In business, a key to success is flexibility. Flexibility is necessary in any changing environment. Â No where do we find better examples of the shifting sands of change than the battlefield.
Change and Flexibility
Businessmen operate in a turbulent environment. Since the 2008 recession, the speed of change has accelerated. Managers spout slogans like “change or die” or proverbs like “A rolling stone gathers no moss” (Publius Syrus) but rarely do they act on their own advice.
In reality, the more turbulent the environment, the more change and flexibility are necessary.
I read a lot. As I do, I actively think about parallels to business leadership. As I was reading American Heroes in Special Operations, I stumbled over this interesting passage about the 41st Expeditionary Rescue Squadron.
[The 41st Expeditionary Rescue Squadron is] always in high demand. That’s because the “rescue warriors” are willing to go where other medevac units won’t to save the lives of Coalition forces and Afghan civilians alike. Red crosses—the universal symbol for medical personnel—are conspicuously absent from their aircraft. That’s because the Geneva Convention expressly forbids medical personnel displaying the symbol from carrying weapons. Not that any of that stops the Taliban—they’ll shoot at any helicopter regardless its markings.
But [they] will shoot back if they are shot at and they happily forego the “protection” of the red cross in exchange for the ability to do so. (p. 274)
Here the military was taking a page from Lao Tzu who wrote: “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
If the enemy will not honor the Red Cross  on your sleeve or on your helicopter, perhaps suppressive fire might be more persuasive. At any rate, it is sheer madness to rely on the symbol to protect you.
Change Requires Flexibility
This is the key to flexibility. The red cross logo was supposed to provide an advantage to the combat medic. Â But since it was no longer honored, the military let go of an advantage that no longer worked in order to seize a new opportunity that would increase the likelihood of mission success.
How about You?
What advantages do you still cling to that don’t really work? If your business was built on direct mail, the bulk rate mail advantage is a liability if it is more profitable to wage a social media campaign.
Think about how your business landscape has shifted. Is it possible that by holding onto an advantage, you might be limiting success?
Darin Gerdes, Ph.D.
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Dr. Gerdes is the Director of the MBA Program at Charleston Southern University. All ideas expressed on www.daringerdes.com are his own.