How to Do a Strategic Pivot to Address COVID

“It’s not going away, and we have to face that reality.” That’s what the CEO and founder of a high-tech manufacturing startup with 180 employees told the leadership team in early July to convince them of the need to do a strategic pivot to address COVID.

Previously, the startup’s executives treated the pandemic as a day-to-day issue. They took things one step at a time, putting out the various fires that flared up: disruptions to its supply chain; cancelled orders by clients; marketing generating fewer and fewer leads; salespeople failing to meet quotas; plummeting employee morale and quickly-growing burnout.

Seeing more of the broad picture, the CEO realized the company was going in the wrong direction. One of the members of the Board recommended my recently-published book on strategic pivoting to adapt to COVID and plan for the post-pandemic recovery.

After a quick read, the CEO recognized the need for a serious re-evaluation of the company’s current business model. He felt shocked by the evidence that leading scientific authorities predict we may be dealing with COVID into 2024 and beyond.

Clearly, treating COVID as a day-to-day issue did not make good business sense; with its long-lasting impact, the pandemic represented a serious strategic threat, as well as a potential opportunity. The…