How can businesses stay ahead of trends and technologies that are rapidly changing their industries? — from linkedin.com by Tanja Schindler; via her Dancing with Uncertainty newsletter
Companies need to develop a sense of curiosity about both the observable trends in the present and the unobserved factors that could significantly influence their futures. While current trends can drive us in certain directions, we also need to imagine possible futures that could either disrupt our industry or offer tremendous opportunities for growth.
To stay ahead of the game, companies should focus on recognising weak signals in the present – subtle hints of emerging trends – and deciding whether to encourage or discourage these signals to avoid undesirable futures and encourage desirable ones. This process is a constant dance between the push of the present (existing trends) and the pull of the future (visions of the future we want to create).