New research from authority marketing specialists Advantage|ForbesBooks explores the under-examined concept of the Adaptability Quotient (AQ), and its pressing role in the life—or death—of a business. The study unpacks the importance of adaptability in today’s turbulent market and shows business leaders how raising their AQ effectively secures future business growth.
The report, Adapt or Die: Why Corporate Giants Failed, How to Make Sure You Don’t, provides an overview of the AQ’s vital role in the sustainability of success. Defined as “the ability to adjust course, product, service, and strategy in response to unanticipated changes in the market,” AQ has been identified as “the future of work” by Fast Company and the “new competitive advantage” by Harvard Business Review. CEOs who intend to stay afloat in the current economy must make a fundamental strategic shift toward cultivating adaptability, as the paper explains.
The significance of the AQ is illustrated by dissecting the demise of once-formidable organizations like Blackberry, Blockbuster, and RadioShack. The profound failure of these former behemoths all link back to a common miscalculation (albeit not the only one): that is, the inability to adapt and the ignorance of their AQ.
“The ‘elephant graveyard’ of business is filled with the bones of what we once assumed to be indestructible giants of industry,” said Advantage|ForbesBooks CEO Adam Witty, in a news release. “But those graveyards are also filled with lessons. As a business owner whose job it is to work with other businesses on the growth and health of their companies, I have spent a lot of time trying to understand the razor’s edge between success and failure. My team and I have discovered that a critical yet overlooked ingredient is a company’s Adaptability Quotient. This white paper shares that insight.”
The paper concludes with a series of actionable takeaways, including:
