The Global Village is dead
Change is the only Constant... and we cannot predict in which direction it will go.
It was the year 2019, and I was still at the Maastricht School of Management (The Netherlands) finishing my MBA program.
Our professor of Global Economics, a very reputable scholar, presented us with a preview of a paper he was writing about his research on the international market dynamics.
I still remember when he showed us the data, and said unceremoniously: “The world is following a process of Deglobalization…”.
Of course we thought he was crazy.
How could that be possible?
With Amazon thriving, Aliexpress quickly growing as a fierce competitor, European fast fashion fueled by Chinese factories, etc.
Blockchain logistics seemed to be the next big thing, while Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum soared in value and market cap.
Deglobalization… yeah right.
But fast forward to 2025, and I no longer think the good professor was wrong nor crazy.
What we are seeing right now: ferocious tariffs being wielded as weapons between former political and economical allies, factories and entire businesses being recalled home, etc. isn’t encouraging.
A quote commonly attributed to Frédéric Bastiat is:
“When goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will.”
— Frédéric Bastiat
And even if we are still far from a scenario where a generalized armed conflict could arise, the effects of such “deglobalization” phenomenon will be felt by every business.
What the current situation should teach us is that we really cannot predict in which direction the world, the markets, and society itself will move.
While everyone was worried about the potential effect of an extreme globalization, with global supply chains reducing costs, but also bringing overseas competitors to our local markets, now we must prepare for the opposite.
By now we can probably agree that “the only constant is change”.
And we, as business leaders and owners, must be prepared to take our organizations in whatever direction is needed to not only survive, but thrive.
The Trade War has just started, and we must deal with it.
Fast.
Mimicking Nature itself, only Adaptable Organizations can ensure their ability to survive, no matter what happens within the market.
Based on my experience, I’ve created the “Future-Proof Entrepreneur System™”, that makes sure your organization acquires the following six critical capabilities of any Adaptable Organization:
Clear business vision, values and expected outcomes
Fast objectives setting, adjustment and control
Agile project management
A Customer Experience Management culture that listens and quickly adapts
A company-wide Change Management process
Cost-efficient and frictionless technology adoption
Let’s review them one by one.
Clear business vision, values and expected outcomes
A business’ vision, values and expected outcomes, can act as guardrails when the policies are insufficient and people needs to make decisions.
Without them, it becomes almost impossible to keep everyone aligned in the same direction, especially during hard and uncertain times.
An organization in disarray during stressful times is as good as dead.
Fast objectives setting, adjustment and control
We no longer have the luxury of spending months of “strategic planning” for the next year.
5-year plans don’t last 1 year at the current pace of change.
We need to set yearly objectives, but manage them quarterly, and completely redefine them if needed.
In short, this is called the Objectives and Key Results methodology (OKR).
Agile project management
Projects no longer can take months or even years to provide tangible benefits.
The whole reason to be of a project can disappear or radically change in the middle of its execution.
Agile project management methodologies are indispensable to make sure we are still building something that makes business sense, and adapting the scope on the fly if needed.
A Customer Experience Management culture that listens and quickly adapts
In the Age of AI, automation and robots behind the counter and the workplace, the human touch will be a key (and expensive) differentiator.
An organization designed to listen to the Voice of the Customer, and to act accordingly in response, will win every time.
But this requires a purposeful end-to-end redesign, where everyone in the organization knows the part they must play in the great Customer Experience act.
A company-wide Change Management process
Adaptability means change.
And change is risky if it is not managed properly.
The only sure thing in the near future is that organizations will have to be in a state of constant change and adaptation.
So a properly implemented Change Management process, that covers the whole organization, will be key to success.
Cost-efficient and frictionless technology adoption
There are many ways to acquire new technology.
A big corporation can sign up a contract with a big AI provider, and pay enormous amounts of money for a service they hope will give them an edge over their competition.
A small business cannot afford to be so careless.
But with some expert guidance, they could implement Open Source technology that can provide them the same level of benefit, but at a smaller scale (for a smaller business) at a fraction of the cost.
This way, being small can be turned into an advantage, not only in the size of the solutions required, but the speed at which those can be adopted.
While your bigger competitors are entangled in red tape and budget approvals, you’ll be already reaping the benefits of new technology that gives you the upper hand.
Turning your business into an Adaptable Business
You have already taken the first steps into redesigning your business to become Adaptable, and making sure it will thrive during the Age of AI, by subscribing to my publication and reading this article.
But if you want to go further, here are two options:
If you want to start right away, you can join me in my Ready yourself for the future coaching program, where we will begin implementing together my “Future-Proof Entrepreneur System™” in your organization.
Or join my Future-Proof Entrepreneur Community, and continue learning about which technologies you must be prepared to adopt, with tips and strategies from me and your peers.
We cannot predict what else will change in the near future.
But we can be sure this is just the beginning of it.
Time to get ready.
Talk to you soon,
Alfredo.
The Entrepreneuring AI is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can let me know that my content is valuable by fueling my coffee addiction, so I can keep producing it for free 😸☕️