Here is an excerpt from an article written by Homayoun Hatami and Liz Hilton Segel for the McKinsey Quarterly, published by McKinsey & Company. To read the complete article, check out others, learn more about the firm, and sign up for email alerts, please click here.
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They’re the moves leaders are taking to shore up defenses and gain ground on rivals—which is very different from the purely defensive agenda that many companies are following:
RESILIENCE: Why is it some companies can do it and others cannot? In a word: resilience. But what is resilience, and how can leaders build it? Read our handbook on resilience in the face of the most urgent disruption, inflation, as well as US and European perspectives on what resilience means today.
TAKE COURAGE: Life at the top calls for ambidexterity—leadership that is both prudent and bold. Our flagship article explains how to achieve the best of both worlds; our collection offers a range of ideas on how to play offense and defense in many sectors.
HATCH NEW BUSINESSES: Many of the world’s greatest companies were founded in the depths of a downturn. Right now, the most promising field is in green technologies, where trillions of dollars will be invested in the coming years. Read on for two perspectives on what the CEOs of incumbent companies must do to successfully launch new businesses.
TECHNOLOGY: The basis of growth. Mastering tech trends is essential to find growth in software, build new businesses, and transform old ones. See our articles for more, and check out our interactive to understand the trend.
NET ZERO: Stay the course. The war in Ukraine has left many countries looking like a sailor with one foot in the boat and one foot on the dock. It’s clear that the dependence on fossil fuels is far from over. And it’s equally clear that the net-zero transition is taking off. Our articles explain the state of play.
REBUILD THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE: It’s a brave new work-from-home world. What does that mean for the office? Can the office be rethought to give employees what they’re not getting from video calls? Read these two articles for ideas and examples and see our collection for more.* * *
The CEO is the company’s ultimate strategist. Less well understood is that she/he is also the ultimate integrator, charged with identifying the issues that span the enterprise and formulating a response that brings all the right resources to bear. To do that well requires a broad range of contradictory perspectives: outside in and inside out; a telescope to see the world and a microscope to break it down; a snapshot view of the immediate issues and a time-lapse series to see into the future. We hope this article and the in-depth readings available above give CEOs the clarity they seek.
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Here is a direct link to the complete article.