Why is Adaptability so essential?
In 2020, the average lifespan of a company on the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index was just over 21 years, compared with 32 years in 1965. There is a clear long-term trend of declining corporate longevity with regards to companies on the S&P 500 Index*. The privilege of being a high turnover is not enough anymore for companies lifespan. There are several reasons behind this drastic change, however, I think one of them is more important. Adaptability.
This is not big news for us, but it seems still a status quo for companies. Current tools and trends like, Design Thinking, UX, and Consumer centricity all of them focusing only on one thing in the end — consumer expectations and habits. All of Those companies would believe all processes and guidelines help them alive enough for centuries but it doesn’t. The changes in customer expectation transformation are getting more drastic. All GPS devices turned to Google Maps, SLRs to SmartPhones, Blockbuster to Netflix. It is clear to see that like product lifecycle, now we have a clear company lifecycle.
Are only companies that need to adapt? What about Project Managers?
The Ultimate Skill for Project Leaders is Adaptability. That is why companies need to find Project Managers who not only handle projects, way to find handle the whole changes in Value Stream, Processes, and Consumer Habits. The only person who sees the holistic product life cycle chain with all learnings in the journey is only Project Managers. Those Project Managers, in the meantime, should have in their skill set 3 keys to unlock adaptability skills.
Evolution: Changing, Responding, and Adjusting. Evolution should be viewed as the potential for infinite form and innovation, or as a focus on continuous improvement.
Resilience: The ability to absorb change and disruption, keep all options open, and deal with an unexpected future is critical for adaptation and survival. Learning to deal with the unknown through resilience while remaining focused on the core purpose is vital.
Flexibility: This is somehow fixed by company flexibility, however, it should be understandable of being flexible for all options on your desk and ready to implement them.
With the advent of more adaptive environments and Project Managers, we can see more companies shifting their vision to a value maximizer in such a complex environment.
