We’re living in a world where uncertainty is constant, and the traditionally linear, static and top-down approach to strategic planning is failing. Markets are shifting. New competitors are emerging. And technology is accelerating faster than most organisations can keep up with. The carefully crafted five-year plans that were once the cornerstone of long-term success are becoming outdated before the ink can dry. 

So, what now? 

We caught up with our partner Gisela Montello-Bruce, Co-Founder and Strategic Director at FluxB2B to talk about how organisations can embed flexibility and responsiveness into their operational DNA and flourish in this fast-moving business landscape. Here’s her insights. 

From static to systemic: Rethinking strategy in the age of adaptability

Gisela and the team at FluxB2B believes that the answer lies in a fundamental mindset shift. From strategy being a rigid plan to a living, breathing system of strategic motion: 

“It’s not about scrapping structure or abandoning ambition, it’s about helping organisations stay aligned, responsive, and resilient. This happens when adaptability and responsiveness are embedded into the heart of organisations; where strategy lives not just in documents, but as a shared ambition shaped in real time by the whole team as a result of daily decisions, conversations and actions.”

The old ways of executing against strategy are simply not relevant in today’s landscape. The world was once slower - you could take time to build a detailed plan, execute it in a linear, box-ticking process over an extended period of time, and it would usually deliver your expected outcomes. Today there's economic volatility, accelerated technological disruption, and rapid shifts in both customer and employee expectations, all of which have rendered the traditional way of executing strategy obsolete.

When goals and objectives shift rapidly, execution stalls or becomes misaligned.  People revert to what they know and hope it lands.  This is where the disconnect emerges, not between effort and outcomes, but in between intention and adaptation.  That's why that carefully crafted strategy that is lost in a draw should in fact be front and centre, providing clarity on intent that is executable. 

And let’s be real for a moment. Teams are never asking for ‘more strategy’. They need clarity. Direction. And permission to move. Too often a carefully articulated strategy gets diluted through layers of complexity, governance and process until it becomes irrelevant. It’s not that people don’t care. It’s that they are stuck. 

Strategy as a living system

The team at Flux works with clients who are feeling the pace of change fatigue, have stalled growth, or who are feeling stuck and help them shift towards adaptive strategies that create resiliency and leverage it for competitive advantage. This means that when the market shifts, leaders can respond, or better still, proactively lead ahead so commercial leverage can be executed confidently by teams who understand the goal and also feel empowered to take action.

This isn’t just a leadership exercise, it’s a holistic business play. Where strategy is embedded into the rhythm of teams so that people are connected to the ‘why’ behind decisions, not just the decision itself. This connection to purpose is a critical accelerant and ensures that even if plans change, the team isn’t lost. Because they know what the organisation stands for and how their work contributes to it. 

Equally important is creating the right conditions for people to act, and thrive. Adaptive strategy is enabled through adaptive processes that support the people that need to work within them.   'Structured autonomy' - a principle FluxB2B talks about and helps build into organisations - empowers people to lead with clarity, confidence, and speed.  Not out of fear or scrambling through chaos. It's about setting clear parameters for people to make decisions in real time, guided by a direction they have co-authored. This takes commitment and courage, but when done well it creates a culture of leaders at every level. That is, people who respond to market signals, place smart bets, and move with intention. 

As Gisela says, “it’s about giving people permission to lead, not just instructions to follow”.

Make the shift one step at a time

Moving from rigid strategy to adaptive doesn’t happen overnight, but nor does it need to take years. The key is to start where you are, and make it real. Ask yourself three things:

1. What is the ambition that drives us - even when conditions change?
2. Does everyone in the company know what we’re really trying to move toward?
3. Do people know what they’re trusted to own?

Beyond this (and into adaptive space) Gisela suggests adding: 

4. Do we have a system to anticipate shifts, look towards future scenarios, and an understanding of how we might respond?

From there you simply eat the elephant one bite at a time. Don't overhaul everything at once, adaptive strategy is a different rhythm, less rigid and more fluid that enables continuous evolution.

• Identify where you are: Look at the gap between your strategy and what’s actually happening in your organisation. Is friction creating paralysis? Are people confused or misaligned? Start by understanding, not fixing. 
• Clarify your strategy: Clearly articulate the value you bring to market. Identify your ‘watchouts’ and where you might need strategic flexibility or future adaptation. This is less about detailed planning and more about direction-setting. 
• Design structured autonomy at the edges: Set clear parameters that empower people to respond to what they see autonomously. Where is the edge before they need approval? Make the rules of engagement visible and practical. Less governance and approvals, more alignment. This builds a culture where people can lead at every level - not by waiting, but by sensing, aligning, and moving together as needed.

Giving your teams clarity and permission to adapt while staying aligned to purpose will mean over time you'll build a workplace where people move with direction and confidence and where strategy isn’t something they receive, but something they shape.   

Bridging strategy and action

Most leaders don’t lack vision, but often the vision is disconnected from execution. Ambitious goals are successfully delivered by teams that are equipped to pursue them. The real work towards adaptive strategy lies in the mucky middle ground - translating aspiration into action. And so systems, processes and rhythms become incredibly important. Identify where your existing structure works in this new, more nimble way of operating, and where operational frameworks need to better support movement and decisioning at speed. 

You could think of it like this: strategy defines your ambition - the what and why, systems define how it is executed, and your people bring it to life. For that last piece of the puzzle to happen, your people must know where they are going and feel trusted to find the right path forward. 

Being comfortable with uncomfortable

The only way to truly lead within an adaptive strategy is to embrace ambiguity. Create the conditions for growth rather than controlling every step. This means cultivating a culture of trust through transparency, communication and consistency. And this trust goes both ways - the trust people place in the leaders who are steering the ship, and the trust leaders place in the people doing the doing. 

Get comfortable not having all the answers. Innovation doesn’t thrive in certainty, it thrives in curiosity, experimentation, and reflection. By demonstrating these traits, leaders give permission for others to do the same. And this creates a trust:performance loop; people trust their leaders and feel safer taking risks and managing decisions, which leads to greater empowerment and increased performance. As performance improves, trust deepens in both directions and the organisation is strengthened from within. 

Legacy underpins possibility

Every organisation carries legacy systems, habits, mindsets, and ways of working. Much of this legacy is valuable because it holds context and deep expertise unique to your business. But it can also become an impediment if it resists change. 

Gisela talks about the key to future resiliency being through bringing the wisdom of legacy knowledge, with the energy of new thinking, and reimagining what's possible through new technologies.  Not to retrofit old ways into new tools. In doing so, you create a culture where people aren’t pressured to change, but invited to co-create. 

For many teams, and leaders, change is hard - it's uncomfortable and overwhelming on top of all other priorities.  But the energy of reimagination can be a catalyst towards evolution that dispels insecurities and brings everyone on the journey, in a supportive and encouraging way. 

“We are ever evolving as people, it's in our nature - so why shouldn’t our businesses be ever evolving, too?”

This is the heart of adaptive strategy. It’s about being ready for the future, not necessarily controlling it. Instead of riding the waves of change (which are constant and diverse), find a way to skip over the top of each wave so that the journey is smoother. And along the way, ensure your people remain connected to purpose, equipped to grow, and backed by leaders they trust. 

They won’t wait to be told what to do. They’ll already be moving.

The team at FluxB2B works dynamically, collaboratively and with you to co-create adaptive strategies that interconnect throughout your business and can evolve with your business needs.  If you're trying to solve something in your business right now, that feels impossible and want to build a workplace where people can move with clarity, courage, and confidence - reach out to the FluxB2B team, they can help. 

A great place to start your journey to adaptive strategy is by measuring your employee engagement. Reach out to the team at BPTW™ to hear about our packages and programme of services to support ongoing improvement.