Photo by Clint Patterson on Unsplash
Two truths:
a. You can’t keep up with everything - every fad, every trend and …
b. You can’t do anything meaningful … if you don’t take time to reflect and enlarge.
During these years of accelerated change, two practices successful companies (and individuals) have that keep them at the front of the change wave are first, a focus on two or three hard trends that are certain, and second, they take the time to brainstorm and create paths to adopting those trends.
ANTICIPATE
Anticipate the future by reviewing current hard trends (those that are certain because they are already here) every three months, and adjust your projects accordingly.
For example, three 2020 hard trends to adjust into could be:
Trend toward ‘instant' - people want it now, same-day or tomorrow. How can you speed up?
Trend toward customization - personalization. You don’t need 3D custom printed items, but customers must feel it’s about them. You can do this online or in-store.
Trend toward the miniaturized, the implantable. Can you at least create a potable experience for your clients, at least through an app they can carry with them?
UNPLUG
You can’t plug into opportunity without unplugging from your daily crises. Successful people schedule time off every week to pull out of the minutia to reflect, plan, imagine. Spend 10% of your time on future opportunities; with a 40-hour workweek, that's four hours every week. Use the trends you worked with above, or three scenarios for your business. What’s going to happen in the next few years? What problems will we face? What pain points will our customers have? what should we prepare for?
Get Future Ready now.
Since 1988, Dr. Janet Lapp has been one of America’s most sought-after change leadership experts. She is a licensed Psychologist, producer of the Emmy-nominated CBS-series “Keep Well”, inductee to the Speakers Hall of Fame, and author of five popular books on helping people change. Contact her through your speaker’s bureau or contact Liz at elizabeth@janetlapp.com.
