I recently did a search of the online journals of the academic publishers Taylor and Francis. This revealed that the phrase “unprecedented change” has been used in reference to many, many topics, including life in rural communities, Italian politics, healthcare, libraries, information technology and education.
It is not surprising, then, that implicit in many management texts, articles on business in newspapers and magazines, and management training courses is the view that the world is changing more quickly than ever. This point is made explicitly equally often. To give but three examples:
- “We are living at a time when the competitive environment has a steep and rapid learning curve. It’s also a time of unprecedented change.”
- “Today, however, companies are in a process of retooling and developing new strategies which will assist them to be competitive at a time of unprecedented change in product and labour markets and technology.”
- “All parts of organizations are going through unprecedented change as a result of the volatile business environment, including such well-known items as exploding technology, globalization, and new work processes.”
In the terms we use at Turris Consulting, this means that the outer context is not stable. This in turn means…. organizational change! So how should managers deal with this instability?
An excellent series of video lectures provided by the Financial Times goes some way to answering this question. Don Sull of the London Business School has made 5 videos, each dealing with aspects of managing at a time of uncertainty. there are lecture notes, recommended books and case studies. Highly recommended.
