In today’s fast-evolving business landscape, organisations face unprecedented challenges that demand agility, adaptability and strategic clarity. The world we operate in is no longer just complex — it is a BANI world: Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear and Incomprehensible, as defined by the futurist Jamais Cascio.
This new reality reshapes how businesses think about performance, leadership and competitiveness. So, how can organisations not only survive — but thrive — in such an environment?
From Strategy to Culture: A New Equation for Success
For decades, organisations have relied heavily on long-term strategic planning, often maintaining rigid three- to five-year plans. However, the days of setting strategy in stone are over. The traditional view of strategy is no longer sufficient.
Today’s leading companies and leaders balance long-term vision with short-term agility. Even capital-intensive industries like oil and gas are embracing continuous innovation and transformation, driven by the demands of sustainability and shifting consumer behaviours.
Our research and experience confirm that today’s most successful businesses seize momentum while staying anchored in a long-term vision. They do so by cultivating purpose-driven, change-ready cultures that enable strategy execution. These organisations treat strategy and culture as two sides of the same coin — mutually reinforcing in a formula that drives sustained success.
The Role of Culture in High-Performance Organisations
A strong culture is the key differentiator that enables businesses to adapt and evolve. Culture bridges the gap between strategy and execution. It empowers teams to navigate uncertainty, align with organisational goals and make better decisions in critical moments.
True success comes from integrating culture into the strategic framework — and ensuring that leadership behaviours align with the company’s long-term vision.
Building Change-Ready Organisations with Leader Labs and Playbooks
At BTS, we partner with our clients on the people side of strategy, ensuring that individuals across the organisation understand, translate and implement their company’s strategic goals.
We help our clients build the “leadership muscle” required for sustained success. One of the most effective tools for achieving this is our LeaderLab methodology. Leader Labs are not theoretical exercises — they are immersive, practical and engaging experiences that create awareness of limiting behaviours and mindsets, while encouraging a shift toward more effective leadership practices.
By simulating the competitive business environment, these labs provide a safe space for experimentation, learning and growth. Leaders practice the “great behaviours and mindsets” that bring strategy and culture to life. They build the skills needed to navigate the complexities of the BANI world.
To sustain leadership transformation, it helps to codify leadership expectations into Great Playbooks — practical guides that define what high-performing leaders do and how they think in pivotal moments. These “trade-off” moments yield disproportionate results when the right behaviours and mindsets are displayed.
By identifying these moments and articulating behaviours that drive success (versus those that hold an organisation back), leaders gain clarity and can take consistent, effective action. Playbooks provide a framework for scaling aligned leadership behaviours across the organisation.
Case Study: Transforming Leadership in Southeast Asia
One example of this approach comes from a leading Southeast Asian financial institution that BTS partnered with. As the company sought to transform its operations and unify its culture across multiple business units, BTS worked closely with the leadership team to bring clarity to the cultural transformation journey.
Through leadership workshops and simulations, they identified 11 critical moments that would drive the necessary cultural shift to achieve their strategic goals. By developing a playbook and conducting immersive, simulation-based leadership and skill-building workshops, they ensured that leaders at all levels understood how to effectively navigate these pivotal moments.
The Future of High Performance: A Call to Action
As organisations continue to navigate uncertainty, the ability to integrate strategy and culture will determine long-term success. High-performance organisations recognise that investing in leadership development, behaviour modelling and cultural alignment is not an option — it is essential.
By embracing this new equation for success, businesses can build resilient, adaptable teams that not only withstand the challenges of a BANI world but thrive in it.
Gianfranco Di Maira is a Partner, Senior Vice President and Managing Director at BTS Southeast Asia. In his role, he consults and supports clients in addressing their business challenges with a focus on the people side of strategy execution, culture and leadership transformations. His domains of expertise include Strategy Alignment, Business Acumen, Culture Transformation, Leadership Development, Innovation and Digital Transformation. Top executives and leaders can reach out to him at gianfranco.dimaira@bts.com or via LinkedIn.
