Companies face different challenges on the journey of business evolution. Some of these challenges are framed in the technical, market and economic environment. We can speak to the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous forces in the business world, the so-called VUCA forces that shape the realities for every enterprise.

Another set of challenges is often framed in the strategic and cultural realities of the organization. These derive from the everyday thought and behavior of people at every level of the company. These challenges surface in conversations about:

-     Major strategic choices and decision making

-     Resource allocation priorities and resource development

-     Targets for business growth, performance and change

-     Risk management in the context of business evolution

-     Human capital and benchstrength matched to plans

Each of these challenges poses as some kind of opportunity if boards and management have a little strategic resolve. If we could put strategic resolve in a few words, we mean:

-     Courage to move beyond norms and convention

-     Energy and a sense of urgency to make advances

-     Accountability in thought, action and outcomes

-     Respect for the challenges and for passion for solutions

-     Curiosity to tap into opportunities and competencies

Strategic resolve can be expressed in scenario analysis and planning, innovation research, service process analysis, customer engagement, project collaboration, business model research and other good practices. But the heart and soul of strategic resolve is found in the leadership mandates of the organization and the engagement of people in the serious work of making strategy happen. Focusing on results, no matter the challenges or speed bumps or tradition, is what the strategic resolve is all about.

By simply taking in the news, one would probably miss a few things that are positive in business today. Beyond the chafe about the economic meltdown, political malaise and industrial decline are some impressive themes:

1. Companies have discovered or rediscovered their ability to address tough problems under pressure. Managers who have not experienced economic stress before are learning what can be done under the gun of resource constraints and calendar tension. That is a great thing.

2. Companies have discovered or rediscovered their ability to create new strategic and economic value from ideas. Call it the discipline of innovation or the deliberate practice of solution integration, the net effect is driving more opportunities for evolution. That is a great thing.

3. Companies have discovered or rediscovered their ability to engage the hearts and minds of people. Matching the many challenges of growth, performance and change with the readiness and resolute courage of talented people is a powerful engine for business sustenance. Great.

As the editor of Fast Company, Robert Safian, notes in his March 2009 commentary, there is much to cheer about, and indeed there is. Strategic leadership that is prepared and resolved to match strategy, culture, resources and structure with the realities of the business environment and a smart set of natural goals will take most companies to the next level.

Companies evolve in many ways, and the so-called code of change is something that is under constant formulation. How can we assure the stakeholders of a company that we have the readiness and capacity for change? Further, how can we make business change and evolution a working part of a company’s mindset and culture? These are critical questions.

Experience and Perspective
Nothing builds evolutionary thought better than experience with change. People with experience in business change may have gained their stripes through three types of projects:

• Changes in Process and Policy… focusing on a variety of business practices and procedures
• Changes in Business Direction… focusing on alternative business objectives and intentions
• Changes in Enterprise Model… focusing on shifts in business definitions and networks.

The capacity for change, the associated risks of business change, the pathways for change and the intended value of change are key facets of an organizations’ evolutionary value, and each of these has origins in the everyday working experience.

Strategic and Economic Value
Organizations create and capture value through purposeful change and evolution. They gain revenue and resource leverage through changes in their strategic agenda. Those of you serving in management and governance roles have the power to make business evolution a part of the strategic thought and behavior of the organizations and stakeholders that you serve.