In the past few months, we saw countries around the world unlock their economy, take proactive measures to restore confidence among consumers, and jumpstart economic activities. Even as we realize now that this crisis may be prolonged, it is interesting to note that many businesses have successfully reset their strategy and are reinventing the way they work, as the impact of the disruption becomes more transparent.

Many organizations stand out because of the way they managed the reaction to the crisis in the short-term while their long-term strategic vision remained intact regardless of the precarious business landscape created by the pandemic. It would be worthwhile to study what was so different about them that they managed to continue their business without much of an interruption despite the pandemic, and are poised to bounce back stronger once the dust settles.

In my previous article published in The Edge Quarterly, I have written extensively on how leaders can build an organization that can not only sustain but also thrive in a crisis. While we have learned a great deal about the need for building resilience in order to avoid being overwhelmed when a major business disruption occurs, it is also the right time to think about augmenting this strategy with goals that also focus on growth post the crisis.

Once the pandemic runs its course, the world will witness fierce competition with many enterprises armed with advanced technology and systems in place to run a resilient enterprise with a strong growth engine. It is no more a matter of choice, but an imperative to start working on the post-pandemic growth strategy with lessons and learnings from the past disruptions.

Business disruption is not a new phenomenon

Over the last 100 years, we have witnessed many major and minor disruptions, and each of these disruptions have developed due to specific reasons such as transformational technology, systemic failures, geopolitical issues, and even as a consequence of wars. Starting with the great depression in the late 1920s and the aftermath that lasted for over a decade. We have seen the international debt crisis that rocked the global economy in the 1980s, and more recently, the dotcom bubble and the global financial crisis that happened on the back of subprime.

The business disruption due to the current COVID-19 crisis is unparalleled in the history of disruptions. A profoundly disruptive event, its impact has been differential across sectors. While some sectors have done well, many others have taken a severe hit. We can see a common thread across all these disruptions where they hit businesses hard, primarily because they were largely unpredictable, and the businesses were unprepared to weather crises of such magnitude.

The positives have been that we have emerged stronger and resilient from each of these scenarios. Many ‘new normal scenarios’ have been created in terms of business models, transformational trends, and evolving customer expectations.

Lessons from past disruptions — innovate or perish

Every disruption is associated with a multitude of companies going out of business. While the resilient survive and grow, the remaining struggle to stay afloat. One valuable lesson that we can derive from history is that when disruption strikes, we either innovate or perish. There is no third option. How a company is prepared and responds to such events defines its success. An ineffective response can have a far-reaching impact on the business and reputation, and detrimental for them in both the short and long term.