Think Outside the Building
Turn the current crisis into an opportunity to change your business model in the face of the upcoming challenges.
Author(s): Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
Date of publication: 2020
Manageris opinion
Many executive committees ponder today on how to manage “post Covid-19”. Should we resume business as usual? Or seize the opportunity to change model considering the major challenges ahead—climate change, transition towards sustainable consumption, etc.? This book will fuel the thinking process of those who will choose the path of societal commitment.
But the author warns them: they must anticipate the issue of competence. Indeed, marginally adjusting your activity to respect social and environmental rules is one thing; changing the raison d’être of your company is quite another. Becoming a “company with a mission” entails close cooperation with the ecosystem: a radical novelty for many companies. Examples of business leaders and entrepreneurs who have succeeded in taking this new direction allow for clear identification of the hurdles to overcome. The book lists the competences that need reinforcing to succeed: mastering the subtle art of coalitions, knowing how to be persuasive, or yet working with scenarios to build a shared vision of the wished-for future.
A valuable source of inspiration for those who want to transform the current crisis into a stepping stone towards a new way to conceive the raison d’être of their organization.
