One of the many realizations about our “new normal” is that speed matters more than ever. I was  interviewing a CEO of a large global company today as part of the process to tailor an upcoming Business Acumen program for his direct reports. Within the first few moments, I could feel the instant connection in terms of the way he though about strategy and the way we design our Business Acumen and business simulation solutions. I could also sense that he had an intuitive feel for the rhythm of his business and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead during the rest of 2020 and into 2021.

Seasoned executives like this CEO know how often to make certain decisions, how hard to drive specific objectives, and how quickly to react to changing circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

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July was another extremely busy month in the world of virtual business simulation capability development. Our team had the opportunity to work with hundreds of leaders from around the world delivering customized, virtual learning experiences developing leadership capabilities in the area of Business Acumen.

As our technology and reporting capabilities have advanced, and as we have become more focused on the data analytics that Business Acumen skill development engagements can produce, it is my pleasure to share some interesting trends that can be used to understand and explain some of the behaviors you may be seeing in your organization, within your peers, or within your direct reports.

Here are three unique trends that we have observed and assessed coming out of our post-simulation data analytics:

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There are several business books that I have read in my career that have had a profound impact on the way that I think and lead one of the most impactful talent development firms in the world. The first is called “The Discipline of Market Leaders,” by Tracey and Wiersema and the other is “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t,” by James C. Collins. One of the notable takeaways from the book is the quote and now inspirational theme that “Good is the Enemy of Great.” The concept is that too many people and too many organizations “settle” and take short cuts accepting that “good” is good enough and that they don’t need to do the really hard work to be great. Being just good is the enemy of being great.

Leaders use this quote and the other great concepts from the book to inspire, motivate, and lead. And for many it works, and their people and companies are better for it.

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This week is the 4-month mark since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted everything we knew about business, learning, and life. For many, the impact has been devastating including the loss of over 600,000 lives globally. For others, the impact has accelerated a change in entire ecosystems. The talent assessment and capabilities development ecosystem has been changed forever and one of the most impactful changes has been the acceleration to 100% virtual deployment. During these last four months, I have been proud to lead a team of professionals that has been on the leading edge of utilizing new technologies and tools to assess and develop the skills of employees in large organizations across many industries around the world. The results have surpassed what many of us ever thought were possible. To mark this occasion, we have reflected back on the 4 things we’ve learned in the first 4 months of virtual learning.

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As the number of COVID-19 cases continue to spike and the reality that this situation is going to last for at least another year until there is a viable vaccine or an impactful medical treatment, business professionals are now moving on from just embracing the disruption to aggressively embracing the acceleration of a new world. Having enhanced Business Acumen skills will help support and drive the acceleration. This blog examines four significant trends impacting the business world through the lens of the enhanced business acumen capabilities organizations need to survive, thrive, and then accelerate performance.

Four Key Trends  and Beyond

There are four key trends impacting business leaders that require having strong Business Acumen skills to be effective and to ensure the right business decisions are being made.

Remote Everything

It was happening slowly anyway, but this trend has accelerated more than any other trend. We literally woke up one day and everyone was working remotely and unconnected from physical interactions. Physical interactions have been replaced by technology-driven interactions and to everyone’s surprise, there has been many ways relationships and productivity have been accelerated. For example, organizations are getting closer to their customers by having more frequent and more relevant conversations. Before, you would visit with key customers by traveling to see them and often the journey was expensive and exhausting. Now, you can get close to customers, look them in their eyes (virtually with high def), ask them about their families and health, and have real business dialogues.

And that’s where enhanced skills come into play. With more time for quality conversations, it is imperative to have the skills to talk about strategy, financial goals, financial metrics, and the state of the business.

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