An executive driving an enterprise’s success must not only focus on the present but also in the future. Developing a culture of continuous change and improvement within the organizational structure will help an enterprise change course rapidly if necessary. To remain stagnant within the current economic climate can cause an enterprise to face crippling losses and in worst cases extinction.

Becoming a change agent requires a dedicated commitment to building a culture of change. An executive cannot blanket an organization with change tactics in the heat of battle and expect everyone to move ahead. The very fibers and strands of the business must be ready to flex at a moment’s instant depending on the business sector. A technological Web 2.0 business such as Facebook needs to rapidly change in order to keep ahead of the competition within weeks whereas a company building industrial machines may need to change rapidly in months and perhaps a year. The change that is required of organizations today is reflective of many factors such as external environment, changing customer demographics, changing economy or business landscape (such as the worldwide recession of 2008-2009).

The Japanese have a term for continuous improvement in life and work called kaizen. This philosophy follows techniques such as lean manufacturing and was a critical aspect in getting Japanese businesses back on track after World War II. Toyota built the Toyota Production System around kaizen in the 1950’s which allowed workers to halt the production line if they felt there was an abnormality or deficiency when building mechanical pieces or working at the desk. This continuous improvement derived from the assembly line workers helped empower the workers to effectively improve the business and cut down unnecessary wasted time and output; therefore increasing production. When a worker accidentally found a success such as a more effective way to apply paint to a vehicle, that feedback would be passed along and taken into high consideration and implemented if the results were positively measurable. Even though these were minor improvements in the catalyst of change, this would eventually increase to radical changes within Toyota’s manufacturing environment and fifty years later put Toyota as the leader in the automobile industry.

Change within the enterprise is critical in order to surpass the competition as well as empower the spirit and emotional power of the employees. Not implementing a “change culture” can result in apprehension towards external forces in a tough climate, with Yahoo being an example when they declined the Microsoft buy out in 2008, which resulted in a 50% share drop from $28 per share to $11 per share at the time of this writing. It is critical that the sparks of adapting to internal and external environments are put in place even when there are prosperous times, so when a downturn does occur, the corporation is ready to battle the falling current.