Creating a Future Advantage for Your Business

In a nutshell

• Uncertainty is not only a threat but also an opportunity for businesses that can adapt and innovate.
• A shift of mindset from thinking then doing to thinking while doing can help businesses create new options and advantages in a turbulent environment.
• The World Economic Forum is an example of an organization that has turned uncertainty into an advantage.

How do you plan for the future when you don't know what it will look like? How do you cope with volatility and unpredictability in your market? How do you seize opportunities when they arise from unexpected events?

These are some of the questions that many business leaders, #ceos , #executivesandmanagement and the #businesscommunity at large are facing today. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how interconnected and interdependent the world is, and how a single event can trigger a chain reaction of disruptions and transformations across industries, sectors, and regions.

But uncertainty is not only a threat. It is also an opportunity for businesses that can adapt and innovate in response to changing conditions. It is a chance to create a future advantage for your business by shifting your mindset from thinking then doing to thinking while doing.

Traditionally, strategic thinking and execution have been siloed activities. This separation has been beneficial, but it can be a liability in dynamic settings. When strategic thinking is isolated from execution, it can lead to delays in realizing new opportunities and reduce their potential impact. In rapidly changing and unpredictable contexts, it is important to break down the barrier between thinking and doing.

Doing should be acknowledged as a form of thinking itself. This means asking questions, proposing unvetted answers, transforming one-way interactions into dialogues, and conducting low-cost experiments that diverge from the established business activities.

Here are some specific examples of how to break down the barrier between thinking and doing:

• Ask questions: When you are thinking about a new opportunity, ask questions about the market, the customer, and the competition. This will help you to better understand the problem that you are trying to solve.
• Propose unvetted answers: Don't be afraid to propose ideas that are not fully formed. This will allow you to get feedback from others and to iterate on your ideas.
• Transform one-way interactions into dialogues: Instead of simply telling people what to do, engage in a dialogue with them. This will help you to understand their perspectives and to get their buy-in.
• Conduct low-cost experiments: Don't wait until you have a perfect plan to start taking action. Conduct low-cost experiments to test your ideas and to learn from your mistakes.

By breaking down the barrier between thinking and doing, you can increase your chances of success in dynamic environments.

One example of an organization that has turned uncertainty into advantage by adopting this mindset is the World Economic Forum (WEF), which has launched a crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale by inviting stakeholders from different sectors and regions to share ideas, insights, and solutions for COVID-19 and other global challenges.

This is just one of the many examples of how businesses can create a future advantage for themselves by embracing uncertainty and turning it into a source of innovation and differentiation. The key is to adopt a serendipity mindset that helps you to spot and connect the dots, to reframe situations and capabilities differently, and to execute sharply on your current models while developing a multitude of options for future growth and competitive advantage.

Are you ready to take on this challenge? If so, what are some of the steps you can take today to start thinking while doing?

If you found this article helpful or insightful, please like, comment, and share it with your network. I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on strategy and how it can help you succeed in any situation. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more articles on strategy and business.