Most companies are going on some kind of transformation. It seems a ever-changing world where companies, particularly the big ones, have to constantly reinvent themselves.

In parallel, these companies have constant pressure from shareholders to ensure operational efficiency and positive returns at every quarter. This pressure is boosted by social media and the fast speed of information dissemination. No company can expect that it’s actions, particularly if negative will not have media repercussions.

The challenge is: how to ensure the future while surviving today.

This perspective is important for any leader… In the majority of big corporations a person stays in the same job for about 2-4 years, meaning that most of them will be in a different position when the long-term actions come to effect. These leaders should be rewarded or punished based on their long-term results rather than on immediate results.

A successful company runs two parallel plans. One to focus on the short-term goals and other to focus on reinventing itself towards a long-term future. Many times this sounds contradicting, because the future might mean that the current core business will have to be changed.

There are many examples where companies failed to realize this and have lost their business because some leaders failed to reinvent the business before its market has gone to other businesses.

Start-ups should be the biggest fear of big corporations because they have nothing to lose while they can deal significant damage to current market leaders.

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