What the plight of a Mediterranean gecko can teach us during planning season
There’s an uninhabited island in the Mediterranean where a fascinating evolutionary chapter is unfolding. It involves a rock, a lighthouse, and two species of gecko.
Giraglia, a French island at the northern tip of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea.
The rock – actually the island of Giraglia – lies off the northern coast of Corsica. It’s home to two species of gecko: The European Leaf-Toed and the Moorish. In any other location in Europe, the bigger, armored, fiercely territorial Moorish gecko would dominate. But not on Giraglia. Its sticky toe pads, perfect for clinging to concrete, utterly fail to cope with the island’s volcanic rock that produces a dusty, grimy surface. And so instead of dominating its weaker cousins, the Moorish gecko population maintains a status quo, confined to a single concrete lighthouse structure – trapped by the very material on which they hitched a ride to the island years ago and their inability to adapt to their new environment.
Interesting story and, of course, a possibly valuable metaphor at this time of year as your organization plans for future challenges and success.
How often is it that the inability of an organization to adapt to new competitive challenges limits its success or even threatens its survival?
When does familiarity with a business environment evolve into the complacency that stifles growth and success?
If your strategic planning efforts this year require a fresh perspective we can help. By identifying and quantifying market opportunity and assessing your organization’s ability to tap it, you won’t be stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to challenging the status quo.