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Off the beaten track: why values-led business wins

  • Barry Carney
  • Feb 5
  • 3 min read

Updated: Feb 18

Trees, sunrise, and a winding winter lane in the Peak District

As businesses grow, challenges and complexities multiply. Pressure mounts to take the "safe" path. Instincts and integrity get sidelined and business as usual (BAU) becomes a threat to success.


When BAU won’t do

During shocks, doubling down on what worked before leads to a reliable decline of performance (Osiyevskyy et al., 2020). BAU emphasises speed and short-term metrics at the expense of culture, adaptability, innovation and resilience. Leaders who ignore shifting realities and cling to old products, structures or strategies increase likelihood of compounding problems and eroding the chances of success.


Shocks and black swans are now routine – think climate on supply chains or AI disruptions. As Mark Carney (2026) warned of the global order, "we are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.” Ritualistic behaviour and rigid BAU – at odds with shifting realities – sustain harmful systems and can be linked to negative performance and heightened vulnerabilities. Paul Polman (2026) explains the outdated framing of resilience as the ability to bounce back from episodic disruptions. Polman then highlights that the pace and nature of change - today and tomorrow - demands a new take on resilience.

 

Recognising BAU

You can spot BAU in conformity pressure, symptoms like delays, firefighting, strategy gaps, poor decision-making and an underlying sense of the chosen path being the wrong one. Better signals of BAU ready to break and change can include desire lines – the informal paths showing real travel – constructive discontent, and a discernible yearning for new spaces to make better routes visible.


Going off track

Leaders need new ‘As Usuals’ – new approaches, new skills, new value – to begin the wayfinding that leads us efficiently to waymaking. Uncomfortable, but evolutionary and rewarding. They need a "value-based realism": a principled pragmatism for facing the world as it is, where integrity, goals, and resilience strengthen during, and because of challenges. Polman’s (2026) reworked concept offers that “resilience is the capacity to remain anchored and steady while the pressure compounds.” Long-term success and a sustainable realism cannot be developed without a fortified resilience.


Requirements:

  • Honesty about conditions and constraints (market, climate, tech, capacity...)

  • Spaces for the needs of the mission, matched to agency and driven by purpose.

  • Acceptance of trade-offs supported by clear and coherent strategies.

  • Terrain-responsive routes, development of capabilities, and provision of resources.


Upside of off-track

Values-led shifts yield sharper positioning, stronger culture and adaptive operations. Clarity regarding values frees-up time for good choices. Well aligned action builds trust, loyalty, and respect.


Off-track, the Peakpact way

From the Peak District National Park, with plenty of paths to choose from and changeable weather for exploring resilience, Peakpact supports purpose-driven businesses in Derbyshire, East Midlands and beyond. We bring insights and expertise from the trail and we co-design routes that fit. Our five services build lasting momentum: Programs & Projects, Operational Stride, Strategy, Culture & Conditions, Beyond Resilience.


If new routes and growth with integrity are where you’re headed, that's the Peakpact way.


Aint.Today Silver. Certified human-generated work.
Aint.Today Silver. Certified human-generated work.


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