I’m Not Sure. That’s My Strategy

The Future Is Entirely Unclear

More unclear than at any time.

In fact it’s far less clear than that. Nobody has any idea what might happen next week. By now you will have heard that right at this minute - the pace of change is the slowest it’s ever going to be in your lifetime.

Are you prepared?

Our world is no longer linear. Things happen at any time and from any direction and in sequences that things have never happened in before..

That also means anything can happen and it will. It will surprise you. What may also surprise you is how much it’s already happened. (E.G. Netflix vs. Traditional Broadcast TV). These things will happen so much and so often that it will become the new normal.

Are you ready?

From Now On

Without getting too complicated let’s refer to ‘from now on’ as an era of perpetual emergence. We had better get used to it because there’s no going back to good old linear.

For emergent you can also read random and chaotic. There’s a high probability that you are not designed for the future right now.

Are you awake to it?

Read - The New Human race

A Typical Scenario:

Do any or all of these feel familiar to you?

Important shifts in the market are becoming increasingly hard or impossible to go after.
New entrants are starting up with far leaner businesses and doing more than you with new systems/business models designed for now.
The talent we need to do what we know needs doing is impossible to find or afford.
The market has stopped wanting what your system and processes delivered.
Customers are increasingly paralysed by too many options and competing information.
The marketplace (your customers) is influenced by media channels far beyond the reach of your firm.
There’s probably more competition in your market now than at any time in history.

It’s time to think completely differently. There’s almost zero value continuing to develop/refine your legacy systems and investments. If you haven’t already built a different approach to the uncertain future then getting your people to wake up to it could be the smartest of moves.

Prepared? Purposeful? Responsible?

The Intention/Action Gap

In many businesses there’s an enormous gap between the intention and the action. The behaviour of the people and the systems they are built on are not fit for the coming onslaught.

We have to start with the premise of certain uncertainty. The best strategy is to get brilliant at imagining what might happen - then prepare being ready for that.

It’s not news that the basic capabilities required to survive in the near future are critical thinking, collaboration, communication and the ability to identify and exploit better connections.

A precursor to everything is being awake. Awake to these words and the concepts within them. Alive to the possibility they present and ready to grasp the future or sit back and watch it wash over you.

The philosopher John Dewey, often considered the father of modern day critical thinking, defines critical thinking as: “Active, persistent, careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge in light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends.”

The Four Things

In business, and if you’re a leader, your job is to steer the ship - or at least the part you are responsible for. Miraculously there are really only four ‘things’ you can be working on. Creating things, changing things, improving things or fixing things.

They’re extremely tough things. The minute you think you’ve nailed any one of them - everything will change again. It’s emergent remember.

“Futurists predict that we will experience 20,000 years of progress in the course of the 21st century. Are you ready for it?” - Beth Comstock

Being ready for it is the right question.

It’s why we argue that preparedness is the only strategy. Each of the four things can be dealt with a similar approach. At a high level anyway. Weird huh?

“The Strategic Toolkit’s most valuable application is responding to the challenges of the business today at the same time as preparing for the uncertain future - tomorrow.”

The Key Dimensions Of Strategic Intention

The eleven things below solve each of the four things above.
They are not that linear - but yes, the numbers are.

ONE - What’s The Point?

Decide why the ‘thing’ is worth doing in the first place. Whether it’s creating a business, transforming one, seizing an opportunity or solving a problem - you have to be able to say what the aim is in a sentence or two.

What’s the purpose? And is that sustainable?

TWO - Understand The Current And Future Context

Knowing what’s going on around the thing - sounds an obvious thing to do. But for many linear thinkers it’s been a secondary thing. The forces that exist ‘around’ us either helps or hinders progress.

You may not fully understand them at first - that’s OK. You need to master these forces. It’s a topic to start obsessing about. You have to try and plot what’s coming down the track and from multiple directions.

You can’t do anything in splendid isolation. You would fail. Reflect on what’s happening and what might happen after that.

THREE - Know Those Moving Parts

Figure out what ‘assets’ you’re currently playing with - all the parts. Develop a good relationship with those bits. They are supposed to be under your control. They all come together to make the business work (or maybe they get in the way). Depending on your situation some of them may be obstructing achievement.

Good or bad - everything will be on the ‘blueprint’.

FOUR - Get Inside The Complexity

Meet the devil in the detail - make friends with it. Implications, dependencies - the stuff between the things. Figure out why things work and obsess about why they don’t. Start to imagine if they are good for the future or if they will hold you back.

This level of understanding will pay back several times over.

FIVE - After A While - Establish The Reality

This takes time. Reflection and looking at things from differing perspectives isn’t as easy as it sounds. A baseline will eventually emerge. Principles and standards will start to make make sense. These will emerge as more solid ideas that just start to make complete sense.

From this foundation the future will really start to emerge.

SIX - Identifying The Vision

Now comes the future. The idea of what’s possible and smart to do (or be) on the other side.

The team should now be firing. Inspiration should be the order of the day. A new story is emerging. It doesn’t just make sense to us inside the firm. It isn’t just convenient - it feels like it’s the future.

It feels like it can withstand whatever we can imagine. This would be truly incredible if we could pull it off. It’s how we need to think and work in time.

SEVEN - Assessing Capabilities

Throughout it all we’ve been getting a better idea of our strengths and weaknesses. Some people may be better placed. We’ve identified many gaps. We know what we need. But above all we know why we need them. Internally as well as externally. We’ve added all this to our blueprint.

We’ve identified roles we need to develop the future, sustain what we’ve done and make sure we are prepared to change again as required.

EIGHT - Developing Remedies

To make sure we achieve what we’ve set out we need to create the plans for considered solutions and execution. We will have to communicate them.

As John Dewey said - “Active, persistent, careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge in light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends.”

These are the tools and activities we’ve decided are required to achieve the outcomes. These are the strategies and themes through which everyone will carry out the plans.

NINE - Supporting Tools

The business needs to communicate and collaborate. This is the lifeblood. The business must stay aligned and supported as the solutions are executed. Systems and processes need to be in place.

Apps, technology and techniques need to be agreed to help the programs come to fruition. This way everyone can stay connected and alerted as needed to activities and progress. Insights can be shared - achievements celebrated.

TEN - Ensuring Stakeholder Alignment -

We must involve every audience at the appropriate times. It’s advisable to start this (and have a plan for communication) at the outset. The communication of progress, opportunities, celebrations of achievements and above all management of expectation.

ELEVEN - Executing And Sustaining

The real test is making it happen. And keeping it happening. If we did everything above properly then this should happen without any trouble. Everyone would be in the right mindset and aware of what’s happening next.

With the appropriate tools and appreciation in place the management and monitoring of all the initiatives the plan can be executed accordingly. The inevitable corrections will be monitored and implemented.