Its that time of year again. Across thousands of (success-minded, forward-thinking) businesses, teams of people are heads down, working on annual strategic planning activities. As I step away from these types of day-to-day activities, I find myself reflecting on the value of such efforts and what adaptation must be made to serve us better in the future.

Nike’s Dream Crazier ad is sweeping its way across social media. Debuted during this week’s 91st Academy Awards, its message of female empowerment is clear and direct. Beautiful visuals of strong and confident female athletes flash, evoking physical and mental accomplishment. Tennis champion Serena Williams narrates.

Within a day of its release, the 90-second ad earned five million views on YouTube.

For more than four decades, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting has been a beacon for future-focused leaders. Held amongst the beautiful scenery of Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, the event brings together some of the world’s foremost heads of state, business leaders, policymakers, academics, and societal leaders. Their purpose is to engage in constructive, solutions-focused discourse about global issues and the challenges faced by humanity.

People close to me know that travel is my passion. It has been a priority for most of my life. As the number of trips I’ve had the opportunity to take has risen, my destinations have gone farther off the beaten path. In December, a trip to Antarctica pushed the boundaries to their farthest reaches.

“Time feels like it is accelerating.”

In a December post in Rapport, Deb Westphal opted to skip making a New Year’s resolution, in favor of looking forward. As I step into the Toffler Associates CEO role this January, I am focused on the future of the firm and its unwavering commitment to be a catalyst for change and future value for our clients. 

I work with an organization whose executives struggle daily to advance a mission, achieve meaningful results that yield growth, and align its people around a shared vision. They are failing. Every day. They’re not unusual.

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.

Every day in the U.S., approximately 10,000 Baby Boomers leave the workforce. While there’s talk of a talent gap, the actual size of the labor force continues to grow year over year.^[1] The employment market is hitting a tipping point in 2015, at which point, there will be more young professionals in the marketplace than tenured individuals. By 2025, it’s projected that Millennials will represent approximately 75% of American employees.

Desynchronization [n] The relation that exists when things occur at unrelated times.

As we move deeper into the election cycle, it is a good time for corporate and political leaders to consider the impact desynchronization has on key issues and how they are managing the implications of these varying rates of change.

A look back at the 1996 election cycle shows we were beginning to address issues like the voice of the digital generation, economies shaped by microtrade and microcapital, and social democratization caused by widespread technology access and adoption.

If we look at those issues today, they are very much a part of the fiber of our political, economic, educational and enterprise sectors. It’s certainly interesting to look at the amount of change that’s occurred over two decades. For leaders, however, it’s far more important to understand the rates of change, the conflict and opportunities being created from the differences, and how to adapt to resultant shifts.

I recently spoke with the CEO of a large, multi-layered global organization. After six decades of building operational strength through a command and control/top-down structure, employee communication has become an area of overwhelming concern. The pace of technological change and ubiquity of social media as a mode of human connection has completely changed the way organizations must disseminate information.