If I had to choose one word that separates the business winners from the business losers in today’s crazy environment, it would be the word “agile.” The marketers who are able to move quickly from crisis mode to productive mode are the clear winners.
And this doesn’t mean simply setting up virtual platforms to allow non-in-person meetings . . . or automatically trimming budget items “until things improve.”
It means truly adopting a new mindset and getting comfortable with shorter-term thinking, maximizing opportune moments, and experimenting with emerging opportunities. It requires being tuned in and on your game every day and developing an inherent sense of when to stay the course and when to enact quick change.
Companies that are winning in today’s environment are developing a “two-speed approach” to scenario planning. It is important to not have just one approach. You need to work out what you would do under multiple circumstances so that you are not caught without a plan if the world suddenly pivots (again!). Working at two speeds is really about balance. Being agile requires both a clear strategy and a willingness and readiness to adopt and act. In other words, don’t think of being agile as being reactive. Think of it as being constantly proactive.
If you don’t have them already, but the tools and resources are in place to be able to create new plans quickly. This is no time to let corporate bureaucracy bog you down. If needed, consider flattening some of the layers in your company, and use this unique time to become more streamlined in your decision-making.
Part of being agile in today’s environment also entails being able to curate information accurately and quickly. With so much information constantly coming at us, the business winners are those who can gather critical information and then quickly synthesize it into the most important “nuggets” for informing their own decision-making processes.
Today’s business environment is definitely not for the “faint-hearted.” It requires the courage to meet challenges head-on, as well as the in-place systems which allow for quick pivots and company-wide buy-in.
Think AGILE!