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 with this visual at some level. 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.

Updated February 14th, 2017

Since posting this visual, I came across another similar visual that suggests the need for balance:

The challenges associated with so many issues today require balance. How do we avoid the problems with the first visual without creating an entirely separate set of issues with the second? 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.