All articles

TIN

Are We Adaptive, or Just Fast?

TIN helps you see a complex business challenge from more than one angle before you decide what to do. Each issue, two of us share connections on the same theme, without comparing notes. Then we show where we agree, where we don’t, and what neither of us has resolved. This month: are we adaptive, or just fast?

By TIN

THEME: ADAPTIVE ORGANISATIONS

Two views from inside TIN on adaptive organisations

Every organisation says it wants to be “adaptive.” Fewer agree on what that actually means in practice. For this issue of TIN, two of us wrote our own take on the same theme, Adaptive Organisations, without comparing notes first. Here’s what we each landed on, and where they meet.

Perspective One: Slow Down to Speed Up

Rose-Sharon Chin

Overview

The pace of change in the world is faster than ever, leaving everyone rushing to avoid being left behind. This insight draws on three ideas that push back on that “rat race” mentality and the constant fear of becoming obsolete. Instead, they champion the view that as the world accelerates, what matters most isn’t speed, but creating space to learn and reflect. That space builds awareness of the signals shifting around us, the discipline to align strategy without being pulled astray by every trend, and the mental clarity to move forward with purpose.

Strategy

What if the biggest threat to your business isn’t competition, but failing to anticipate what’s next? The underlying idea is Futures Thinking: not predicting the future, but envisioning possibilities that drive innovation, inspire action, and help a business adapt effectively in the present. It’s about deliberately pausing to reflect on and build awareness of the world surrounding the organisation, a shift in perspective that empowers it to adapt and thrive.

Tactical

Pausing isn’t wasting time; it’s how you find it. A team in the aviation sector once reached a crossroads, unsure whether their challenges were rooted in sales barriers or product-market fit. Rather than diving into another flurry of activity, they paused to reflect, realigning their strategy and eventually finding product-market fit in a new sector. It echoes what came out of a recent Strive & Thrive conversation with Lambros: creating intentional space to think surfaces signals for the future that are already present, if you know where to look.

One practical question

When was the last time you paused to build awareness of the world outside your organisation, or to find clarity on direction and strategy?

Other questions

  • Are you rushing?

  • Do you know where you’re speeding toward, and what’s next?

  • What if you’re not falling behind by slowing down, but speeding up?

Sources


Perspective Two: Rapid Mode or Drift Mode?

Mike Oliver

Overview

The world is genuinely unpredictable right now: macroeconomics, geopolitics, local markets, the pace of technology, and the fear and opportunity AI brings are all aligning at once. The advantage has shifted from scale to speed of learning, which raises an uncomfortable question: are organisations even designed to be stable anymore, and is that still the right design? The ones that thrive are those that see change before they fully understand it: emerging tech, regulatory shifts, unexpected opportunities, behavioural change. And not everything needs to move fast. Some products, projects, and ideas just need to drift. Drift isn’t failure; it’s giving something room to flow, learn, and find its natural fit.

Strategy

Sales, product, funding, and even major strategic pivots look, in hindsight, like they happened in single decisive moments. The reality is messier: momentum that’s volatile, sometimes moving quickly, sometimes making a bold call and taking the risk, and sometimes just watching and letting things play out.

Tactical

Keep the flow of opportunities alive: stay connected through conversations, reflection, and coaching, even while heads-down on one project. When too many projects are running at once, recognise it’s time to build focus and momentum around the one thing that will actually move the dial. Take periodic time to reflect on where you are and what you’ve learned, a periscope moment: look up, look out, look around. You can’t plan this precisely, but doing it builds an organisation that can flex around opportunity, risk, and change, and see what needs focus versus what can be left to drift.

One practical question

Where should we be in rapid mode right now, and where should we consciously be in drift mode?

Other questions

  • Do we mistake movement for progress?

  • What signals tell us it’s time to change pace, rather than push harder?

  • What breaks first when the plan meets reality?

Sources


Connected themes

  • Resilience

  • Entrepreneurship & Human Potential

  • Human Systems

  • Futures Thinking & Exploration

  • Innovation in Practice

Over to you

Same theme, two different entry points: one about pausing to find clarity, the other about knowing when to sprint and when to let things drift. Maybe adaptive organisations need both.

What are your loose threads?

  • A question you can’t quite answer

  • An article that made you rethink something connected to this

  • An idea you suspect might be connected

  • Or something that seems completely unrelated, but probably isn’t

Drop them in the comments. We’ll start pulling at them, and see what sort of connections we build.

Follow the TIN newsletter on LinkedIn

Older article

Kill Your Darlings