How do you manage external changes to stay aligned?

It is no use waiting for disruptive change to strike. You must be constantly monitoring external trends using a real-time digital dashboard, and using scenarios to assess trend implications, risks, and opportunities. It is all about managing the future to ensure you stay on track for your objectives.

The first step is not to assess the impact, it is to ensure that you have done a good job IDENTIFYING the change. Too often what has been identified is a "symptom" and not the change itself. Once this has been done and you are sure that you and "stand on" your findings, then assessment should start. SWOT is certainly one of the "go to" tools, but I would offer that SWOT is often a good place to start but is not necessarily the end game. Depending on the nature of the change, issues such as competitive positioning may be affected. In this case, other tools such as Porter's Five Forces of Competition model or the Goals to Solution model can be extremely useful in evaluating and planning your response.

When external changes hit, we immediately reached out to our frontline teams. People closer to change process information differently. Leveraging this “proximity insight” helped us understand changes at the ground level, making our reactions more precise.

I would use SWOT always combined with TOWS, at the rear end of the strategic iteration. Once we have assessed both the internal and the external business environment and identified shifts, TOWS becomes a great tool to explore and discover meaningful combinations like Strengths x Opportunities vs Threats and also reduce Weaknesses in a similar manner. PESTEL, Porter's 5-forces, Market attractivness-Competitive position matrix are great frameworks for the external macro and micro-level analysis.

Para mí, el primer paso es realizar un buen diagnóstico de autoconocimiento, pues estoy convencida de que quien pretenda cambiar algo en el exterior, tal ve si logre algunos resultados, sin embargo, su poder proviene de darse cuenta del impacto que causa su propio comportamiento para lograr o no resultados, superficiales, profundos o trascendentes. Quien lo vive en carne propia, adquiere la fuerza de la experiencia y se sale del cuento de la teoría. Hoy sabemos que la vinculación de los datos con las narrativas personales, llegan más allá de lo inimaginable en cualquier momento.

In my view, innovative analysis methods such as real-time data analysis, artificial intelligence-based forecasting models and dynamic scenario planning are required. These methods make it possible to gain deeper insights into the effects of external changes and to develop strategies that go beyond conventional approaches, which traditional forecasting models can only do with difficulty.

Communication is not just words. From a neuroscience perspective, our brain thrives on certainty. When external changes arose, we used consistent and clear communication to reduce cognitive dissonance and stress among our teams, ensuring smoother transitions.

This is one of the biggest challenges. The degree of engagement is largely dependent on factors such as a company's strategic culture, policies and processes and also the level of competence of individuals. What I have discovered over time is that fragmented strategic competence in organizations generates cognitive resistance to engaging and investing time and energy towards savvy strategic decisions, ending up in gut feelings, oversimplifications and other shortcuts that raise the overall uncertainty.

Neuroplasticity, allows us to adapt and learn from new situations. When external changes occur, think of your business strategy as a ‘brain,’ evolving and rewiring its connections. Embrace change as an opportunity, not an obstacle, and watch your business grow in new directions.

Lo primero es hacer un diagnóstico de la situación y de las nuevas necesidades que impone el cambio. Para poder medir los ajustes que se requieren para hacer modificaciones en productos o hasta en el modelo de negocios. Crear una nueva oferta de valor acorde a los recursos disponibles es un gran reto, o allegarse de nuevos recursos sin comprometer la situación del negocio, evitando más presiones. Plantear un marco de análisis como CANVAS facilita el estudio y el surgimiento de propuestas para innovar . La experiencia en el sector, tendencias y entorno competitivo suman información relevante que puede servir para crear soluciones nuevas y adaptadas a la nueva realidad.