Thriving in the Accidental Economy

I talk a lot about accidental CEOs. Those are, that’s my tribe. The technical experts that are running businesses. And as I look at what’s happening in our world, I actually think we’re kinda living in an accidentally economy. What we all think is gonna happen more and more often, whether it’s an industry, a particular company, government regulations, competitive macro trends, they’re changing on a dime, and in dramatic ways. And it can make it really hard to adapt and run your business and thrive. Given the things you had assumed were rock solid a week later or not. So, I wanna share three things you can do to help your business be more agile and more able to respond to whatever happens, which is a competitive advantage, because you don’t have to get it right, but having a, a better, more complete, more productive response to these changes than others puts you in a competitive advantage.

Singular Focus
To start, it really helps, especially in uncertain times, to make sure you have a rock solid foundation, a clear singular focus, not three, and not a contingency, and plan B and plan C, that the team gets distracted by. But rather, you reconfirm why the business exists, where you’re going, where you intend to go with this business, what you intend to do, who you intend to help and adapt as needed to continue on that path. I found that, if you have something that’s not gonna change and you are in control of where you’re going, then that gives you tools when it comes to anything else changing.

Imperatives Over Initiatives
Second thing is, is the load of energy, of busy, projects of mindshare for you and your team and your budget. So it’s important at times like this to have a clear understanding about the things you’re investing time in. Are these imperatives or are they initiatives? I define imperatives as the essential, the very few things that have to happen in some form for you to succeed versus initiatives which could include some new ideas, some embellishments, you know, they’re more optional. Knowing this very clearly ahead of time will help you when things change. And you have to pivot and help you to keep the things that you really need to keep and not overreact and lose something that will slow you down later.

Customers Lead
And then finally, just as having a clear singular focus for your business is important, it also helps to have a very clear focus on your customers and what they need and what this thing this change is doing to them. By thinking about your customers first, even when your hair’s on fire, it allows you to see new opportunities and things that are changing in their world that you can then adapt and maybe even come out in a better situation given this disruptive change. This is more than customer first. This is kind of customer only in terms of they have the your existence is about your customers getting value from you.

B2B Clarity
So changes with us, it’s may accelerate especially technologically. And having tools to help your business be agile will pay off in the long run.