When I was still fairly fresh out of business school I was asked to prepare a strategic business plan for a $500m pan-European information technology services company.
The industry at the time was undergoing enormous change. Technologies were changing rapidly and so were our customers’ needs and priorities. So it seemed an ideal opportunity to apply the well-known ‘SWOT’ analysis tool we had been taught on the MBA: to identify the Strengths and Weaknesses of the business and compare these against the Opportunities and Threats emerging in the marketplace.
The trouble was, the approach just didn’t make sense. It wasn’t useful. Yes, the shift from old technologies to new was a ‘threat’ to the existing business model. But if we moved fast to adopt these new technologies then they could become an ‘opportunity’ to upgrade old systems. The rise of cheaper remote programming centres that competitors were building in Ireland (and later in India) was a ‘threat’ if we did nothing. But again, if we copied them then this would become an opportunity.
As new technologies arrived, the ‘strengths’ we supposedly had in delivering old technologies were fast becoming an obsolete weakness. And as our customers’ priorities changed, so the ability to deliver what they needed yesterday was fast becoming a ball and chain that was holding us back from delivering what they would need tomorrow.
What I realised then was that, in a time of change, ‘opportunities’ and ‘threats’ do not exist. And neither do ‘strengths’ and ‘weaknesses’.
Yes, change happens. But whether it turns out to be an ‘opportunity’ or a ‘threat’ depends not on the situation but on how we choose to respond. What seems like a strength can quickly become an outdated weakness. And even a complete lack of ability can be a strength if it enables us to leapfrog competitors: AirBnb doesn’t own a single hotel and yet it has quickly become the world’s largest hotelier.
Whenever we call something an ‘opportunity’ or a ‘threat’ we are making an assumption that the world still works the way it used to. And in a time of change, that assumption is dangerous.
Better, instead, to realise that whether something turns out to be an ‘opportunity’ or a ‘threat’ depends on how we choose to respond. Which means that everything that happens contains a potential opportunity.
Realising this is another step forward to becoming antifragile, using change to become stronger and more inspired.
What are your top ‘strengths’ and ‘weaknesses’? What ‘opportunities’ and ‘threats’ do you face? How could you turn the threats into opportunities? How could you turn your weaknesses into strengths?
Adapted from The Churning, Inner Leadership: a framework and a set of tools for building inspiration in a time of change.
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