Agility, Adaptability and Resilience for Competitive Advantage

It is a gross understatement to say that this pandemic event has not been easy, a significant disruptor of our work and personal lives, a shock to the system. How fast life can change, one day, regular routines, then the next day we are experiencing a global pandemic, an economic meltdown, borders being closed, #social distancing and working from our homes, if we were fortunate to continue working. Together, we have rallied and prioritized safety and shown the spirit of our communities.

As our thoughts turn to how to exit this unprecedented event, the big question is, what now? How will the new normal be defined? There will be few industries that will avoid being restructured, reimagined, reinvented, retooled or worst case removed. Workers have been and may continue to do tasks that might have ever been contemplated, learning new skills, adjusting expectations and general work habits.

Agility (willingness to learn and apply that learning), adaptability (embracing change), and resilience (the ability to recover from challenges) will be key terms for a challenging framework of business. Those companies that have been agile, adaptive and resilient through the pandemic event will be stronger as the new normal unfolds, whatever it may be.

During these times, leadership is genuinely tested; some leaders will thrive and rise to the occasion while others may fall short. While we are in difficult times, in every event, there is an opportunity to emerge stronger, to build off the lessons learned and gain a new competitive advantage in the marketplace. Your speed to recovery, as an outcome of your agility, adaptability and resilience, versus your competitors, will be one element of a competitive advantage strategy.

Figure 1: Competitive Advantage – Speed to Recovery

Organizations have been stepping up in the short term to convert production to essential needs goods such as ventilators, sanitizers, masks, and gowns, to mention a few. Perhaps, as we exit the pandemic, this innovation may be a trigger for many companies to retool, reinvent and realign their capabilities and create new opportunities.        

As we begin to look to the future, there is and will continue to be uncertainty and volatility in the market that will influence decision making, resource dynamics and leadership skills. This new environment will challenge us to be iterative and fast learners, applying what we know along with what we have learned within our market uncertainty, organizational uncertainty and resource uncertainty. These elements will be reflected in and linked to agility, adaptability and resilience we build into business management performance.

This raises several questions to reflect on as you and your company prepare to exit this event:

1)    How has your leadership style changed; does it continue to evolve?

2)    What crucial decision knowledge have you learned and or gained from your experience?

3)    How have you applied your key learnings to date?

4)    How or will these learnings be carried forward as you begin to exit current events?

5)    What is your plan to return to a new normal, do you have to reinvent or reimagine your operations?