If the past year has taught us anything about life, business, and the economy, it is that we must be accepting of change and willing to adapt if we want to move forward successfully. While many businesses and industries have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many others that have overcome the limitations of the pandemic and adjusted to a new workplace structure.
Bo Parfet is a successful real estate professional and philanthropist. Throughout his personal and professional experiences, Parfet has learned the importance of being able to adapt to a changing environment. Whether navigating the ever-changing stock market while working on Wall Street or enduring the extreme conditions atop the Mount Vinson Massif in Antarctica, Parfet has a steady history of overcoming the seemingly impossible.
Recently, Parfet shared his experience in building an adaptable organization capable of withstanding uncertain times and growing beyond evolving limitations. He says that the key to building an adaptable organization is to develop trust among your team members by introducing a “less is more” approach to management. Here are the ways that he recommends adapting your current business model to meet the changing needs of today’s workforce:
Define the common goal. Transforming your organizational model requires thoughtful planning and data collection. Defining your overarching goals and priorities can ensure that the leadership team and all of the key players in your organization understand what you are trying to accomplish.
Schedule monthly check-ins to gather feedback and ensure that your company is on track to reach its goals. Involving a variety of team members is crucial for making sure that a business model will be effective across the board.
Build diverse teams with a single owner. When setting new goals and priorities to improve your business model and make it more adaptable, it can be advantageous to divide employees into teams that will take on various tasks. Each team should be diverse and cross-functional to avoid the development of silos between departments. Importantly, one team member should be named the sole owner of each team, responsible for ensuring that team-specific targets are met.
Experiment over research. While research is important for deciding whether or not to develop new plans or improve on existing ones, experimentation might be your best bet when building an adaptable organization.
Use experiments as trial run for new ideas. They can be used as models for forging ahead, to provide measurable solutions, or as lessons in how to anticipate and avoid certain unforeseen problems.
Catalyze collaboration. Just as we encourage the development of diverse and cross-functional teams, an important factor to consider is collaboration across the entire organization. Enabling teams to break off and meet with other teams can catalyze ideas and experiences across the board. Encourage dynamic networking within your organization to help individuals understand the common mission and goals that you are working towards.
Encouraging the entire organization to participate in your company’s shift in the way you do business will help facilitate an adaptable and well-grounded business model. Adaptability leads to strength and continued success. We may live in uncertain times, but by following these principles for building an adaptable business, there is much more that we can control in the future.
About Bo Parfet
Bo Parfet is a philanthropist, real estate professional, adventurer, naturalist, and author. He and his wife are the co-founders of Denali Venture Philanthropy (Denali), an impact investment organization that fuses their love of business with their passion for positive social change. Parfet also serves as the Chief Growth Officer for DLP Real Estate Capital.
He began his career in accounting at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and later joined J.P. Morgan on Wall Street as an investment banker. In 2012, he founded Iconic Development, a real estate development firm that earned the Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Companies distinction.
Parfet is a passionate environmentalist and expert mountain climber. He is one of only 127 people to have completed the Seven Summits. He shares details of his experiences in his book, “Die Trying: One Man’s Quest to Conquer the Seven Summits.” He also contributed to a book written by the Explorer’s Club, “They Lived To Tell The Tale: True Stories of Modern Adventure.”
Parfet received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for completing more than 4,000 hours of volunteer service around the world. He is a member of both the Explorer’s Club and Young Professionals Organization, and he is an advisory board member for the nonprofit Adventure Scientists.
He has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Colorado State University, a Master’s in Applied Economics from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Parfet and his family reside in Colorado and Florida.