Excellence by Design

Recently I was asked by some professional acquaintances the question:

what are the newly emerging opportunities that business may capitalize on?

My response was that the game has radically changed in that the challenge is not the ‘prediction’ of the next opportunity because the world has radically changed to be essentially uncontrollable and unpredictable.

This is a trend I have seen accelerate over the last 20 years, driven by technology certainly…for as technology has enabled more capability and faster results, it has given way to more change…in unpredictable ways.  Technology advancement has evolved from simply automating repetitive tasks, to enabling what if scenario thinking, to greater human connectivity, and now to entirely new ways of thinking, decision making, and taking action.

But technology was only a driver.  There are other forces at work now.  Business, as it has become more global and more competitive, has become more innovative (and the implication is more unpredictable) in attempting to beat competition.

Governments are also changing.  They are both under more scrutiny, and struggling to make the progress (good or bad) they seek.  This also is highlighting the potential unpredictability of their behavior.  Who would have thought that Dubai would default on billions of dollars in loans?  The amazing thing is how surprised the business world was.  This is not an isolated case.

But the perhaps the single greatest driver of unpredictability and lack of control is rise of consumerization.  As consumers have become better enabled (through technology and its related ability to connect consumers everywhere, to everything),  they have driven vast new changes in demand.  Their knowledge and expectations are higher, and both their flocking towards something, and independence of choice, have created greater uncertainty and loss of control.

So…if a business is to become Excellent in the future, they must recognize that the ability to succeed in an environment of increasing unpredictability is key.

How they do that is the subject of this blog and my upcoming book. 😉