Stating the blindingly obvious every business has been transformed by Covid.
I'm a brand and business transformation expert. That's not a boast, it's not an ego trip it's a well earned fact.
With the exception of Covid time after time I see that rapid decline in business transformation is a result of external forces being ignored, or delayed to fit with the internal narrative and balance sheet.
One of the biggest frustrations I have as a 'change and growth agent' is that often I've been called into work with companies and leadership teams when the problem has become a basket case. Without a doubt this crisis has now accelerated that inevitable process for many, and created unforeseen opportunity for others.
It's not that I have any special foresight or silver bullets that they don't possess, what I bring to businesses is the mirror everyone avoided along with a cohesive process to help realign the 'Why'.
I'm also not one of those guys who is fixated on 'transformation' being a 'digital' thing.
Clearly there are several things that business need to get to grips with, but in the new order post lockdown there are 3 things that require an agile focus;
- Consumer Behaviour
- Unpredictable Revenue Demand
- Remote Working
My journey into marketing started in operations, and then into general management. Back in the day I moved up the corporate ladder because I was seen as someone who 'made things happen'.
I was one of those irritating guys who didn't just see a brick wall and stare at it, I looked at all the possibilities available for me and my team to go around it. Along the way I like others helped to grow and 'transform' the companies I worked with, as a result of all that experience today I am known as a 'change maker'.
Recent data show that we have vaulted five years forward in consumer and business digital adoption in a matter of around eight weeks. (link below)
Let's be truthful - there isn't a business or person who hasn't experienced some kind of 'transformational' impact as a result of this crisis.
Because consumer behavior has already changed I would strongly argue that Covid has been the catalyst for you to get to grips with your post-Covid 'Why'.
So when you return to what will hopefully be your business and job my guess is that 'growth' in the next 2 months will be the biggest priority you and your leadership team will face because transformation has already taken place.
The management of inventory and finance will become even more business critical as will demand planning expertise and tools.
When the resource is depleted, more of your teams are 'working remotely' and marketing budgets decimated in favour of 'keeping the lights on' how do you go about growth?
Growth is a combination of agility, and innovation along with the ability for a company and its leaders to accept and be willing to implement 'change'.
The rapid change in social networks and people's interactions across these platforms are already having huge beneficial impact on all kinds of businesses - therein lies (for many) an untapped opportunity.
Findings suggest that post Covid leadership teams will have to be far more agile and be able to adapt at greater speed in order to hold onto their positions.
Most marketers realise that pre-Covid experiences are no longer enough to satisfy consumers and must now look beyond typical brand advertising and communications, per an Accenture Interactive report.
A "Growth' mindset is defined as a leader who encourages teams to work across the company, fostering an agile culture of collaboration ensuring that the brand vision and customer experience align in order to achieve growth.
As some regions begin reopening, businesses are considering how to return to some semblance of full speed in an unstable environment in which lockdowns will ease (and potentially be reinstated) in waves. In doing so, they will need to confront three structural changes that are playing out.
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