Adaptive versus Pre-Adaptive Businesses

When a change occurs in the natural environment or a new species is introduced, existing species don;t have tome to adapt. It’s only the pre-adapted that survive. An individual must already possess the traits required to compete and survive.

Unlike most other species, humans have the ability to adapt. If the weather turns cold, we can’t just grow fur. There’s not enough time. But we can kill a furry beast and wear its skin. We possess this adaptability trait due to a very significant pre-adaptation, the ability to reason and to envision the future. It’s what sets apart from the beasts. 

It’s the same in business. With technology products having life cycles as short as 18 months, there’s no time to adapt to any new entrant or change in the environment. No time to develop adaptation systems. A business must be pre-adapted with the ability to turn on a dime and respond instantly to changes that couldn’t possibly be foreseen. 

In other words, an adaptable business is prepared to respond to changes as they occur. A pre-adapted business not only has this response capability built into its business model, but it also has the ability to anticipate changes that haven’t occurred and implement them itself before the competition. That is, the business must have already adapted before the change in environment occurs or before a new entrant arrives. 

The Neanderthal was adaptive, but didn’t see us coming armed with pre-adapted traits that poor old Alley Oop couldn’t respond to quickly enough. 

Lesson here is to build a business that can scan the environment now and envision what might come. This takes a great deal research, lots of academic connections and a decent R&D budget.