How do we strategize in times of uncertainty, when the models you’ve relied on in the past are undermined and you face unprecedented challenges? The temptation is to look outside for models, because it’s hard to invent our own, because external models already exist and are presented as self-evident, while we’re weakened by the obsolescence of our own. But we must resist this temptation and embrace our singularity in order to build our own response.
The challenge of singularity became particularly clear to me at a particularly original French SME that has been growing steadily for several years. The management team does not resemble the usual idea: it is a small group consisting of the CEO and a few associates; there is no clearly defined role among them. The company has neither a CFO nor a head of human resources. The managers are involved in both strategy and operations, calling on functional specialists as needed. Coming from the field, they know the arcana of their trade and are as comfortable with a banker as they are with a foreman on the factory floor. This completely organic way of working is unusual, but it works quite well; very well indeed.
But the CEO wonders. Shouldn’t we evolve and “normalize” to maintain growth? An expert is called in. He has advised many companies. He’s categorical: the company must structure itself if it wants to raise the funds it needs to finance the growth it wants. It needs to hire professional managers, set up a strategic committee with “bigwigs” to reassure banks and potential investors. In short, you have to change everything to get to the next level.
In the expert’s view, the lack of clarity in roles and functions, the mixing of roles, and the ambiguity of responsibilities are all dross from the initial development that needs to be cleaned up. The mental model is: “The current organization corresponds to entrepreneurial disorder, which must give way to managerial order.” That’s one way of looking at it, and it’s perfectly defensible. But there’s another: this organic model may be what made this company so successful; it’s what it invented to grow so fast and so successfully. It expresses the company’s singularity, and that singularity – built against the false evidence – is the key to its competitive advantage. The expert sees it as a disorder; we can see it as a fluid, reactive, organic construct that is highly adaptable to uncertain and changing situations.
False givens, such as the need for a growing company to conform to organizational standards, are like external fires that threaten to consume us. Their power and the fact that our own models have been weakened make us doubt that we can resist them. Instead of saying, “Now that we’re big, it’s time to stop being amateurish and get an HR manager,” he or she might ask, “What meaning do we give to the idea of ‘HR management,’ given who we are? How can this answer help us grow even more?” What will be created will not be tacked on to the organization, but will emanate from it: it will be both innovative and rooted in its identity. By turning inward, by refocusing, we set our inner flame against the outer fires. The company will be able to transform itself – and this is essential – without losing its soul. The key is to reflect on the meaning we give to a particular issue, given who we are. This is where singularity is expressed, because the meaning we give to the word “human resources management” or “process,” for example, will not be the same from one organization to another.
What’s interesting here is the virtuous cycle at work. Faced with a challenge, the organization resists the external fires of false givens by embracing its singularity. It uses this singularity to invent its own response to the challenge. This response improves its strategic position, fuels its inner fire, and reinforces its singularity. This strengthened singularity makes it easier to withstand external fires.
The ability to differentiate is, of course, one of the classic rules of strategy. We rarely win by copying other people’s recipes. But the idea here is that differentiation isn’t just about products; it’s also about the organization, the way we do things, and ultimately who we are. We’re not unique because we make different products. It’s because we cultivate our singularity that what we do is different, including our products. Of course, by not conforming to standardized rules, we expose ourselves to the reluctance of certain partners. A banker will be shocked not to have a CFO as a contact. So be it! After all, cash flow is the only principle of reality he has to pay attention to. Beware of those who take it for granted that you must conform to standards. Extraordinary companies didn’t become so by following standards, but by creating them, and they created them by embracing their singularity, sometimes against all odds.
🇫🇷 French version of this article here.
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