A RECENT McKinsey report outlines three forces reshaping organisations globally — technology and artificial intelligence (AI), economic and geopolitical disruption, and a changing workforce.
asserted
report → outline → organisations
These forces may appear less immediate to Pakistani business leaders, who already contend with volatile costs, uncertain demand, disrupted supply chains and regulatory uncertainty, amongst other existential issues.
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who → appear → issues
With these new challenges, naturally, the question arises: how prepared are our organisations for change?
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organisations → arise → change
It is a crucial question, but I believe a more fundamental one lies beneath; are Pakistani organisations ready to learn?
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organisations → believe → ?
This shift in focus stems from my belief that organisations should prioritise building capability over simply adopting the latest technology or management ideas.
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organisations → stem → technology
Capability encompasses an organisation’s accumulated ability to achieve its purpose; making sound decisions, developing people, learning from experience and adapting to changing circumstances.
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Capability → encompass → circumstances
Results are undoubtedly important — profit, growth, market share, impact and productivity — but they alone do not define good management.
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they → define → management
The more important question is whether an organisation is becoming more capable of fulfilling its purpose.
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organisation → become → purpose
Are they making better decisions?
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they → make → decisions
Are their people developing?
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people → develop → ?
Does experience influence behaviour?
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experience → influence → behaviour
Can they respond to environmental changes?
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they → respond → changes
And would they continue to perform even if their most senior leader were no longer present?
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leader → continue → ?
With new challenges, a fundamental question arises: are Pakistani organisations prepared to learn?
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organisations → arise → challenges
These questions hold particular relevance for Pakistan.
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questions → hold → Pakistan
We boast many highly capable founders, family-business leaders and senior executives whose market knowledge, relationships and judgement have often propelled successful enterprises through challenging times.
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knowledge → boast → times
However, personal capability alone does not equate to institutional capability.
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capability → equate → capability
I have witnessed organisations where every significant decision ultimately falls to the owner(s) or the most experienced person.
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decision → witness → person
This applies to difficult customers, major investments, hiring decisions and operational problems — everyone waits for the person who is assumed to know the answer.
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who → apply → answer
While this can work well in the short term, with a capable individual at the centre, it leads to a growing dependence on that single person.
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it → work → person
Managers become adept at escalating problems rather than solving them, and experience becomes concentrated in a few heads rather than embedded in systems, processes and shared judgement.
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experience → become → systems
The organisation might grow larger or become more profitable, but it has not necessarily become stronger.
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it → grow → ?
True leadership is not measured by whether everything functions when the leader is present; it is whether the organisation has become more capable in their absence.
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organisation → measure → absence
This is one reason Pakistani organisations often struggle with succession.
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organisations → struggle → succession
We tend to think of succession as simply finding the next CEO or family member, but it is a much broader question.
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it → tend → CEO
Has the organisation developed people capable of making decisions?
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organisation → develop → decisions
Has it created systems that do not rely on personal intervention?
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that → create → intervention
Has it made knowledge accessible beyond those who acquired it?
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who → make → it
Has it given capable younger managers real exposure to challenging work before they are expected to lead?
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they → give → work
If not, the organisation may have found a successor, but it has not built succession.
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it → find → succession
The same issue arises with AI.
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issue → arise → AI
Many leaders are asking which tasks AI can automate, which is a reasonable starting point.
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which → ask → tasks
However, the more important question is what new capabilities the organisation will need when routine work changes.
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work → need → capabilities
Technology matters.
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Technology → matter → ?
AI will change how work is done, which skills matter and what customers expect.
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customers → change → what
But technology does not transform an organisation.
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technology → transform → organisation
People using technology differently might.
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People → use → technology
A company can buy the latest systems, appoint a chief digital officer and run pilots in AI.
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company → buy → AI
It can still make the same slow decisions, hide the same bad news, reward the same behaviour and depend on the same few senior people.
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It → make → people
In that case, technology may simply make the organisation more efficient at doing what is becoming less relevant.
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what → make → case
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
