing measures, market engagement with consumers has changed from in-person to virtual. Businesses are grasping the opportunities virtual platforms offer to understand customer needs. There has been an increase in the use and reliance on new technologies such as AI to better understand customers.

b)      New products and services: Modifications to business models permitting business growth even during the pandemic are the norm. A great example of these includes: Sugar making industries in Uganda reorganizing their processes to enable meet the upsurge in demand for alcohol-based sanitizers or similarly, in the sports entertainment world, Multichoice’s compilation of great sporting moments and running these during the period in which sport could not be held during the crisis.

CONCLUSION

Undoubtedly, resilience building, innovation and adaption are required for business survival and growth.  They might be used separately but it is our view that they are best used as a woven strand, deployed on the foundation of clear strategy and communication.

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