A guidebook for building adaptability into your organization: As we enter a new era of strategic uncertainty, flexibility in business is critical to success.

• Author: Miller, Derek

FOR ANY ORGANIZATION, the ability to adapt to challenges is paramount. When COVID hit in 2020, few organizations had considered such an event or developed a response playbook for operating under a pandemic. Thankfully, Utah leaders adapted quickly and came together to help uphold the state's public and economic health.

For many, pandemic challenges are receding into the past. But lessons from this time remain relevant today--one being adaptability. Ultimately, this means adjusting to new realities. From the pandemic, many companies learned firsthand how flexibility and adaptation in business are critical to success.

Here are a few ways to build adaptability in your organization:

Culture. A key component of adaptability starts with an organization's culture, and it has to start at the top. Without a leader who acts as a change agent, developing a culture that genuinely embraces change is difficult. Those who do will foster an environment for increased organizational trust and empower employees to make decisions independently. When employees recognize that leadership supports them, new ideas, and outside-the-box thinking, it gives space for diversity of thought and organizational transformation.

Innovation. As organizations face rapidly-changing global structures, realignment of supply chains, and cost pressures from inflation, the ability to innovate is critical to adaptability, economic growth, and industry development. When innovating one area or product, the goal is that it...