Dear Change Leader,
Picture this: A small dinosaur stands at the edge of a cliff, its body covered in what we now know were primitive feathers—originally evolved for warmth and display, not flight. Below stretches an unfamiliar landscape, changed by shifting climates and new predators. The old hunting grounds have dried up. The familiar food sources have disappeared.
This dinosaur faces a choice that will determine not just its survival, but the future of its entire lineage.
It could try to continue doing what dinosaurs had always done—walking, running, hunting on the ground, using the same approaches that had worked for millions of years. Or it could ‘discover’ that those decorative feathers, combined with its lightweight bones and powerful legs, might serve an entirely different purpose.
When that first dinosaur leapt (or, more likely, fell!) from that cliff and experienced flight for the first time, everything changed.
This is ‘exaptive strategy’ in action—taking what you already have and discovering new applications that can serve in ways you never imagined.
The Organizational Cliff Edge
Many organizations are standing at their own version of that cliff right now. The landscape around your organization has shifted dramatically. The approaches that built your success—your “walking and running”—may no longer be sufficient for the terrain ahead.
But here’s what I’ve observed working with leaders through disruption: organizations that thrive don’t just survive by cutting costs or hunkering down. They discover that capabilities they’ve already developed can be repurposed in remarkable ways.
Your “feathers”—those systems, relationships, and capacities you’ve built—may be exactly what you need to navigate this new environment. You just haven’t recognized their potential yet.
Beyond Survival: The Three Pillars Revisited
Remember our framework for organizational triage: Mission, Organization, Staff. As we think about organizational resilience, this hierarchy takes on deeper meaning.
Mission endures. Your purpose—the reason you exist—remains constant. In fact, disruption often reveals how essential your mission truly is.
Organization adapts. The systems, structures, and approaches that serve your mission must evolve. Some will need to be shed entirely. Others will be repurposed in ways you never anticipated.
Staff configuration changes. This is perhaps the most challenging reality: the specific people, roles, and relationships within your organization may look very different as you move through and eventually emerge from disruption.
Like our cliff-edge dinosaur, organizational resilience isn’t about preserving everything exactly as it was. It’s about discovering which of your existing capabilities can evolve to serve your mission in new ways.
The Art of Exaptive Strategy
Exaptive strategy means looking at what you already have through fresh eyes. Think back to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic… Do you remember how we were all scrambling to adapt to a new and unfamiliar context? Many of our responses were exaptive, in that we developed new ways of doing things with our existing capabilities. And the creativity and innovation was amazing!
Consider two examples from that time:
- The sudden need for vast amounts of high-quality hand sanitizer was met by, of all things, breweries! They exapted their equipment for distilling and producing alcohol, along with their experience handling ethanol, to manufacture medical-quality hand sanitizer. In addition to supplying a critical public service, this shift allowed many smaller breweries to remain in business when the lockdown severely impacted beer sales.
- Auto companies like Ford and GM retooled their manufacturing lines to produce ventilators, a critical element for aiding people who were hospitalized with the COVID-19 virus. They exapted their skills in precision manufacturing, utilizing the available machinery, along with their expertise in supply chain management, to innovate and meet a critical public need.
These companies did not set out to develop these capabilities. But when disruption forced them to draw on their “feathers,” they discovered unexpected potential.
Your Organizational Flight Test
Here’s how to begin identifying your organization’s exaptive potential:
Conduct a Capability Inventory. List your organization’s core capabilities—not just what you do, but how you do it. Include:
- Systems and processes that work reliably
- Relationships and networks you’ve built
- Knowledge and expertise your team possesses
- Physical or digital assets you control
- Cultural strengths and ways of working
Apply the “What Else?” Filter. For each capability, ask: “What else could this enable us to do? How might this serve our mission in ways we haven’t considered?“
Test Small, Learn Fast. Choose 2-3 possibilities that intrigue you most. Design small experiments to test whether these capabilities can indeed be repurposed. Give yourself 30-60 days to learn what’s possible.
The Resilience Paradox
Here’s what I’ve learned from organizations that successfully navigate major disruption: true organizational resilience requires being willing to let go of how things have always been done, while holding tightly to your higher-order purpose.
The dinosaur that learned to fly didn’t abandon its essential nature—it remained a hunter, a survivor, a creature driven by purpose. But it completely transformed how it fulfilled that nature.
Your organization’s flight moment may be closer than you think. Those capabilities you’ve built, those relationships you’ve nurtured, those systems you’ve developed—they may be exactly what you need to soar above the challenges that ground others.
The question isn’t whether you have what it takes to fly. The question is whether you’re ready to discover what you’ve already got.
Your Next Step
This week, gather your leadership team for a 90-minute “flight test” session:
- Inventory your feathers – What existing capabilities might serve purposes beyond their original design?
- Scout the new landscape – What opportunities exist that weren’t there before? What new needs have emerged?
- Design your leap – Choose one capability to test in a new application. Make it small, time-bound, and safe-to-fail.
Remember: the first dinosaur to fly didn’t do so because it was the strongest or fastest. It succeeded because it was able to draw on capacities that it already possessed.
Until next time,
P.S. I’m curious: What “feathers” in your organization might be ready for their first flight test? Reply and share—your insight might help other leaders recognize their own hidden potential.
“$10M Landed in Our Account”—What Leaders Should Know About Sudden Growth
What would your organization do if a massive, unexpected sum of money landed in your account overnight?
No, it’s not a scam, nor a mistake on the bank’s part. Rather, it is something that almost 3,000 nonprofits have experienced over the last 5 years as they have gained the attention of Mackenzie Scott and her unorthodox approach to philanthropy.
In this month’s episode of NGO Soul + Strategy, I speak with host Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken about the organizational impact of transformational gifts.
Drawing from research and real case studies, we explore:
- Why many nonprofits experienced less internal conflict over how to handle the windfall than expected
- What “quiet phase” communications can do to ease transitions
- How to prepare for the end of the money—before it’s all spent
- What readiness actually looks like when growth comes suddenly
This is a timely conversation for leaders thinking about funding growth, internal alignment, and long-term resilience.
Listen to the full episode here
EFFECTIVE CHANGE RESULTS FROM INTENTIONAL LEADERSHIP
We’re a leadership and organization development consultancy. My team and I work with leaders like you to prepare for and lead successful change processes.
Here’s why our clients call us:
- Leadership Coaching: I support leaders as they navigate transitions into new roles or expanded responsibilities.
- Group Coaching and Learning Programs: Bringing groups of leaders together, I facilitate learning experiences and months-long programs that equip people to be effective change leaders.
- Effective Teams and Stronger Organizations: I work with leaders and their teams with tailored processes that increase their effectiveness, building layers of aligned teams that transform organizations.