“We shape our buildings and thereafter they shape us.” – Winston Churchill

Yes, there is some coincidence that I quoted a wartime prime minister after the events of last week have pushed us towards a global trade war.

I won’t rehash the details here. Your favorite news source has already detailed the new Trump era tariffs. And your favorite retail publication/podcast has already discussed the impacts.

My take is that the current fear is not so much what the future holds because there is no use in trying to predict it – we’re not that good at it to begin with.

Rather, the fear is about the short-term and how we will get to the future. For some, it’s a legitimate question of whether they make it to the future at all.

And, to get to the future, brands will do any or all of the following:

• Price raises
• Cut the bottom performing SKU’s
• Layoffs? If things drag on as they are now, it’s on the board
• Other forms of cost-cutting
• Control what you can control (duh)

But these are not strategies.

These are contingent, short-term tactics to get through a period of uncertainty.

The catch here is that as we go through this period of time, we’re not going back to where we came from, rather it’s a brand new destination. Meaning, the organization should also evolve along the way.

The challenge that still persists with retailers is how they are arranged internally — see the diagram below.

Different functions of the organization follow different, and sometimes competing, goals.

The siloed nature of these functions prevents the organization from being as innovative and responsive as it could be. No amount of SKU cutting eliminates this issue.

At the same time, businesses seem to be challenged with the ability to work through ‘what if’ scenarios and pressure-testing strategies and models .

So, I can interpret Churchill’s quote in this manner: Traditional retail operating models that have been built inform the way retail strategy is built.

Unfortunately, such approaches are no longer relevant or applicable as they once were. The pandemic made this point clear and Trump’s tariff policies have merely punctuated the statement.

Since this is setting up to to be an Oh Sh–! moment, retailers need to closely examine the buildings that they have built. And in turn, how the buildings are shaping them.

For instance:

• Do we really need to have an overly complex approval process for lab dips? Are we sure each department needs its own approval?
• Why does product creation not receive market insights on a consistent basis?
• Why can we not trust a vendor to fit and approve a proto?
• Do we treat innovation as a one-time event or a continuous process?

(I could go on. I mean, I am writing two books to address those questions and more.)

And the answers to such questions might give the buildings a sorely needed renovation.

Churchill said his words when talking about rebuilding the House of Commons which was destroyed by bombing in 1941. His belief was that restoring the House to its old stature and sense of dignity was essential. The small, intimate nature of the building stimulated political debate. “

The building shapes us” so to speak.

I feel that Churchill’s intention may have been a little more symbolic than practical.

As far as the retail business goes at this moment, the practical overrules the symbolic.