Charles Darwin’s “theory of evolution” is often misquoted as
“the survival of the fittest”
This is inaccurate and an oversimplification. His theory, together with a contemporary Alfred Russel Wallace, proposed that evolution occurs because of a phenomenon called “natural selection.” This noticed that, in nature, organisms tend to produce more offspring than is required, but some of those offspring do not get to a state in which they can breed. In this way, those which do breed are seen as to have “fitted” their environment best, and so were able to survive, thrive and breed successfully.
In business, this concept has been applied to stigmatise companies which are not wildly successful, arguing they are not “fit” enough for market conditions. This is again a crude oversimplification, applied to business success in a way which often smacks of little other than machismo.
Let’s look at evolution in a business context
What can we gain from revisiting Darwin’s theoretical approach and re-applying it to a business? Here are three ways in which “natural selection” could be useful, if applied with a lighter touch
- It makes sense to check the trading environment. If that changes, then a company’s ability to continue to thrive may change. The pandemic taught us this all over again, at a global scale. So, we need to monitor our marketplace and check our company, or at least its offer, is relevant and has a real potential to thrive.
- Whilst not actually breeding, a company may be able to diversify better in a marketplace where it knows it already belongs. It makes sense to find a range of ways to generate revenue, so long as they fit within your company’s overall business direction. You could use Ansoff’s Matrix to do this. It will give you an exercise to focus your thinking. In this way, you are giving your business a wider customer base, which may help you protect against changes in customer demand.
- In addition to checking the trading environment, it makes sense to check your own company. Are you doing what you set out to do? If so, do you want to still do this? If you are not doing what you set out to do, are you happy about that? You may not be happy about it. If you’re not, what will you do about this? Regular reflective practice by the Board of any company is crucial, to keep the company on track. It may be making money hand-over-fist. However, if it is moving away from, for instance, its original ethical stance, then your company will lose customers. It could also find it more and more difficult to recruit the talent you need to grow. Checking in with your company and its purpose is a crucial way to make sure your company is still fit for purpose. You need to know what your company is for, to know whether it’s successful, after all.
So what am I doing, giving business advice here? It’s not my core purpose in my company – I work with making leaders even more effective through improved Board relationships, behaviours and performance.
The answer is simple. My company is evolving. It no longer focuses on 1:1 personal performance coaching. Instead, we now focus on teams coaching and meeting facilitation. 1:1 executive coaching is a fun by-product of this work, but it is no longer the focal point.
Making changes
This evolution feels massive from within the business, but in truth it probably seems incidental (or even largely irrelevant) to anyone reading this. A bit self-indulgent perhaps? Maybe. The issue is, however, that as a leadership consultant I need to demonstrate self-leadership. If I know that my business has shifted focus, and the business model as a whole needs to follow suit, I really must take actions that I would expect of any client. I must take action, full stop.
My next steps, therefore, are to complete a review of my company’s business model. Once I have tested this with trusted members of my network (in business, the value of your network will always exceed the value of your business!) I will make the necessary changes. What will these changes be? Marketing (website, social media) will feature for certain. Ways of working will too. Maybe the clientele will shift. Maybe I will even attract a whole range of new clients, because my offer is clearer and more targeted, thus making it MUCH easier to understand! A trusted advisor said to me recently, “Make yourself easy to buy from” having had a look over my online presence. Lots on what I do, little on how my help will solve your problems. Rookie error 101.
I will report back once I have taken actions,. Part of this will be for accountability and part will be through shameless marketing content! I hope that the changes, and me having walked my talk about business evolution, will make sense.
If this has struck a chord and you are considering a similar evolutionary process, do please let me know. I would be interested to learn from you, so please comment or get in touch.