You need a better plan

As a leader in uncertain times you are neck deep in a swamp of alligators. Whether you are hunkering down in survival mode, presenting the illusion of business as usual (like a swan effortlessly gliding on a lake whilst paddling like a maniac under the surface) or looking to create a new and transformational way of doing things; you need a better plan.

Advisors, soothsayers, consultants and vendors are pitching better, resilient and “innovative” post COVID solutions to solve your problems. Your stakeholders, investors, customers and clients are analysing every dollar spent. Your health service, country, local business and every employee needs you. You are being pulled in every direction.

The force to fall back into pre COVID ways of working is strong. But before you do, take a little time to “break the cycle of madness” before you embark on your journey.

Recognise that there has never been or will ever be a “normal”. That there have simply been traditional ways of doing things and people / organisations that break those traditions. What new traditions would be the best for you, your people and your community and how can you enable the emergence of those new traditions?

Take some time to consider how can you improve business capability agnostic of the tools, methodologies and the technology you use and how those capabilities align to the outcomes that your clients and customers value?

Understand that whilst cash is king, blunt cost cutting and deferring expenditure is often a false saving. Building seamless end to end resilient processes now may incur some cost and pain but are critical to employee and customer satisfaction in the longer term.

Get more comfortable working with uncertainty and paradoxes. Be both a leader and servant, both strategic and tactical, both future focused and attentive to detail. Become someone who can both use the better elements of traditional frameworks and simultaneously apply future thinking to complexity.

Leverage the distributed intelligence of your peers, employees and stakeholders. This will both accelerate change and increase engagement. Be prepared to experiment and be agile (don’t just DO agile), execute well and quickly.

If you redefine your why, improve the how, understand the flow of value, move beyond legacy thinking, get comfortable with being uncomfortable and help you people reach their true potential a better plan will emerge.