Building Strategies That Get Better With Time

Remember when Netflix was just a DVD delivery service? When Amazon only sold books? What if I told you these weren't pivots - they were inevitable evolutions built into the original strategy?

Drawing from my experience in commercial strategy and market development, I've observed something intriguing: The most successful long-term strategies don't just survive change - they feed on it. They're designed not just to work now, but to work better as the market evolves.

Think of strategy like a surfer riding a wave. The best surfers don't just react to the water's movement - they anticipate it, position for it, use it. Their success comes not from fighting the wave's force, but from understanding how to harness it.

The key lies in what I call "evolutionary anchors" - strategic elements that strengthen with market shifts rather than weaken. These aren't just flexible components; they're features specifically designed to extract advantage from change.

Think about Amazon's early decision to prioritize customer reviews. As their product range expanded, these reviews became increasingly valuable, creating what economists call a network effect. Each new product category made the review system more valuable, and the growing review system made each new category more successful.

This isn't just luck - it's architectural brilliance.

The science behind this approach is rooted in complex adaptive systems theory. As markets evolve, they naturally create new connections and patterns. Strategies that include evolutionary anchors are positioned to strengthen with each new pattern that emerges.

But here's what most people miss: Building evolutionary anchors isn't about predicting the future. It's about creating components that extract value from change, regardless of direction.

I learned this first-hand in a previous role, where we built a marketing framework that initially seemed unnecessarily robust. But with each market shift, each new competitor, each technology change, our framework didn't just survive - it became more effective.

How to build evolutionary anchors into your strategy:

Start with perpetual problems. Look for challenges that won't be solved by technology or market evolution. Customer trust, decision fatigue, information overload - these issues often intensify with progress.

Next, design solutions that strengthen with use. The more people use them, the more valuable they become. Think of Google's search algorithm - each query makes it smarter.

Finally, build in feedback loops that accelerate learning. Your strategy should get smarter faster than your competition.

The beauty of this approach? Time becomes your ally, not your enemy. Market changes amplify your advantages rather than erode them.

As we close out January 2025, ask yourself: Are you building strategies that will weather change, or ones that will feast on it? The difference might just determine your next decade of success.