As the COVID-19 lockdown eases, and leaders at every level develop detailed plans to bring their businesses back to scale, they also need to think about the next planning horizon and address a crucial question: how do we need to reinvent for this new normal?
The problem is that most planning processes assume some level of predictability in the macroeconomic environment. But when a global pandemic lays waste to that predictability, leaders can benefit from making a fundamental shift in their thinking and embrace the mindset of an entrepreneur. That’s because successful entrepreneurs don’t predict the future. They create it.
A good example comes from serial entrepreneur So-Young Kang. Her first start-up was consulting firm The Awaken Group. From there came the creation of the global-award-winning microlearning platform Gnowbe. Speaking at one of our recent Asia-wide webinars, the former McKinsey consultant and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader said: “The term think like an entrepreneur in this environment is really about having the mindset and the attitude to be able to roll up your sleeves and get things done.”
Leaders at all levels have certainly been getting things done. For example, a group of leaders responsible for implementing a digital transformation plan with an 18-month timeline found themselves throwing out the traditional playbook and deploying the plan within three days.
This level of agility is one of the hallmarks of an entrepreneurial mindset. Other differentiating qualities include an inherent optimism, deep reserves of endurance and an ability to innovate and create.
However, of all the “entrepreneurial” attributes worth emulating, we’ve highlighted three that stand out in the current context:
Even as we move towards some semblance of normality, the economic fallout of COVID-19 will continue to be felt for some time. Within this maelstrom, we believe that an entrepreneurial mindset will become an increasingly important frame of thinking to survive and thrive.
