As a leader, you can’t predict the future, but you still need to keep your eye on the horizon. This simple tool will help you identify potential disruption pressure points quickly - so you can be ahead of the change before it hits you.
https://swiy.co/slow-bumpy-expensive
As a leader, what are you doing to understand future disruptions?
I was in Adelaide last week, at a conference for the mining and resources sector, speaking about how to think like a futurist.
In this sector, time frames are often much longer than in most other sectors and industries. It might take 10, 15, 20 years or more from the time companies start exploration to the time they have a profitable mining venture.
This isn’t true of every sector, but it’s not unique. For example, last month, I spoke at a Planning Institute of Australia conference, and they face similar time frames: Local planners often make decisions now that will have an impact in their communities 20 or 30 years in the future.
Your time frames might be shorter, but because the world is changing so quickly, you must still look into the future.
Of course, we can’t predict the future, but part of your role as a leader is to at least see what’s around the corner and over the horizon.
When I work with leadership teams, I share many tools and resources to help them with their planning. I’ll share one here ...
Our world is becoming “fast, flat, and free”. In other words:
- It’s getting faster and faster.
- We’re flattening traditional hierarchies.
- Products, services, and experiences are cheaper – and sometimes even free.
If that’s the future, think of the past as the opposite: “slow, bumpy, and expensive”.
What are you doing – in your processes, workflows, customer experience, and other touchpoints – that’s slow, bumpy, or expensive?
- What’s slower than it needs to be?
- Where does unnecessary friction in processes, workflows, and boundaries slow progress?
- What’s costly – internally to you or externally to customers?
These are your disruption pressure points.
Don’t get me wrong – “slow, bumpy, and expensive” can be good, but only if designed that way. More often, though, they are unintentional.
So, to identify your disruption pressure points, start by asking what’s slow, bumpy, or expensive. And then determine how to make them faster, flatter, and ... err, freer.
I’m going to run an online presentation very soon about seeing into the future, and we’ll talk about simple activities you can do as a leader to identify potential opportunities and threats in your team and organisation.
It’s free, public, and open to all. So, if you’re a leader at any level of your organisation, register here – and invite others in your network, too.
Register for the virtual masterclass: