Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Growth in Uncertain Times
What does it take to not just survive in business during volatile and uncertain times, but actually thrive?
In the latest episode of We are Human Leaders, we unpack the incredible research of Dr Rebecca Homkes, author of Survive, Reset and Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times.
Rebecca’s work will have even the most experienced business strategists rethinking strategy and execution during volatility. Her SRT framework gives organizations and leaders a new model to continue growth even through the most uncertain of times.
Embrace uncertainty and change
We explore the inherent challenges of uncertainty and change in organizations. As Rebecca notes, this is in part down to the pervading narrative that surrounds these terms. “When we speak about uncertainty, we tend to frame it as a negative. So when we start by redefining uncertainty as neutral, it changes everything.” In Rebecca’s expert view, the approach taken by senior leaders is crucial.
“We are always going to have these kinds of market shocks. So when there is a shock, acknowledge it, and take a pause.”
Rebecca shares some of the pushback she receives about the Survive Reset Thrive framework from senior leaders and CEOs: resistance from their board to the word ‘reset’. “They want ‘revisit’ or ‘reframe’. They’re trying to soften the blow. But you need to embrace that it’s going to be a reset from the beginning, because everything else starts from that notion.”
The S R T framework for growth
Rebecca shares that there are three key leadership attributes to moving through the Survive Reset Thrive growth loop:
Be open to change
Shift from ‘planning’ to ‘preparing’
Get a little bit more comfortable with discomfort
Part of the approach to the ‘reset’ phase of the loop involves strategic thinking, which is not inherently comfortable for our human minds. As Rebecca notes,
“Our brains are not set up for strategy. They are set up to protect us.”
We explore a number of examples of incredible organizational Resets, and Rebecca myth-busts some of the norms around change. “We romanticize big pivots. Massive changes. And yet the most powerful changes are those constant micro-adjustments and adaptations we often don't often see in real time. “
Lean into the uncertainty – and communicate it
During this insight-packed conversation we explore the brilliant insights in Rebecca’s research.
For example, the importance of leaders acknowledging that they don’t have a crystal ball, and that many decisions are based on educated beliefs rather than actual certainty.
As she frames it, “Thrive organizations know they are making choices and resourcing based on beliefs. So while they’re executing, they’re going to be parallel pathing: testing these beliefs. And as they get new information and learnings from the market, they bring them in.”
What’s key here is for leaders to not just communicate the strategic direction, but also the beliefs that underlie these decisions. This empowers people to question these beliefs and contribute to becoming a learning organization.
Dr. Rebecca Homkes is a high growth strategy specialist and the founder of a boutique consultancy firm advising CEOs and executive teams focused on growth and success through uncertainty. She is a lecturer at the London Business School, Faculty at Duke Corporate Executive Education, advisor and faculty at the Boston Consulting Group University and a previous fellow at the London School of Economics Centre for Economic Performance.
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