Evolution fascinates me. Complex systems develop, with all their inter-dependences, then they change and, as they change, some elements of the system do well, while others don’t. Our planet went through one age of mass extinction a long time ago. It furthered the cause of the mammals far more than it did for the dinosaurs

The parallels in the business world are uncanny. We have specialists that take advantage of current circumstances incredibly well, and we have opportunists who, whilst they may not exploit the status quo as efficiently as the specialists, are less reliant on it, so in general more than a bit more resilient. You could say they manage their risks a little better.

People and companies that can’t or won’t change aren’t called dinosaurs for nothing. When things change, the specialists suffer first. The bigger they are, the harder time they have, because big things need a lot of fuel to keep them ticking over. When when things change rapidly and over a sustained period, it is less likely that specialists are going to be able to tough it out. That’s when we get periods of mass extinction, and the ones left standing tend to be the little nimble characters who quickly develop survival strategies, then find a way to thrive

Right now this is what it feels like is happening in business. Plenty of change, plenty of uncertainty and plenty are starting to suffer. There will be casualties to be sure, and among the casualties will be companies that really need things to stay just the way they are. The old markets and economic systems are gone for good. New markets are evolving rapidly, different customer groups are being created, with different needs, and needs that might not even stay the same for very long. How very inconvenient!

Big slow companies are finished. The new world needs clever, agile and flexible entities. Companies that can think fast, move fast and change fast. Companies that have a different type of management and a different mentality. Less precious and less afraid of the odd failure. In the future big will not be beautiful