Insights

How Can We Gain Clarity in the Geopolitical Chaos?

The global field continues to grow more fluid and overloaded with information. Despite having greater ability to access and harness information, our ability to consume and build relevance is diminishing. The global environment is so inundated with data, complexity, and instability; it’s impossible to understand every data point. To keep this state of overload from threatening vital decisions and progress, leaders absolutely must be clear about what they value, and how the organization can create value today and in the future.

 

A very encapsulated snapshot of our contemporary history proves the point that events happening in every corner of the world have wide-reaching impact on current and emerging innovations, markets, conflicts, and companies. There’s nothing slowing change. On the contrary, many of the geopolitical events happening around the world are so connected at this point, that the impacts are exponential.

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Looking at this snapshot of our current global state, it’s an easy next step to admit that the volume of inputs is too immense to harness, and that we are in a constant and significant state of flux. For leaders striving to build an organizational structure in which decisions can be made with confidence and agility, and for whom resiliency is a realistic outcome, this reality can seem insurmountable.

 

As shifts occur, C-suite executive leaders are increasingly worried about geopolitical uncertainty and volatility. In fact, a number of key leadership reports, including the recent HBR CEO Roundtable, indicate it is their most pressing concern as they navigate the fluid global market, maintain customer satisfaction, grow their bottom line, and expand market share.

 

No doubt, today’s leaders are burdened with an extremely complex set of considerations. Yet it’s important to remember that success is not predicated on the ability know and tackle everything. Nor is it based on the ability to parse the immense volumes of inputs and data coming in from countless sources. Rather, leaders should work to develop and define a clear, meaningful context through which to view, assess, and diffuse information.

 

How to Shape a Context for Organizational Decisions

 

Getting started is nowhere near as daunting as it sounds. It does, however, require patience and the willingness to take the time at the front end to make sure key stakeholders are clear about and bought into the organization’s vision. Strategic context is built on a strong foundation that clearly reflects how the organization perceives its value – today and in the future. That lens enables the organization to identify and define critical decision points and then to develop a list of information requirements for acting on those decisions.

 

What’s Next?

 

Toffler Associates is going deep into the opportunities and ways for leaders to increase clarity in the chaos of today’s rapidly shifting environment. As part of that commitment, our team will be hosting a private dinner discussion with cross-industry executives and participating in a number of geopolitical roundtables with global policy and business leaders. We will cap off these engagements in December with our highly anticipated Future Shock Forum, which will bring together a wide array of leaders and experts to explore the implications of change to organizations around the world.

 

We’ll be building on this topic throughout the Fall. Join us as we discuss global changes impacting organizations and what leaders can do to engage productive strategies. In our next blog on the topic, we will consider best practice approaches to operationalizing the context-building strategies we presented here.

 

It’s time to subscribe to the Vanishing Point blog and gain from deep, actionable thinking specifically crafted to help executives architect a Future Proof® organization.

 

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About the Authors

Toffler Associates

As a consulting and advisory firm, Toffler Associates delivers strategic advantage to clients around the globe with an unwavering commitment to be the catalyst for change. Both the public and private sectors rely on Toffler Associates’ Future Proof® business consulting service and unique perspective to architect better futures.

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