At an inflection point?

In business lingo, wicked problems, such as climate change and the related changes in consumer values, politics, and regulations can be viewed as inflection points. As such, they have a potentially vast impact on businesses across the globe.

An inflection point is a moment where a certain change in your business environment will mean a dramatic change to your business. Used strategically, this turning point can poise your business for bigger things. It can create new spaces – blue oceans – and destroy outdated technologies and business models. As such, it represents both opportunities and threats. An inflection point even has the power to bring about exponential change. Even though it feels like this change is sudden, it has quite possibly been gestating for some time. It normally develops gradually – out of scope for many – and then it suddenly seems evident. Hence, it can be spotted early and in time to react for those who scan the horizon and can pre-emptively make sense of what is happening.

As such, inflection points may mean that you need to change the very assumptions on which your company was founded in the first place. In this light, strategic renewal is vital for any business to survive inflection points long-term. Without strategic renewal, a company is destined for decline as it fails to remain relevant and value-adding.

The most important question that you need to answer right now is whether you are at an inflection point or not. And if so, what are you going to do about it?

Learn more about strategic inflection points in Rita Gunther McGrath’s book Seeing Around Corners (2019).