Heidi Schwende recently shared a picture on LinkedIn that perfectly captures the challenges facing large traditional companies. Exponential progression, the pace it is driving, and the capacity of companies native to digital to innovate put the traditional company at a severe disadvantage.

I’ve spoken at length about inevitable structural change and the need for leaders to embrace it. Suffice to say, anyone that has spent time in traditional companies can resonate the innovation killing charateristics of traditional companies. The simple organization chart that replaces it will enable us to see the future, rehearse it, and adapt to rapid shifts as they occur. Three simple words to embrace: see, rehearse, adapt.

The challenges associated with so many issues today require balance. How do we avoid the problems of innovation killing characteristics without creating an entirely separate set of issues. As simplistic as this sounds, our exponential world requires a need to see it at some level, rehearse it incessantly, and create an adaptive organization – sometimes referred to as a digital enterprise.