Introduction Play #1 Play #2 Play #3 Play #4 Play #5 When the growing gets tough… Consensus is often hard to reach among C-suite executives, but as we spoke with them for our latest research, there was unanimous agreement on one thing: It has likely never been more challenging to achieve meaningful growth. After years of global volatility, black swan events continue purpose. They seek to balance their needs with the constant to upend the world as we know it, yet leaders are finding pressures of external life forces, while still demanding more, their toolboxes offer limited options to thrive amid the better and faster from the companies with which they interact. upheaval. Attracting and motivating talent has become more Amid these ongoing challenges, we surveyed 1,700 global difficult, while initiatives meant to induce growth often fail C-suite leaders over the course of two survey runs. What we to gain traction. learned underlines the key issue of today: In our most recent At the same time, people are becoming increasingly survey, more than 95% of both B2C and B2B executives told us 1 that they believe their customers are changing faster than they unpredictable—even paradoxical—in their choices. As they face economic, social, environmental and political instability, can change their businesses. That’s up from 88% of executives they are continuously reassessing their values and sense of just a few months prior. The lifThe life centricity plae centricity playbookybook 22