Business is changing. Will you adapt or be left behind?

Businesses used to follow a hierarchical structure, with layers of management. Entrepreneurs could make money by organizing the efforts of others. Today businesses are often flatter, with fewer layers separating senior management from junior staff. Teams form to do projects, then disband when the project is completed.

That flood — the digital revolution — has changed not just how we think about work but, on some level, even what it means to be successful. You can’t get away with doing business as you did before; you can’t remain prosperous while ignoring the big changes occurring on your doorstep. But adapting isn’t free; it requires time and effort and careful consideration of what trends really make sense for your enterprise. I have a recommendation: Be bolder than you have to be. Move faster than you have to.

The reason you are struggling is that you are trying to run a 21st-century business in a world that is rapidly changing. I don’t mean your product or service needs to change. Those can be fine just as they are. The problem is almost always with your internal processes, systems, and the way you hire, manage, measure performance, etc.

The old rules of thumb are out of date. Previous business plans will have to be redrawn, automatic assumptions will have to be questioned, accepted strategies will have to be revised.

How can you learn to reinvent and adapt your business model and products? Innovation is essential for businesses that want to survive in an increasingly competitive environment. To be competitive, a company must have the ability to successfully re-launch itself as new markets change.

That might mean constantly thinking about where your product or service can go next, constantly nurturing emerging opportunities, and constantly bringing in new blood with new perspectives. When developing growth opportunities, it’s important to avoid getting paralyzed with self-doubt

Purpose-built companies are better suited to the modern world. By this, I don’t mean companies with a vague do-gooder mission statement found on their website. I mean companies that are designed internally to take full advantage of the environment they work in

In this kind of environment, the company that gives employees the best chance to develop their skills and use those skills in ways that matter to them will have a huge advantage over its competitors.

We are in an era where the ability to think independently, question collective wisdom, and create new solutions to old problems will be more important than ever. We need leaders who can foster a culture of continuous learning. We need managers who are not afraid to let go of the old way of doing things when it doesn’t work anymore. We cannot stick with what was good enough yesterday.

The ability to see things from different perspectives is an essential competence in life. All high-performers, need to do this.

By identifying the new opportunities based on other perspectives, you are able to move quicker than your competitors. You can recognize patterns before others do, see connections sooner, capitalise on emerging trends even before they are very visible.

Here are the facts. Business models change. The rules of business are constantly being rewritten, sometimes in significant ways. Industries rise and fall. New ones are invented every day, others are consolidated out of existence. What this means is that business today is an evolutionary process. If your business model isn’t changing, then it’s dead.”