Mike Keech, the CEO of Liquid I.V., a wellness company based in Los Angeles, emphasizes the importance of organizational agility in the current business environment. With markets evolving rapidly and crises emerging frequently, companies need to be agile to outperform their competitors. Both companies that are “agile born” and those that have undergone an agile transformation have shown better performance compared to rigid organizations.
However, a 2020 McKinsey global survey of 2,190 companies revealed that only 10% were successful in becoming more agile and resilient. Despite this, the benefits of agility are significant, with companies that embrace agility typically seeing gains in efficiency, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement of around 30%. Additionally, these companies become five to ten times faster and are able to accelerate innovation.
Agile organizations also have a competitive advantage, with a three times higher chance of becoming top-quartile performers among their peers. On the other hand, companies that lack agility face potential existential consequences. During the economic recovery period from 2020 to 2021, resilient companies that were able to move quickly generated total shareholder returns that were 50% higher than their less agile counterparts, some of which failed completely.
Creating a structure that enables speed and agility is essential for companies to thrive in today’s business landscape. An agile mindset should be embedded throughout the organization, with leadership playing a key role in promoting agility. Prioritizing flexibility over planning, instilling agile thinking in teams, and emphasizing value creation are some of the key strategies to build agility within an organization.
In addition to these strategies, agile budgeting is also crucial for fostering flexibility and allowing companies to redirect funds to new opportunities as they arise. Many companies fear that flexibility will lead to a loss of control, but embracing agility can actually provide more control by offering escape routes in challenging situations and enabling quick pursuit of opportunities. The ultimate goal for companies is to make agility part of their DNA and not just a temporary initiative.
Forbes Business Council is a prominent growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Keech’s insights on agility and resilience can help companies navigate the ever-changing business landscape and stay ahead of the competition.
