In times of volatility and disruption, organizations face a critical choice: retreat or advance. Cognician CEO, Patrick Kayton, draws from Cognician's journey through financial crises and global pandemics to reveal a powerful truth – those who thrive don't simply weather storms, they harness them.

In 2008, Cognician was the phoenix that rose from the ashes of our previous business – one that could no longer thrive after the financial crisis. In 2020 we leaned in to the uncertainty our clients were facing, helping them find their way through it. Living through these volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous (VUCA) times has taught us a lesson: the organizations that thrive are the ones that embrace activation.   

It's tempting to be conservative. To delay initiatives, to scale back, to hunker down. But if you look back at the recent periods that had us all scratching our heads, the organizations that chose to react passively did not emerge as the frontrunners. The winners were those who discovered opportunity in the adversity, activating the behaviors required to seize the opportunities at pace and scale.   

Take two great examples of strategic activation from the COVID-19 pandemic: Expedia and LVMH. Both organizations showed amazing adaptability by aligning workforce behaviors with evolving market demands. Expedia, as a travel technology company, could have been expected to fold amidst the travel restrictions of the pandemic. But it recognized that the COVID-19 regulations were driving a trend towards booking private residences. So it made an early, swift move to acquire as many new listings as possible for its private accommodation booking arm, Vrbo. Similarly, LVMH repurposed some of its production facilities to shift from producing perfumes to making sanitizers. Both of these shifts required rapid activation of new behaviors, which built resilience.   

Companies That Craft and Activate Strategies at Scale Reap Huge Rewards

They don't just ride out the storm, they harness it, turning disruption into opportunity. Cognician's own experiences in 2020 demonstrate this vividly. During this time, we were privileged to be able to help some of the world's greatest companies in activating the behaviors needed to thrive in a world with new and unanticipated restrictions. We helped multiple organizations activate the behaviours required to make remote and hybrid working a success. We helped a major technology company activate the mindsets and behaviors required to recruit differently, based on a workforce that was now distributed. We helped a global consultancy activate the behaviors required to enable a new growth model tailored to the constraints of a changing world. What all these companies had in common was a willingness to pivot quickly, adapt their strategies, and activate their people to move together in a new direction.  

A proactive strategy for activation demands that you identify new opportunities within the new constraints. This also means figuring out which behaviors are needed to capture your new opportunities. The next decisive step is to activate these behaviors by involving your people and enabling them to contribute to the change you seek. Cognician's methodology of using tailored activation paths and transformation tactics ensures that employees aren't just informed about change, but are actively participating in it. This engagement is what fosters resilience and the capability to thrive in VUCA environments. 

Activation Is Imperative for Organizations Seeking Growth amid Uncertainty

The difference between leaders and laggards in this kind of business landscape lies in the ability to enable behavioral shifts efficiently. By wisely implementing activation strategies, organizations can transform uncertainty into their competitive advantage – ensuring not just survival but thriving amid chaos.