Being market ready is not all about strategy

When I deal with leaders considering new strategic options for the future of their organization, they very often stay cautious and declare “the market is not ready”.

Well, there is an expression in English that says “the eyes are the windows of the soul”. But it works both ways: when we look into someone’s eyes we see ourselves more than we see them. A lot of what we see in others and say about people (positive or negative) is a reflection of who we are.  So when I hear leaders backpedaling and invoking market lack of readiness, I hear “we are not ready”, or even “this is really a frightening path”. The market readiness alibi is more often a lack of confidence than a real knowledge of the market.

This is a question of “risk mindset”. And an organization is very much behaving like a person.

The culture of an organization is no more than a set of beliefs, norms, and values that dictate its actions. So if a company is risk averse, it is understandable that it would hesitate to bring about an innovation. And blaming the market for not responding in the way it was expecting. Much like a person would blame the other person for not understanding their idea.

This year I’ll be exploring more in depth the risk mindset and organizational cultures that support innovation.

Stay tuned…