The New Corporate Facts of Life

About the Author

Diana Rivenburgh is the CEO and President of Strategic Imperatives, Inc., a global consulting firm that aids clients in creating sustainable, profitable, competitive advantages by developing transformational strategies, bold leaders, engaged cultures, and resilient organizations. Her impressive roster of clients includes AkzoNobel, Novo Nordisk, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, and PVH. Rivenburgh's experience and expertise culminate in her book, "The New Corporate Facts of Life: Rethink Your Business to Transform Today's Challenges into Tomorrow's Profits," which offers insightful analyses and strategies for navigating the complexities of modern business.

Main Idea

"The New Corporate Facts of Life" explores the dynamic forces reshaping the business landscape and provides a roadmap for companies to transform these challenges into opportunities for sustainable growth and profitability. Rivenburgh identifies seven powerful, interconnected forces driving change: disruptive innovation, economic instability, societal upheaval, stakeholder power, environmental degradation, globalization, and population shifts. By understanding and leveraging these forces, businesses can develop innovative strategies and foster vibrant cultures that not only survive but thrive in an ever-evolving world.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Meet the New Corporate Facts of Life
3. Reset Your Mindset
4. Create a Compelling Vision
5. Map the Strategic Journey
6. Build a Unique and Vibrant Culture
7. Lead on the Edge of Change
8. Engage to Excel
9. Design a Resilient Organization
10. Lessons for the Road

Meet the New Corporate Facts of Life

Rivenburgh's research identifies seven critical forces reshaping the global business landscape:

• Disruptive Innovation: New products, services, or business models can render old ways of doing business obsolete. Companies must redefine how they foster innovation to stay ahead.
• Economic Instability: Financial uncertainty impacts all countries, industries, and people. Companies must manage growth while preparing for economic downturns.
• Societal Upheaval: Issues like corruption, political unrest, and environmental degradation demand that businesses take serious strategic investments in corporate social responsibility.
• Stakeholder Power: Companies must engage a broad array of stakeholders, including employees, customers, and communities, to foster collaboration and innovation.
• Environmental Degradation: Businesses must shift from exploiting resources to sustainable practices that protect the environment and enhance brand value.
• Globalization: Hyperconnected markets require companies to address global challenges like overpopulation and resource depletion while capitalizing on international opportunities.
• Population Shifts: Demographic changes impact demand for products and services, requiring businesses to adapt to new market dynamics.

Forward-Thinking Companies

• Nike: Redefined supply chain management by training and auditing suppliers to adhere to fair labor practices, transforming industry standards.
• UPS: Continuously evolves its strategic planning, integrating short-term business plans with long-term goals to stay ahead of global trends.

Reset Your Mindset

Rivenburgh emphasizes the importance of shifting mental models to embrace new business realities. This process involves questioning existing assumptions and adopting a shared-value mindset that aligns with sustainable growth. She advocates for developing an inquiring mind, reflecting on beliefs, and engaging stakeholders in the process of redefining organizational perspectives.

"Mindsets, mental models, paradigms, perspectives, whatever you call them, they consist of all the basic assumptions, beliefs, images and stories that shape the way we define ourselves, other people, organizations and every facet of the world." - Diana Rivenburgh

Techniques for Mindset Reset

• Reflect: Examine thoughts and assumptions that lead to current beliefs.
• Inform: Share thoughts and assumptions with others to gain new insights.
• Inquire: Ask questions to understand the perspectives of others.

Rivenburgh argues that forward-thinking businesspeople are replacing the old shareholder-centric mindset with a much more inclusive shared-value one. They know that sustaining long-term growth in the 21st century will depend on both businesses and governments recognizing that they cannot survive if the seven billion people inhabiting our planet cannot attain healthy standards of living without depleting the earth's resources or running up colossal public debt.

Steps to Question Organizational Mindsets

Before adopting a new mental model, it's essential to comprehend the existing one. This begins with developing an inquiring mind and engaging in deep reflection and introspection. Rivenburgh suggests capturing a belief in one sentence, and then asking, "Why do I believe this? What facts support this belief? Will this belief withstand the test of time?" Then frame a new belief and ask the same questions. This exercise can be performed individually or in groups, fostering a culture of open-mindedness and respect for diverse opinions.

Although we can't go through life without making certain assumptions and attaching meaning to events, we can learn techniques to understand and question our own assumptions and those of others. The inquiring mind: