Investor Adam Sweidan coined the name “black elephant” for the COVID-19 pandemic by gluing ‘black swan’ and ‘elephant in the room’ together. As early as in January this year, the Global Risks Report of the World Economic Forum had pointed towards potential threats from the infectious disease; none of the organizations worldwide did take it seriously enough. So, apt is the name ‘black elephant’ as no one wanted to address this evident approaching disaster.
Previously companies could let go of threats like cyberattacks, climatic disasters, and so on as regional issues. On the contrary, today the markets are so closely interconnected, locally as well as globally, that a disturbance in one place travels to another very quickly.
Companies today need to have resilience built into their systems so that whenever it faces a black elephant like for instance, Covid-19, they have their playbooks ready. So, here’s to take you through a brief yet vital guide for chalking out plans to enhance your resilience so that tackling all of the future black elephants become a bit easier!
Evolved leadership for evolved resilience
Proactive and creative contemplation for the future should exist among the board’s topmost priorities. Only then can an organization be ready for facing black elephants. Industry leaders should operate with utmost commitment towards some unblurred values, encourage robust and fruitful collaboration, make quick and critical decisions (as and when mandatory) and embrace a holistic perspective. Leaders need to embody curiosity to look beyond every obstacle and grasp possibilities. Resting on laurels will bring no luck.
Better governance for better resilience
The boards are capable of pushing towards better resilient efforts by fortifying the organizational defenses. Taking lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, companies need to in the supply chains as well for bringing down the disruptions. Besides, promoting remote work and backing it with robust tech support and retraining programs for upskilling the employees lead the companies towards better resilience too.
So, it goes without saying that ‘resilience’ is the key, and trust us when we say that it is not built in a day! Soon today’s pandemic-borne crisis will be treated as a jump-off point for tomorrow’s black elephant! So, it is time for you to gear up with the best solutions and be one step ahead in the game of resilience!
Happy working!
