I read an article recently about Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and why some species survive and others perish.
According to Darwin 'fittest' does not always mean strongest or biggest. In the business world it doesn't mean richest, oldest or most established either. In recent years business has boomed and although sales and profits have been at record highs so many companies failed to acknowledge it was could never continue indefinitely and the slowdown was always going to come - it was just a matter of how soon and the speed that has taken many of us by surprise.
As changing environmental factors threaten many industries today, how can looking back to the natural world help us to ensure we survive the economic natural selection and maintain our market share, our service levels and our even our jobs?
Natures natural selection occurs when;
- Living things produce more offspring than the finite resources available to them can support.
Thus living things face a constant struggle for existence.
Before the crunch when everyone was spending and borrowing there were enough resources (customers and their budgets) to go around and keep us all fed. The current downturn has bought to the attention of many that, with diminishing resources (consumer credit), the food chain has been hit and the casualties have started. The struggle facing those who remain is to battle for the remaining resources (budgets, contracts, goodwill etc) in order to survive and eventually flourish.
- The individuals in a population vary in their phenotypes. Those variants best adapted to the conditions of their life are most likely to survive and reproduce themselves
Differentiation and adaptability become key. The ability to understand what has changed in your environment and what the real implications are for your business will help you move your organisation towards making the changes necessary for survival. If, more importantly, you can understand the real implications for your customers business you will be able to adapt your working practices to meet their changing needs and stand out from the competition.
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