I founded Lockstep 18 years ago. The work we did was mortifyingly basic at the time, somewhat because of our immature skill set, and somewhat because that was the standard of work being done generally.
As you will notice from our recent brand positioning and website, Lockstep has evolved significantly since those early days. We now stand for an optimistic, brave view of what Business, and businesses, can accomplish.
A wiser and more profound approach to achieving business success: ‘Business Rising’.
Our strategy is built on the hypothesis that the way business is conducted is undergoing a significant change. Old ways are being recognised as having had their time and new, progressive ways are being created.
The cyclicality of things is wonderfully illustrated by Ray Dalio (CEO of Bridgewater, at varying times the largest hedge fund in the world at $123BB assets under management) in his book ‘The Changing World Order’.
The below graph shows the underlying dynamics of Empire Decline. Year 0 is considered ‘Empire Peak’. This graph is worth noticing because decline happens and often goes unnoticed. All the of 8 factors depicted in this graph are woven together in a general decline but yet I am almost positive that the people at the helm of these empire’s decline didn’t see it happening, even though the evidence was overwhelming.
They simply didn’t notice.
This change in world order is happening right now with Global Business on a macro scale, and with individual businesses like yours on a micro scale. Regardless of what side of curve your business is on, the business you lead is somewhere along this change curve, going through something, changing, evolving.
Three takeaways are worth noticing:
- The penalty for missing this window of opportunity is significant (old ways work less well as time marches on)
- The new ways will feel more different than you might expect and you’ll need to stay open to them as you try them out
- The upside for the early adopters is massive: big tailwinds as opposed to big headwinds
What are you noticing?
Specifically:
- Is your business proceeding or receding?
- Is the way your business operates, generally, in stride with the times?
- Do you, personally as a CEO, have a future pathway that is future-ready?
- Have you subjected your business to a strong enough interrogation of its approach that would root out outdated ways of thinking?
It’s easy to miss the tide that is turning because you are busy and stretched, but it’s within your capabilities to get up to speed with this change. Once you know what to look for, noticing these evolutionary changes in business will be impossible to miss. It’s like arming yourself with a secret set of tools that few others have.
Business Rising, indeed.
Give yourself the opportunity to rise with this tide.