Your Strategy is no longer valid.

It has expired.

Preparing for the upcoming shifts in your industry are not simply a matter of reworking your budget. Throw out the old and get started on what is new.

Leaders we are talking with in every industry are working at creating a new strategy that adjusts for COVID-19.

I recommend you begin to work through new possible scenarios and identify with your team how to minimize anticipated negative impacts and prepare to capitalize on the potential positive opportunities. As the world exits from COVID-19 there are many questions and two certainties:

• People will not return to their previous behaviours. New habits are being formed.
• Permanent Industry Shifts are taking place that will redefine our businesses.

 The forward looking boards are quite excited about the opportunity.

A recent London Busness School webinar poll on Post Pandemic business indicated that while more than 50% of companies were experiencing Significant or “Quite Serious” Disruption, a whopping 77% of business leaders were already strating to think about their new strategic direction or were already launching a Strategic Rethink.

Exciting times indeed. In my 25 years of working on Strategy, there has never been a period where so man organizations were all rethinking their Strategy at the same time.

How can you lead with speed?

As the situation is changing daily, it is critical to democratize decision making in your organizations.

We are already seeing with the Asian companies exiting from the worst of COVID-19 that those who have cut bureaucracy and allowed their management to make fast decisions are capitalizing on new opportunities.

As an example, global powerhouse HAIER have been able to quickly rebound and had their factories at full production capacity at the end of February. This is due to their organization design (I recommend the excellent article Autonomy Creates Resilience in the face of Crisis).

Do not wait to start working on your new Strategy. The preparation and decisions you take today will help guide your team with clarity in the upcoming months and years.