THEN: THE DRIVING FORCES OF THE FIRST TWO DECADES OF THE NEW MILLENIUM
Several years ago, I wrote an article proposing that there were four forces at work shaping our world and driving the context of business. Those four forces were velocity, transparency, participation and social conscience. The context of business had forever changed in the first two decades of the new millenium, and so had the way people interacted, collaborated and conducted business. The behaviors and processes of the 1990s no longer worked to deliver value. Even technology’s continuing evolution was driving and being driven by velocity, transparency, participation and social conscience.
These four forces were at the heart of a new modern context.
Velocity
Everything was faster and increasing in speed. The pace of business could no longer support the inability of hierarchical structures to be flexible. Their decision-making model was too slow. Rigid business plans with set timelines and business rhythms no longer provided the flexibility required in the that increasingly fast-paced business world. People needed to learn how to share responsibility, pass off tasks, switch from one team type to another, and deliver value while being flexible. No aspect of business was immune from the impact of velocity. The result was ongoing change and disruption. Business had to learn how to continuously adapt and disruption was the new strategy.
Transparency
The world became a place with no place to hide. The hipocracy of acting one way internally, and another way externally would be revealed for all to see. Treating employees differently than customers would not overcome the increasing level of transparency that came to exist in the online world. If you didn’t walk the talk, you did so at your own peril. We were all like the emperor with no clothes. Exposed and at risk if unaware. Business had to learn how to align their walk and talk as never before to leverage this force for good and to create value for their customers.
Participation
People have the right to be heard! Their opinions will not be denied. That was the emerging mindset during the first decade of this millennium. Due to the rise of the Internet and social networks, people were having an expectation for participation as though it was a right not to be denied. Autocratic leadership was gone and replaced by leaders who led through inspiration, vision and inclusion. Collaboration and consensus building became more important than ever. The new levels of expectation for participation and having a voice no longer allowed for businesses to manage via unilateral control. Firms that did were increasingly less effective.
Social Conscience
Climate change awareness was on the rise. The gaps between rich and poor were growing throughout the west. The internet was increasingly shedding light on social inequality, climate change, and political differences. People were linking their consumption to causes, with an expectation for more social action from the private sector. Companies needed to provide their consumer’s/customer’s with an experience that was within the context of their social concerns. Those times, and the new generations of employees that came with it, required new ways of working that put purpose on par with profits.
But that was then. Those were the first decades of this millennium.
That was before COVID-19.
NOW: THE DRIVING FORCES OF THE THIRD DECADE OF THE NEW MILLENIUM
Today and after the pandemic has ended, the previous forces will continue to exist, but will have become absorbed into the nature of all business. Some are evolving into new forces driving a new context of which we are on the cusp. The forces of the third decade of this millennium are; Health and Wellness, Transformation, Uncertainty and Conscious Capitalism.
Health and Wellness: The meaning of health and wellness prior to COVID-19 was about personal well-being, taking care of one’s self in mind, body and spirit. That kind of health and wellness still exists and still matters, but pales in comparison to what health and wellness are coming to mean in light of COVID-19. Health and wellness now refers to life or death situations in the present tense.
Health and wellness have become much more immediate concerns. It will remain this way even after a cure for COVID-19 is found. They are concerns not only for one’s self, but for others, for the entire human race. They are shifting values from focus on self to focus outside of self, to focus others. Health and wellness concerns will change how companies interact with, care for, train, recruit and layoff, employees. They will change how products are developed and manufactured. They will impact where and how supply chains are assembled. They are already changing how brands are marketed, and how finances are planned. Like speed was twenty years ago, health and wellness will impact all aspects of business.
Transformation: Just as change was the new normal during the first two decades of this millennium, transformation will be the new normal moving forward. Digital transformation has marked our early response to this force, but transformation will become an offensive growth strategy. Transforming business models, supply chains, values, mindsets and behaviors to postures of caring, empathy, compassion and immediacy will become the new way. Adapting to change will no longer be enough. Transforming ourselves, our employees, our leadership and our company missions will put business in the driver’s seat of change verses constantly playing catch-up. The motto will no longer be “Adapt or die”. It will be “Transform to thrive”.
Uncertainty: We’ve been living in a V.U.C.A. world for some time now. Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity are still present. However, uncertainty is rising above all others as a core driver of the context of our times. COVID-19 has called everything into question. Everything. Recovery from the pandemic and its economic repercussions will continue with uncertainty long after a cure has been found. The pandemic has brought to the forefront of our consciousness just how fragile we are as we hang on this rock hurling through space. Our confidence as a species has been shaken and will take years to regain. We will question everything with respect to its safety and impact on society. Volatility, complexity and ambiguity are becoming norms we don’t even need to contemplate anymore. We are becoming unconsciously competent in managing through their consequences. But uncertainty is different. By definition you can never become unconsciously competent at managing what you are uncertain about or don’t know. You can either choose to ignore it or deal with it, but you can’t know it. As a result, businesses will move forward with greater caution and perhaps lower expectations for growth in exchange for peace of mind in light of the uncertainty that will continue to prevail.
Conscious Capitalism
Conscious Capitalism is a philosophy stating that businesses should serve all principal stakeholders, including the environment. It does not minimize profit-seeking but encourages the assimilation of all common interests into the company's business plan. It believes in serving a greater purpose beyond just profit and in doing so taking care of all stakeholders, not just shareholders. Conscious Capitalism raises the importance of values such as trust, compassion, collaboration, and value creation. It does not deny the pursuit of profit but emphasizes doing so in a manner that integrates the interests of all major stakeholders in a company.
Conscious Capitalism is the evolution of social responsibility into being an integral part of the role of business in society. COVID-19 has put the role of governments under a microscope. The private sector has stretched its purpose to wartime proportions. Populations around the world are clear that government alone cannot care for the greater good and that the greater good hasn’t been the focus of capitalism. As such, pressure will increase on the private sector to joint forces with government to care for society.
CONCLUSION
COVID-19 is behind a change in the drivers of business. Changes were afoot already before the pandemic. Velocity, transparency, participation and social conscience have become normal, and not even the new normal. Just the same old normal. As these forces evolve and shift in the face of a global threat the likes of which we haven't experienced in 100 years, new forces are driving business and its context for the coming decade. Health and wellness, transformation, uncertainty and conscious capitalism are emerging as the forces that will drive how we conduct business and respond to the lastest "new normal".
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