For years, as we’ve guided leaders through the strategic planning process, we’ve challenged people to not just do more of the same, but to challenge assumptions of their business, their customers, and their beliefs on the way things are or should be. To find ways to try new approaches, or try doing the same things in a different way. Instead of waiting for their industry or business to be disrupted, they disrupt. Regardless of the circumstances, this is something that is very hard for most organizational leaders to do.

 Today, our lives and businesses have been disrupted in one way or another. A forced disruption. One can choose to look at the current situation and be lost, managing only the short-term, waiting for things to go back to “normal”. Or we can leverage this time and put together a new business operating system; one that is better than before.  This is an opportunity to reset the business. Put some urgency behind changes that were more difficult to do when everything was great.

So, we have identified a few points we’d like you to consider during this time of opportunity.

Recreate the business.

If you were to start your business over today, what would you do differently? Ask yourself if you’d even go into the business you are in or is there a better product or service needed? Now is the time to create new businesses. Or at least make or deliver something more valuable to your customers than what you’ve done historically.

Focus on profitable business.

During the early stages of a business, any profit is good. But now it’s time to be disciplined and focus on profitable growth.  You can’t be all things to all people.  Focus on allocating funds to profitable and differentiated products and services.

Stop doing things that don’t add value.

Every company has structures and policies that no longer serve the organization. Wasted time, activity, energy, and headspace. Unnecessary bureaucracy. The people in your company know what many of these activities are. Just ask them. Then, find a way to stop doing them.

Test the current rules.

Rules and processes may not be broken, but there is probably a better way to achieve a result.  Automating something that reduces administrative time, challenging legacy discounts or favors that have been in place for many years, setting permanent remote work options, to name a few. Weaknesses are more pronounced during challenging times. Take what you've learned from this challenging time and carry it into the future. Don’t automatically go back to the way things were done before. Find better ways and keep them.

The most important ingredient in this process is your mindset. Humans like stability and predictability.  Disrupting what we know to make room for the unknown is unnerving. Just look at our current environment and you can feel that. But if you believe that growth comes when things are disrupted,  you are met with amazing opportunities.