With uncertainty as the new normal, learning agility is the new path to resilience

The past few years have certainly provided more than their share of surprises and uncertainty. As we consider our focus in 2023, it’s clear that companies need to do more than weather the latest storm to be successful as we confront inflation, economic downturns, supply chain insecurity, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and a war for talent, all playing out in ways that are tough to predict. The three years from 2020-2022 certainly did not look anything like the previous three -- and I’m betting the next three years will be markedly different from the last.

With uncertainty and disruption as our new normal, what will leaders be thinking about in 2023? I believe the focus will be on how to best build learning agility across our organizations.

One of my priorities will be fostering curiosity across our Zoetis teams by encouraging colleagues to listen to weak signals; share information and exchange insights more widely; consider outside perspectives and macro trends -- and incorporate these learnings more quickly into our operations. The key is being steadfast in our goals and expectations, but agile and flexible about how we can best achieve them in an ever-changing environment.

There is so much we can learn from other markets to be more effective and disruptive. One example is our A.L.P.H.A. initiative to advance livestock health in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). When we launched the effort five years ago with a grant from the Gates Foundation , animal health diagnostics was scarce in this region that accounts for about 14 percent of the world’s livestock resources. Establishing our own labs would limit the impact of these valuable services in the region, so we adapted our thinking to the needs of the market. By forging alliances with businesses, universities, and governments, we set up local labs – and leveraged them as training centers to educate veterinarians and farmers on proper animal care -- so they in turn could train others, scaling our program across the region. With SSA’s strong mobile network, we devised a way for trained professionals to send traceable samples for testing to the labs using digital LabCards that uniquely identify them. We are now on our way to training 100,000 professionals by 2025 in SSA to address the demand for protein in a rapidly growing population. There is an African proverb that rings true: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go further, go together. A.L.P.H.A. taught us to view survival of the fittest as success of the adaptable.

Disruption is everywhere around us -- from more digital ways of working through tools like Open AI’s ChatGPT (a chatbot that answers questions and takes notes), to near-shoring supply chains. We can make the most of disruption by empowering colleagues to always create their own learning agendas, listen more, and work across the organization to meet shifting dynamics.

Creating a culture of learning agility has guided Zoetis through countless challenges and builds our resourcefulness for innovating amid great uncertainty in 2023. Curious leaders who ask great questions, listen more than they talk, and incorporate these learnings into clear business strategies will be essential for businesses to drive future growth, deliver value for their customers, and meaningfully impact the communities in which they operate. #BigIdeas2023