Thriving in Chaos

Turbulence. Volatility. Complexity. Ambiguity. Uncertainty. Accelerating disruption. Increased transparency. No rock to hide under. No cloud to obscure the ridiculousness. Frustration. Pain.

I love businesses that are “hard.” It makes it all worth doing.

Kiss goodbye all the nostalgic ideas of stability. The velocity and transparency of running a business dictate perpetually turbulent waters ahead. Good luck predicting what will happen on the go-forward. Business plans used to look five years out. Now, you can crystal ball a year into the future, but you better be course-correcting every ninety days.

If it was easy then anyone could do it. And, you don’t want that.

jerome kellert, My Earliest mentor

If you are leading in today’s always-on environment, figuring out how to create environments of high-performance to accelerate your business is job #1. Just be prepared to do it amidst the marketplace chaos.

While there are foundational elements to protect your business, there is no silver bullet to insulate you and your company from the hard work ahead.

Four Tactics to Fight Business Chaos

Here are four essential tactics to help you fight against the difficult terrain.

1. Core Values – To operate in uncertainty, and accelerate your decision-making process, your company needs Core Values. When values are clear, decisions are easy. If you want to empower your people to act decisively, make sure everyone knows the rules of engagement as a company. Clarity on this topic changes who companies operate. And, make sure that your values include some concept of responsiveness.
2. People – Have you hired the right people with the right mindset? Your people better be prepared to lead from the front, back and both sides. Swivelheads. If they are looking to punch a clock from 9-5 and mosey on down Easy Street, they missed the Stability Era by about 60 years. Talk about nimbleness and openness to change during your interview process. Ask about a previous business experience where they undertook great changes to survive and thrive. To accelerate, we must choose people who aren’t going to be caught sitting and watching the paint dry.
3. Strategic changes – When values are clear and you have the right people in place, the implication of a strategic change hurts less. I’ve witnessed too many companies stay on a strategic plan that wasn’t working because well, it was the strategic plan. While admirable and disciplined, if it isn’t working, it isn’t working. Trace a new path. Effective companies re-trace it every ninety days anyway. In fact, Private Equity (or their companies) have invented a term: the pivot. This is implicitly stating, “We were wrong. We are shifting strategy.” In short, don’t be so blinded by your strategy that you don’t change and course correct.
4. Culture – Culture is the only sustainable advantage. The world changes, the market changes, the strategy changes, but the combination of your values + people creates an enduring advantage. A word to the wise: who you promote is an explicit indication of the people and the values you endorse. Make sure you are thoughtful in selecting those to promote and ensure she represents the cultural norms and performance you expect. Others will notice. Promise.

As CEOs, we don’t have a choice whether we operate in chaos anymore. But, effective leaders focus on fundamentals and create environments to perform.