How high can you bounce?

“Bounce… bounce…. bounce …. win”

This phrase recently caught my eye. It brought to mind the image of an NBA player running down the court, focused on the goal, unthwarted by the deafening noise encircling him or the obstacles trying to stop him. He is keeping his eyes on the prize while bouncing the ball and weaving around blockers on his way to the hoop. He shoots. He scores. The team wins.

Here’s another one. A start-up ride sharing business recognized that the pandemic had eliminated demand for their shared commuting van business in New York, instead of shutting down business completely, they refreshed their business model to leverage their existing vans, technology, and routes to support burgeoning package delivery demands.[1] 

What do an NBA player and a start-up ride service have in common?

They both know how to bounce…bounce…bounce and win. 

Does this sound familiar?

I’m a bit of a social science nerd. I love finding the threads of universality in societal evolution. I often look backwards to plan forward. That being said, I feel a bit of a kinship with the “turn of the century” people who welcomed the 1900’s with hopes, dreams and plans. History unfortunately reveals that the early decades of the 1900’s were hit hard with plagues, economic depressions, wars and hard living. 

Any of this sound familiar?

Globally, those of us who welcomed in the 2000’s had similar aspirations for a new century, yet just a few decades into this new century and 2020 has found us facing a global pandemic, economic and political upheaval, rumors of wars, unemployment and uncertainties that are unprecedented in this generation.  Makes me wonder … is this history or humanity repeating itself?

Ready for some good news? 

We don’t have to look far to see that the adversities that plagued humanity since the beginning of time have also produced some of our greatest inventions, our greatest businesses, our greatest accomplishments and our greatest generation of human beings. In other words, what was meant to destroy us actually evolved us.

How does good come from immense struggle? Some call it resilience. Some call it agility. Some call it survival. I call it bounce … bounce… bounce… win.

“Change is the only thing that is permanent in this world”

I appreciate that the greatest generation of the 1900’s continued to contribute to society in the post war years by building stronger and better infrastructures, corporations and governments in the hope of providing a measure of stability for the generations that followed them.  Unfortunately, we also know that progress is not possible without change. And instability, uncertainty and difficulty are often the accelerant needed to fan the flames of improvement.  

Did you know that the ability to change is actually in the DNA of every human being? It’s literally how we grow from infant to adult. Since businesses are run by humans, the ability to adapt should also be in the DNA of every business. Is it in yours? Why or why not? 

Adaptation = Relevance = Survival. 

The skills needed for business to thrive in unknowable futures, whether in the 1900’s or the 2000’s, do not come from making better business plans, doing broader market analysis or developing comprehensive risk registers. They come from the courage to act fast and figure it out along the way. Businesses need to imagine differently, to adapt quickly and to pivot when necessary in order to progress and thrive in times of adversity and stability.

Some call that reckless. Some call that impossible. I call it bounce… bounce… bounce… win.