A few years ago, I wrote a piece articulating what lessons consultants could take from bartending. Recently, I was reflecting on that article and considering how, at Toffler Associates, we encourage our clients to look outside their company and their industry for answers to complex questions. As I thought about the Tofflers and our legacy as a firm, that timeless search for meaning struck me as one of the most critical aspects of understanding change. That seemingly simple realization prompted me to reflect on the art and science of philosophy in our contemporary context of change, disruption, innovation, and changing leadership.

One of the Toffler Associates core values is to be a “curious life-long learner.” We live out that value by continuously seeking opportunities to learn and understand the world. Each of my colleagues exhibits continuous, voluntary, and self-motivated knowledge pursuits that enrich their personal and professional capacities. In addition to enhancing an organization’s culture, this pursuit of intellectual depth also cultivates a significant amount of critical resilience to the corporation.

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.

In 2014, Frank Kendall, then Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, Technology and Logistics, advised the military services to “start looking at how to get quantities and lower risks,” replacing what he saw as ill-advised focus “on a small number of expensive objects.” [1] 

Risks to operations. Market share. Profitability. Business leaders are surrounded by risks big and small.  From Target to Wells Fargo to Facebook and Tesla, it’s not difficult to reference a situation that emerged and severely damaged a company’s reputation and bottom line. Your risk profile hinges on your susceptibility to events that may be internal and known – or external, unknown, and unexpected. With such a varied set of sources and impacts, resilience depends on numerous factors, including the nature of the industry and the maturity of your organization.

Strategy is overcomplicated. Government and commercial executives get so wrapped up in working to figure out all the details of a complex task or objective that they lose sight of the plan.

This simple four-step strategy approach helps to identify the path you need to take, which informs the strategy you need to build. Each step in the process below should have a clear answer that involves stakeholders from inside and outside the organization.

Leaders continue to experience conflict between preparing for future opportunities and meeting the urgency of immediate responsibilities. In our current state of sweeping exponential change, this balance is a growing cause for concern. Yet, the tension between today and tomorrow may not be the central challenge that many leaders think it is – in fact, it might signal a source of additional resilience for the organization.

A vanishing point is defined as “the point where your eye should view an image for the correct perspective.” We want our new blog to help you to see the world and your business in new and exciting ways. 

 We will share our insights from a variety of industries to help ignite your creative thought and innovation. We’ll help you identify and overcome the very real challenges you face in creating new value and protecting the value you’ve worked so hard to build. We will challenge you to start by asking the right questions. 

Futurist Alvin Toffler defined three waves of change: First Wave – the Agrarian Age, Second Wave – the Industrial Age, and Third Wave – the Knowledge Age. Because the fundamentals vary from age to age, it stands to reason that strategic planning should also be different across the three waves.