What do start-ups and established organisations have in common?
Knock, knock!
Who’s there?
Relevance.
Relevance who?
Rel-I’ve forgotten.
Relevance
A simple, powerful word. Yet, it’s constantly misplaced, overlooked, or lost in the chaos of day-to-day business. How many distractions can your organisation endure before it fades into irrelevance? Without relevance, who are you? Why would anyone buy from you, work with you, or invest in your vision? If you're not needed, if you're not useful, your financial sustainability - whether you're for-profit or not - is inevitably at risk. Surely relevance = survival, regardless of shape or size.
For new ideas, products, services, or solutions, relevance is king. But why does it struggle to earn a seat at the top table when it comes to organisational strategy - the very thing that defines your existence and future? In today’s relentless economic and technological landscape, staying relevant is a constant battle. Even when we pause to celebrate success, relevance is already shifting beneath our feet. Consider this:
- 663,167 UK organisations dissolved in 2024—a 13.2% increase from 2023, according to Gov.uk.
- Company dissolutions hit their highest levels in a decade, according to Business Rescue Experts.
- 71.1% of new businesses fail within their first three years, as highlighted by ukmoney.
Larger organisations aren’t immune either. Blockbuster. Kodak. You know the names.
Are we learning from them? How do we stay relevant?
Focus
One answer is to focus. A famous concept, heralded by a renowned entrepreneur behind one of the most successful companies of all time. Yet focus, like relevance, is often ignored. “We should add this. And that. Oh, and let’s squeeze this in too- we can do it all! Can you? Sure. Should you? Now, that’s the real question. Relevance thrives on data insights, trends, engagement, research, experiments, and agility. But organisations, no matter their size, face limitations in budget, resources, and time. Where will you allocate yours? Or more importantly, where will you re-allocate them as the environment changes? It’s okay to stop initiatives that no longer serve your strategy. Learn fast, change gears, adapt quickly, find the right track. Whether you have 2 or 20,000 employees, drive that focus like it matters, because it does.
How do we separate innovation from illusion?
Fad or Future
A fad or not a fad? That is the question.
(Unfortunately, my crystal ball is missing so I can’t cheat and fast-forward to the future).
With my background in Technology, I’ve seen firsthand how it shapes the way we work and engage with customers. But how do we distinguish fleeting trends from lasting innovations? Take 3D TVs, a passing fascination. Meanwhile, pagers have quietly endured for decades. You can see where this is going… Yes, let’s talk AI. The number of conversations that start with, “We need AI” is astonishing. Do you? More importantly, why? What problem are you trying to solve?
AI is powerful. But it demands investment, processing power, and potentially, your brand’s integrity. AI adoption in the UK is rising fast. According to data synthesised from Gov.uk and Forbes:
- 432,000 UK organisations- 15% of businesses - have implemented at least one AI technology.
- 68% of large enterprises now use AI, compared to 34% of medium-sized businesses and 15% of small businesses.
“We’re being left behind—we need AI.” Is that true for you? Or is relevance the real challenge? Technology can enhance relevance, efficiency, scalability, consistency, but if your product, service, or solution is fundamentally unnecessary, let’s be honest with ourselves. AI won’t fix that. Before you jump on the next trend, chase the latest shiny thing, declare a new strategy, or blindly stay focused on something that may no longer serve you, ask yourself:
Are you staying relevant, or just staying busy?
If you truly believe your decisions and resource allocation will keep you relevant, then go for it. Being brave and taking a risk is often the only way to find out what works. You’ll never know unless you try, and we can only make choices based on the information available at the time. Irrelevance doesn’t announce itself. It creeps in. And when it does, you won’t hear a knock at the door, you’ll just realise no one’s knocking anymore. But if you do hear a faint knock:
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Irrelevance.
Irrelevance who?
... Exactly.