“After a business implements a strategy, competitors will react, and the firm’s strategy will need to adapt to meet the new challenges. There is no stopping point and no final battle. The competitive cycle continues on perpetually. Produce and compete or perish”
– Thomas Timings Holme
Your company is part of a larger ecosystem, one that changes constantly. Your role as a leader is to separate the noise from the important stuff and make smart choices.
There are thousands of trend watchers. For each industry or product niche you will find several. But for me, the key question is not so much about the trends itself but what you can do with them in relation to your company strategy.
Said differently: “What are the trends that are important for your business? “ and “What are you going to do with that knowledge?”
A few months ago, my editor Steve introduced me to Frederic De Meyer. Frederic is a former executive from Cisco and founder of the Institute for Future Insights. He’s working on a great book (I was lucky to get a peak preview) called Megatrends that will be launched in November.
I asked Frederic to share some of his thinking about trends with us and I’m happy he agreed to do so. Over the next weeks, he will blog here on the following three topics:
- The hidden impact of megatrends on companies and industries
- How companies benefit and suffer from megatrends: 4 cases
- 9 practical tips to integrate megatrends in your reflection process about the company strategy
If you can’t wait, have a look at his blog or read an article about work trends Lynda Gratton, professor at the London business School, has identified.
