LEADERSHIP TEAMS AROUND THE WORLD have been operating in a highly volatile and uncertain environment — first having to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and then with the ensuing economic slowdown, soaring inflation and geopolitical disruption. In such an unsettled period, it is no surprise that efforts to strengthen short-term resilience have dominated the agenda at many companies.
Less obviously — but no less importantly — business leaders are having to address a range of organizational shifts that have significant implications for organizational structures, processes and people. Depending on how organizations address them, these shifts are both challenging and harbingers of opportunity.
With this in mind, we have launched McKinsey’s “The State of Organizations Report,” an ongoing research initiative that both pinpoints the most important people, procedural and structural shifts that organizations are grappling with and seeks to provide some guidance about how to approach them.
In our inaugural report, we go into depth on 10 of the most important shifts. In this article, we will summarize them. For those interested, the complete report is available online.
SHIFT 1: Increasing Speed While Strengthening Resilience
Business shocks requiring quick responses have become the new norm for organizations. Companies need to focus on being prepared and ready to act at all times — and quickly. Yet our research suggests that while some organizations do emphasize preparation, many focus only on one singular aspect of it (anticipating and then addressing an acute challenge, for instance). They forgo the holistic approach of routinely reviewing and transforming structures, processes and people so that they don’t just bounce out of crises but bounce forward — landing on their feet relatively unscathed and charging ahead with new energy.
Most people understand the importance of organizational resilience: More than 60 per cent of respondents in our survey reported that it will only become more important in the future. Yet many said they don’t
