Know When to Hold Them and Know When to Fold Them

Two ideas about strategy that are seemingly in contradiction

Move fast and pivot

To survive in the face of massive change, companies must be highly agile. Markets are changing, customer expectations are changing, how we run our businesses is changing… technology, organizational culture, sales approaches, work from home, customer service, economic turmoil, political upheaval, new safety protocols… it’s exhausting just to write this list. Winners in a world turned upside down are those that can adapt most quickly.

Flexibility and speed deliver competitive advantage

On the other hand, focus and consistency are fundamental to effective strategic execution. Changing direction too often confuses and frustrates staff, wastes resources, and does not allow any strategy to gain traction. Trying to keep every option open means that no single option can be pursued with discipline. Change is good, but too much change is lethal.

How do you balance these opposing ideas? 

Don’t just revel in change or embrace change…drive change. Be nimble, fast, adaptable, and agile. Be able to turn on a dime and move in another direction when necessary. Ah, but that is the key; when it is “necessary.”

Do NOT change unless the market absolutely demands it!

Listen to your customers, watch for shifts in your industry, observe your competition, collect data, examine trends, identify patterns, and when everything points to a real need for change, make it swiftly and decisively.

Betting on the future

I’m not much of a gambler, but the image that comes to mind is sitting at a Las Vegas blackjack table. Do you stick with the hand you have been dealt and push in all your chips, or do you fold with the confidence that the next hand will be better? Do you bet that your current strategy is a winner, or do you abandon it in hopes that a new strategy will play out better? Or do you get up from the table and decide to play a completely different game? You’ve only got a limited number of chips, so choose wisely.

– John