Not to beat a dead horse, but it sure is an interesting time to be focused on the future, disruption, and innovation, as I discover an increasing number of CEOs who are working hard to ensure their organization doesn't lose long-term opportunities to short-term trends!
This is happening in the context of corporate leadership meetings being pulled together with extremely short planning cycles; the goal is to make sure that the organization understands that this period of economic uncertainty, and a potential recession, is but just a 'blip' on the path to a longer-term, transformative future full of opportunity. I'm currently juggling and fielding a number of event inquiries to participate in such meetings as the 'thought leader' to put those long-term transformative trends into perspective.
This happened after the 2008-9 downturn as well, where I found that most of my events were moving away from opening major association conferences and trade shows, to participating in CEO-level offsite meetings to help outline the long-term trends of real substance that define our world. Over the last 15 years, I've spent a tremendous amount of time with different organizations in a vast range of different industries and professions, helping executives to understand and respond to the disruptive forces around them.
That's why back in 2009, I pulled together an article, "Where's the Growth?" that outlined the context of long-term opportunity in the face of short-term volatility. Almost 15 years on, it still makes for a lot of powerful arguments as to where we will see industrial and market growth in the future.
Future-oriented leaders understand the reality of growth. They know that we live in a time in which opportunities for growth abound. They've aligned the mission of the organization so that they are capitalizing on real opportunities, not short-term economic challenges. What happens to the rest? They fall prey to short-term thinking. As I wrote in the intro to the document:
"Gloom has set in on global markets. Volatility rages. Some organizations have gone into a mode of "aggressive indecision," deferring action while they try to figure out "what comes next." A pretty lousy strategy that is doomed to fail in the longer term.
That's why it's important to focus on the idea that growth is everywhere and opportunity abounds.
It's easy during a time of economic volatility to lose sight of where the global economy is really headed. Yet while stock markets might rock, innovation thrives. New ideas continue to be explored, markets grow, and industries emerge. Think growth. Think opportunity. Innovate for the future, don't stagnate with the past.
That's why innovators get out in front of a potential recession!
When do you innovate? Right now!
The Wall Street Journal had me in to share this thinking during the last downturn:
And I took the entire idea on during the early days of the pandemic as Covid raged around us.
Think growth - think opportunity - think the future!