What do you do if your strategy is not prepared for future industry disruptions?

A first step in preparing for industry disruptions is to embrace the idea that at some point even the most stable sectors or firms with a significant competitive advantage will decline as the result of disruption. While this statement appears self-evident, a review of business history would provide a sobering set of examples where strong competitors and entire industries were compromised because they did not have processes to identify and respond to emerging disruptions. Commit resources to environmental scanning - attend trade shows, watch the actions of firms in contiguous sectors, monitor both the mainstream and fringe press, do not laugh off novelties. Have your risk assessment team continuously report both strong and weak indicators.

To begin, conduct a comprehensive risk assessment by examining potential disruptors that could impact your industry. Identify technological advancements, regulatory changes, market shifts, or competitive pressures that may pose threats or opportunities to your business. Evaluate the likelihood and potential impact of each disruptor, considering factors such as market trends, customer behavior, and industry dynamics. By understanding these risks, you can develop proactive strategies to mitigate threats, capitalize on opportunities, and strengthen your competitive position in the face of uncertainty, ensuring long-term resilience and success.

Whenever I have developed a strategy document, one of the key pieces is capturing the key assumptions driving the strategic plan and the key risks (sometimes with a countermeasure plan). By capturing the risks and assumptions as part of the standard process, it's relatively easy to reevaluate these two pieces of information when the market trends change, or when customer needs evolve, or when there's competitive action. Strategy is an iterative process so the risks and assumptions are to be reviewed and updated with a regular cadence.

I will start with assessing the impact of disruptors on strategy and objectives to ensure it is aligned with emerging market trends and future dynamics and identifying gaps and vulnerability in the process The next step is to look into competitors positioning, their strategy, capability and impact on competition Organization risk appetite and tolerance for uncertainty is what i follow up afterwards Based on this i will prioritize the risk based on their potential impact and likelihood and build a comprehensive risk mitigation strategy

Risks result from threat and missed opportunity. List all anticipated disruptions that could negatively impact the activity. Ensure completeness and position each disruption into a probability and impact matrix. Select those with high impact, regardless of their probability, as we have suffered from too many black swan events recently and discuss how they can be avoided or mitigated as input to business contingency planning. Then take the high probability and low impact risks and discuss whether they warrant any action. Flip the perspective and discuss opportunities that can arise from the disruptions, e.g. demand for new products, new markets that emerge, and things up for grabs as some actors might fail. Discuss how those can be captured.

In the face of disruption, agility emerges as the most valuable asset for businesses. Agile organizations can swiftly adapt to changing circumstances, seize opportunities, and mitigate risks. They foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, and continuous learning, enabling rapid responses to evolving market dynamics. By embracing agility, businesses can pivot strategies, reallocate resources, and capitalize on emerging trends, maintaining relevance and competitiveness. Moreover, agility fosters resilience, empowering organizations to navigate uncertainty with confidence, capitalize on new opportunities, and drive sustainable growth in dynamic and turbulent environments.

The strategy plans I normally create have a short term component (12/18 months) and a longer term component. The short term component is then transformed into a go to market plan. Because this piece of the plan is more immediate, it's important that as disruptions occur or risks materialize, the strategy is updated and, more importantly, the go to market plan is updated accordingly. I normally create a high level contingency plan for the key risks, so these are also pieces of the updated go to market plan.

Embracing agility in strategy is akin to storytelling. Just as a story unfolds and adapts based on the characters' actions and decisions, so should a business strategy. It's about being flexible and responsive to the plot twists of the market, and being ready to rewrite the next chapter of your corporate narrative based on these changes. This approach fosters a culture of innovation, where new ideas are the seeds of the next story arc, keeping your brand story engaging and relevant.

- Embrace agility in strategy to respond quickly to disruptions. Adopt shorter, adaptable strategies over rigid long-term plans, enabling you to pivot as needed. - Foster a culture of innovation where new ideas are welcomed and quickly implemented. An agile mindset will help you navigate disruptions and maintain a competitive edge.

In the context of agility, I regularly miss the term and concept of “playfulness.” Being more opportunistic faster than others is not a strategy, and not a fertile ground for innovation. Playfulness alone is not a strategy either, but an essential characteristic of strategic approaches in the face of industry disruption.

This is an expensive proposition, but one way to avoid being disrupted is by being the disruptive force. In my experience, this tends to be resource intensive but it becomes difficult to implement if the company culture is not setup to embrace innovation. By definition, a new strategy and innovations are going to change the way things are done at the company. Therefore, they are always a type of transformation that will cause some internal resistance. So make sure you consider the company culture when embarking on implementing a culture of continuous innovation and disruption.

Continuous innovation is essential for businesses to survive industry disruptions as it fuels adaptation, differentiation, and resilience. By constantly evolving products, services, and processes, businesses stay ahead of competitors and meet changing customer needs and preferences. Innovation drives efficiency gains, cost reductions, and revenue growth, enhancing competitiveness and sustainability. Moreover, it fosters a culture of creativity and agility, empowering organizations to respond effectively to market shifts and technological advancements. Businesses that prioritize continuous innovation can not only withstand disruptions but also thrive and lead in their industries, securing long-term success and relevance.

If your company is already lagging behind the market leaders when it comes to technological development, more often than not, trying to catch up is doomed to failure. But there is another solution - perhaps you should think about what technological changes will take place in the market "the day after tomorrow", i.e. in 3-5 years, and try to win by mastering these technologies before even the market leaders think about it.

- Foster continuous innovation to withstand industry disruptions. Invest in research and development, and explore new ways to improve processes, enhance customer experiences, and enter new markets. - Cultivate a culture that encourages experimentation and embraces change. By doing so, you'll not only prepare for future disruptions but also position yourself as a potential disruptor in the industry.

In the face of industry disruption, “innovation” may well be fundamentally different from the usual innovation trajectory, if and to the extent the disruption entails a strong element of inferiority (as is by definition). If so, being innovative is rather described by doing things differently, and more appealing (“playfully”) than by doing things in a technically more sophisticated way.

In my strategic advice, I often highlight the need to continuously develop the skills of the team. An example is a company that, following my advice, invested in training workshops on the use of AI. This allowed them to better adapt to change and significantly improve their work efficiency. This company has particularly focused on teaching collaboration between different departments, which has significantly increased the company's operational capabilities. As a result, even in the face of unexpected industry 'turbulence', they will be able to maintain business continuity and grow in line with strategy. This definitely provides a competitive advantage.

In case you're already behind the market leaders (or feel you are), investing in technology skills may not be the best strategy. You may be better served by creative skills. Technology is rapidly commoditizing, but that always leaves room for those who think proactively, ahead of the curve.

As part of your program to upskill, make sure that you have a robust sales enablement program. Marketing can be at the forefront of providing the sales team with the awareness of the disruptions as well as they can play the central role to develop customer facing content to assure the sales team maintains their credibility when talking to customers about the disruptions.

- Invest in training programs focusing on latest industry trends and technologies to keep team skills up-to-date. Encourage cross-functional learning to build a versatile workforce. - Equipping your team with the right skills enables them to adapt to new challenges and drive your strategy forward in uncertain times.

Ask yourself every day: If I was not already doing what I am doing today, would I start it tomorrow? If yes, how am I doing it to day and why? Are there better ways of doing it, using most recent technology (digital, AI)? What new things could I do within my field of competence and expertise with now available new means that I could not do when those were absent?

If the changes / disruptions are more permanent and longer term, then being resilient will not significantly help. So it's important to understand the nature of the disruptions because in some cases you may need agility to quickly adapt and in some other cases you will need resilience to wait for things to return to normal.

Make sure that you have leading and lagging indicators as part of your data. It will be useful to review the leading indicators regularly and frequently because it will be through these that you will be able to "forecast" when your targets are at risk and/or when market trends are changing.

Define your market by the stable customer needs or problems being solved - not transient products or solutions. Businesses that view themselves as "problem-solving units" rather than "product-selling units" maintain an essential adaptability. Core human needs like mobility, entertainment, or knowledge-sharing persist while solutions evolve across generations due to technological advances. Music streaming replaces physical albums, but the underlying need for auditory experiences remains constant. By anchoring strategy around immutable customer needs, organizations develop a disruption-resistant vision. They can then continually ideate solutions optimized for those problems, regardless of whatever industry shifts occur.

If your strategy is not positioned to handle future industry disruptions, it's time to reexamine and adjust your existing plan. Pinpoint any gaps and reshape your strategy to address unforeseen circumstances. A key component of an effective approach is being able to manage change and risk, as it ensures agility and adaptability. These elements fortify your strategy, ensuring it can weather any storm. If these aspects are overlooked, the sustainability of your strategic plan may be compromised. Keep in mind, it's crucial to stay updated with industry trends and to harness technology for swift transitions. By fostering a culture of perpetual learning and growth, you can successfully navigate whatever challenges lie ahead.

1. Conduct a thorough assessment: Evaluate current strategies, market trends, and potential disruptions to identify gaps and vulnerabilities. 2. Foster innovation and agility: Cultivate a culture of innovation, invest in research and development, and embrace agility to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. 3. Develop contingency plans: Engage in scenario planning, build strategic partnerships, and invest in talent development to prepare for and mitigate the impact of future disruptions.

The "core strategic" elements is not only the plan itself but also the people planning and executing. => Building a team with excellent capability of adapting to new challenges and ability to drive forward in uncertain times which allows your organization to be agile in flexible environment. Also, immediately adjust plan whenever you realize that your strategy is not prepared for the industry disruption. [Regular checkup on updates and trends about the industry is required]

To ensure your strategy remains agile and responsive to industry disruptions, it’s crucial to regularly review and adjust your approach. Conduct strategy evaluations at least bi-annually to stay aligned with market dynamics. Implement clear mechanisms for rapid operational adaptation, enabling your team to pivot smoothly when necessary. Additionally, maintain real-time monitoring of strategic performance to ensure that the insights gained are actionable and facilitate efficient iteration.