CEO insight: “We’ve got the survival thing down. Now we’re into phase two.”

I was in a conference call yesterday with the CEO of a global organization; I’ll be doing a leadership session with them this winter. It’s one of several pre-planning calls that I’ll do with this client as I shape my remarks for their meeting.

I love the clarity of the CEO mind. At one point early in the call, he stated how quickly they’re transitioning through fast-paced economic events.

“We established three strategic priorities. Number one, survive. Number two, innovate. Number three, grow. We’ve got the survival thing down. Now we’re into phase two.”

Phase two is the reason why they are having this leadership meeting, which has just been pulled together over the last several weeks. My role is that I’ll provide them with an overview of key trends to think about; how I see other organizations dealing with fast paced economic change, not to mention my fundamental insight on “innovating in the high velocity economy.”

The comments of this particular CEO certainly outlines the stark reality of the speed of the global economic pullback.

Yet, it also offers up some evidence to my theory that some organizations are going to come out of “this thing” quicker than most people think. Organizations that focus on innovation can act faster than they did in previous recessions. They’ve learned how to be more collaborative; they can share ideas and insight faster; they can react and re-react based on fast paced trends. The result is that they can try out a variety of strategies to re-align their business for new realities.