Seneca, Darwin, And The Flying Dinosaurs
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin. It is very specific about who or what survives, yet the more significant message is the meaning that “if you are not responsive to change, you will not survive.” There is ample anthropological evidence providing insights into how the differences we see between peoples may have evolved. It becomes more fascinating when I see birds that share a common ancestor with dinosaurs. Much of the same applies to organizations, governments, cities, businesses, religions, and even management systems. Management systems contain the DNA and resources that define how an organization operates with the intent of thriving and surviving to thrive another day.
A stroll through business publications and historical data depicts behaviors that resemble evolutionary changes. Three important observations come to mind, interestingly evolutionary and fraught with nonlinearities:
- Survival comes from responsiveness to changing requirements
- Extinction comes from decay or disruption
- Decay makes us more susceptible to disruption
Responsiveness connotes action. Something around us changes and we change to take advantage of it or don’t change quickly enough and we become victims of it. We can’t always control what may be changing, nor can we predict them all. But we can always make a safe bet, that is, change is coming, always coming. Are we going to survive the changes? Can we increase our chances of surviving?
“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity” Seneca, mid-1st century AD.
I really like the way Seneca frames change as an opportunity. We have virtual evidence that change is afoot across incalculable dimensions. How we communicate and are connected or marginalized is different and accelerating in morphing. The winners and losers as measured by financial indicators display a huge transformation from economies that harvested resources and converted them in to durables (steel, coal, wood products, and automotive) to one that delivers service and convenience on a virtual plane. Who would have dreamed 50 years ago that giants like Microsoft and Apple would be major players while some giants, perhaps too rigid to adapt, became extinct or were devoured by a competitor or another hungry species?
I’m fascinated because the emergent behemoths have figured out how to redefine how convenience is delivered and value is created. Value has always been created by creating convenience, but the virtual world redefined what is possible. The world Thomas Friedman describes in “The World is Flat” is one where the interconnected web strips away some of the advantages the big and strong hoarded. As the early giants created a generation of convenience on the shoulders of the Industrial Revolution, the rigidity of the delivery systems, consumption of materials, and business management systems evolved into big and strong. Dinosaurs were big and strong too.
The last two years certainly met the standard of being a disruption, a mini ice age from a cataclysmic event. But the decay that preceded and followed it may likely claim more for the museums. Are we going to be lucky? If we’re good, how long does good last?
“There is opportunity in every storm”
