How to future proof your business

I picked up “Future-Proof Your Business” because I have an interest in strategy. I think strategy is about predicting the future and placing your business (and yourself) favourably in that future. My favourite book on future proving is “Future vision”. It is hard, if not impossible.

One wrong move now could be catastrophic

Imagine you are driving down the motorway at speed and you lose control of your car. You realise that your accelerator pedal is stuck and your brakes have stopped working. As your speed increases, cars and trucks start rushing towards you, and you begin to swerve across the road as you try desperately to avoid a collision. Your adrenaline levels skyrocket, panic rises and survival strategies whir through your brain at lightning speed. One wrong move now could be catastrophic. What is going to keep you alive? It is the scenario that every leader in business faces today.

Short-termism

The problem with a lot of leadership (and politics) is short-termism. In the US, almost half of the CEOs of large organisations stay in post for less than five years.1 In fact, five years is the average tenure, down a full 20 per cent since 2013. This shapes leaders’ behaviour, blinding them to opportunities beyond the scope of day-to-day operations.