Don’t Just Adapt; Go “DARPA”
Adapting is a requirement for survival. Here is why it may be your true downfall.
Revenue has slowly been declining for years with customer wins being more than offset by losses. The executive team knows that something is not right but cannot put a finger on it. You have tried the easy solutions: new sales strategies and plans, novel marketing campaigns and hiring a new inside sales team. Nothing has really worked and something has to be done quickly.
Uncertainty is part of everyday life and the ability to reinvent and adapt is critical—just look at nature. Adaptation can rescue groups from extinction and it can do the same for a business but failing to do so can impact much more than a company, it can destroy industries.
Among the dying or dead are industries that have been part of our lives. Brick and mortar stores are failing to keep up with Amazon’s quick delivery services. The US Postal Service is struggling to adapt to the online ease expected from customers. There are countless other industries on the verge of decimation and many don’t even realize it yet. These include the trucking industry waiting to be impacted by driverless trucks; empty malls are feeling the proliferation of online shopping; and petroleum is facing off against alternative green energies.
Your industry could be next. All of your experience could become obsolete due to rapid technological change. You could face unemployment and your 25+ years of dated technology experience could make you unemployable.
According to the online site Dictionary.com the definition of adapt is “to make suitable to requirements or conditions, adjust or modify fittingly.” You are constantly reacting and adapting to environmental stimuli. In business it means considering how your competition impacts your business, the changing technologies of your industry and the evolution of your clients’ needs. This reactionary approach can protect you from a slow business death.
Even better, how about taking a novel approach and becoming proactive?
This means that you analyze and arrive at solutions before others do and theoretically shape the operating environment around you. If successful, you will be considered an innovator and others will be forced to adapt to you. Easier said than done and that is why there are so few innovators in the world.
DARPA
To become proactive in an industry you need take a page from the DARPA playbook (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). DARPA falls under the Department of Defense and isn’t bound by traditional thoughts and constraints. Its agents are required to think out-of-the-box to arrive at their breakthroughs. These are the people that created the first GPS, the Internet and stealth aircraft. Now they’re working on flight-changing bullets, lasers, flying trucks and skin that will allow soldiers to climb walls.
DARPA is not grounded or biased by how things are done today and you shouldn’t be either. “Going DARPA” begins with brainstorming what your customers truly need today and extrapolating information, analyzing, hypothesizing and strategizing for how to meet their needs in the future.
The best employee meets their boss’s needs before the boss even asks. The best companies create products before the clients know they want it. Bill Gates had a vision about a computer for every home before people even know about personal computers. AT&T created the first mobile telephone service in 1949 before long distance calling ever existed.
In all cases, these visionary companies “went DARPA” by developing something based on what they already had and creating products and services that surpassed what was already on the market. They realized the convenience and value it posed to consumers and the world.
Failing to adapt it could cost you. Despite having 25% of a large market, one of my SaaS product lines had profits that had been dropping steadily for years at a large technology company. Management blamed the consolidating and shrinking market for the dropping profits that had finally dropped close to 10%.
In analyzing operations, I identified a money-losing print business that was losing $250k/month. This was needed, according to management, because their contract specified providing print books at an additional charge if the customer desired it. But less than two customers on average wanted books printed anymore but wanted digital copies. This was a legacy issue from the print age and the operation had not adapted to the digital age. Cost: $3M in losses per year for a decade or longer. Solution: remove the clause from the contracts and close the print shop. And this wasn’t the only costly example of failing to adapt to changing times at this company.
To make it big today adaptation isn’t enough, you need visionary thinking. The best example of visionary thinking in corporate America today is Elon Musk. He is at the forefront of technology and change in the following industries: electric vehicles (Tesla), space exploration (SpaceX), traffic tunnels (The Boring Company), electronic payments (Paypal) and solar power (SolarCity). Clearly he is a visionary and not afraid to tackle change.
Every one of these companies is an industry game-changer. Every one of these companies has people constantly gathering consumer data, analyzing and creating new products and services. Some fail and some win. But they’re always adapting. So quit being myopic and go “DARPA”!
Imagine adapting so strategically that your company delivers the next great technology or service that makes the world a better place. At a minimum, taking the steps toward innovative thinking helps you better understand the market and enhance your company’s ability to survive (besides making you far more marketable).
As long as you continue adapting to the changing demands of clients and your market’s environment you will always be growing. And, yes, give yourself permission to think BIG.
Innovative thinking can be challenging. If you don’t know how to begin then reach out for help. It only takes one step to realize the journey.
READ MY SECOND DARPA BLOG HERE
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3352406/
https://www.fastcompany.com/1810048/adapt-or-die-enduring-rule-innovation
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