Businesses today confront a nonlinear, complex, and chaotic environment—a world shaped by geopolitical conflict, economic arms races, rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, pandemics, and climate change. Traditional management thinking, which assumes a linear and stable world, is inadequate in the face of these disruptions. Adaptability is now the most important capability for organizations, but from where should they learn how to adapt and evolve?

This pioneering book reveals how the principles that underpin the natural world can guide businesses to adapt for an unpredictable future. Blending insights from evolutionary biology and complexity science with management and economics, Jay P. Desai examines the striking parallels between natural and business ecosystems. He demonstrates how leaders and organizations can improve their ability to endure by drawing from evolutionary principles to develop adaptive strategies for whatever the future holds.

Adaptive Strategy shares a practical framework that organizations can use to gain a competitive edge, illustrated through compelling examples of businesses that evolved and survived—or went extinct. It offers a new lens on the institutions, foundations, and mechanisms that drive, enable, and sustain adaptivity. The future of business, this book shows, will belong to organizations that constantly adapt to change.

with a foreword by Matt Ridley