Did you see the news item about the fossil discovery that they say is the “missing link” and “ancestor of all mammals”? A small shrew-like creature that became the whales, penguins, kangaroos and humans we know today. Miraculous! Isn’t Mother Nature wonderful in how it can adapt?

Yet this evolution took place over thousands, even millions of years. The evolution we see in the world of payments is happening so fast it is no longer an evolution it is a revolution. We don’t have millions of years to adapt. In the fast, faster, fastest pace of payments we must adapt in months, perhaps even days. As competition increases, time to market, to adapt, can be the difference between survival and extinction.

Wasn’t the Titanic a wonderful ship? Unsinkable. Glorious in its splendour, and the latest in engineering and sophistication. Yet it couldn’t adapt beyond being a ship. One iceberg and that was the end of it.

What if it could have adapted and become a seaplane or a submarine?

Dinosaurs did no better – they were too big. The few that did survive had to adapt quickly. Growing smaller. Taking to the skies.

It’s not enough to simply be perfectly adapted to your current environment.

There have been some wonderful payment products and methods over the years – many of which are long gone or close to extinction. More will follow. Equally so with companies. Out of business or swallowed up by more efficient, larger predators. It’s a constant fight for survival against extinction.

How big you are, how fast you are, how cheap you are, how profitable you are – means nothing if you cannot adapt.

You can have all the breadth and depth of functionality your customers need today, but if it takes you years to adapt and bring new features to the market – your businesses will very quickly die out.

Large organisations look to agile methods for delivery and yet impede them with excessive processes, procedures and governance. Often “safe” product choices turn out to be a huge risk to the long-term survival of the business when they prove unable to adapt. Increasingly expensive maintenance with longer and longer delivery timelines. Leading ultimately to extinction.

Ask yourself if the payment products you have can adapt quickly and simply to anything and everything you could imagine happening – or even couldn’t imagine happening.

Can you go from car, to boat, to plane? Or are you a passenger on The Titanic who feels very safe in your unsinkable ship?

Iceberg ahead!!!!!