Reacting to market change is like playing baseball. Vigilant batters who watch as the ball leaves the pitcher’s grip pick up on the nuances of the ball’s velocity and spin, using these clues to determine and calibrate how they’ll hit. Similarly, as experienced industry watchers, executives have learned to identify market patterns and given their ‘velocity and spin’, calibrate the business’s reaction. Yet, every so often, the pitcher will throw a perfect curveball, creating the illusion that the ball is dropping quicker than it is, hampering the batter’s reaction. This year has been full of curveballs for IT leaders. Yet, with an adaptive strategy and IT agility that will flex to hit any curveball, IT leaders can react intelligently to a ‘new normal,’ building a strategy for what’s to come, despite market ambiguities.
While some organizations find themselves operating in collapsed markets — such as hospitality and transportation where spending has drastically changed — other organizations, like grocers and home entertainment, have seen unprecedented growth. Regardless of the challenges, there is a clear need for agility to quickly adjust to where the ball is heading, ensuring a base run, rather than hitting at where the ball was — or where it was anticipated to be.