Member Article

Business DNA

Coming up to the end of the year, I sat there, thinking. Of all the buzzwords or phrases that come along, which was the one that really bugged me in 2013?

It didn’t take long for the answer to arrive. It is DNA. Business DNA. Organisational DNA.

It trips off the tongue, mind you. It sounds good. But what does it mean? The next time you meet someone that says something is ‘built in’ to their business DNA, ask them what they mean by that.

You may witness uncomfortable squirming, sweating, wringing of hands, ear tugging and nose scratching. Whatever - it’s unlikely that their answer will make sense and, regardless of the answer, the fact they’ve used the term at all probably means I won’t do business with them.

“Why?” I hear you ask.

Well, I have some very bad news for you. Unless things have changed since I went to school which, as it happens, wasn’t yesterday, the chances are that we are all going to die with the same DNA that we were born with. With some exceptions, possibly.

Of course, as individuals we change over the course of time. We grow, we learn, we gain experience, if we’re lucky we may become more cultured and sophisticated; apparently, your hair may change colour hundreds of times during your life (not proven) and, yes, one’s hairline may recede, just a touch (proven). That’s life. But the DNA - and the good old GCTA with which your very own individually personalized genomic sequences are constructed - remains the same. To all intents and purposes, it doesn’t change

And my point is?

Would you work with a company that never changed? Of course you wouldn’t. Or not for long, anyway. For a company to continue to grow and be successful, it has to ‘mutate’ as often as is required in order to adapt and survive. This needs more than a minor incestuous re-shuffling of the GCTA; every now and again it requires the introduction of entirely new characteristics. A new identity or, at least, a new direction.

In this day and age, there is no room for complacency – businesses must embrace change to remain extant and competitive. I spend my days helping companies to find those very attributes that will guarantee their long and prosperous future.

So, as the festive season draws near, will you please join me in wishing ‘Business DNA’ a long and happy retirement in the place best suited to it – Room 101.

Don MacLeod

TENDERology Ltd

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by TENDERology Ltd .