What makes an organization intelligent?

A question that I have constantly thought about is what makes individuals intelligent , humans intelligent …. “Understanding intelligence” is a quest that has driven humankind for centuries. But what about Organizational and Enterprise Intelligence ?

What makes an organization ‘intelligent’?

Organizations do two things; they run and they make decisions. It doesn’t matter what industry they’re in or what their size is… running and making decisions are fundamental to every enterprise.

The economic turbulence and resulting uncertainty in today’s environment has forced them to re-evaluate the way they do both.

They are now looking for ways to drive innovative solutions to capture opportunities when they occur, while not adding cost. They need to be smarter in today’s slow-growth phase in developed economies, while ensuring they capture the high-growth emerging markets for future success.
This combination of forces at play in this volatile environment is really forcing organizations to become smarter, find ways to grow revenue and capture new market share, while ensuring they don’t increase capacity themselves and instead build an ecosystem of partnerships.

So how does a high-performing organization differentiate itself? They build the ability to anticipate needs, have the dexterity to adapt to change and the spirit to innovate. They are effective in diverse markets and are alert to evolving stakeholder requirements. They are intelligent.

So what makes an organization intelligent? In working with a bunch of high-performing, successful organizations that have adapted themselves to today’s environment, here are 4 attributes that are common to all.

They are Globally Effective. They are able to address different markets and run equally well anywhere in the world. And they deliver better outcomes for themselves and for their customers !!

They are Connected. They pick up needs faster and use all the tools and technology available to build insights faster. They connect the dots across the enterprise and ecosystem faster and build cost effective relationships faster.

They are Innovative. They find novel ways to address both opportunity and uncertainty for competitive advantage using all the knowledge gathered through being connected.
And finally, they are Adaptive. They respond to change with agility. In fact, they thrive on change... they want change!! Because they know they outcompete with others when change is needed.

And therefore, organizations that are intelligent and are able to leverage their ecosystem of partners are the ones who dramatically improve the way they run and take smarter decisions !!