"The speed of your decision making should match the pace of the trends" - Futurist Jim Carroll
People and organizations are far too slow.
They defer decisions until it's too late.
Is that you?
For a long time, I've seen too many clients and those trying to book me suffering from what I call 'aggressive indecision' - an organizational culture in which people simply can't take a step forward into tomorrow through the simple act of deciding what to do. The funny thing is, I first defined this problem way back in 2003l. Since then, even though the world has sped up, aggressive indecision has settled into far too many organizations, slowing them down.
This leads to an acceleration disconnect.
Many trends demand swift responses. Remember why - competitors are evolving faster due to technology and market demands, requiring quicker adaptation to maintain an edge. Innovation cycles are accelerating, making it critical to adopt new solutions to stay relevant. Products and services go out of date faster, meaning that the big and bold decisions to create new revenue opportunities must happen quickly. Not only that, but new market opportunities emerge faster, particularly as the pace of technological innovation picks up - being an early mover matters. What that means is that customers are more demanding in what they are looking for - and if you haven't made the decision to provide what they want, your irrelevancy happens faster. Young people? With short attention spans, they seem to thrive on moving fast!
Oh, and volatility as the 'new normal' demands decisions be made quickly.
That's why more organizations- at least the ones that recognize they have a decision-making problem, are moving towards the side of 'corporate agility' - recognizing that decision-making is a key competency. Who would have thought?
I would have thought. I've been talking about the issue of indecision for years on stage - and organizations that manage to decide to bring me in, are usually those who ask me to talk about it! I suspect the others know that they are riddled with organizational sclerosis that comes with a slow structure, and so they settle into the warm-blanket excuse of deciding to do nothing. (Is that an actual decision?)
What should you do?
Be relentless on speed! Some time ago, in one of these posts, I suggested organizations should create a position called the "Chief Momentum Officer" to help them keep up with the pace of change. Organizations today need rapid, well-informed decision-making - because adapting to the trends of today that define tomorrow means that tomorrow is going to be here sooner than you think!
Be proactive, make quick decisions, and adjust as you go, rather than waiting and risking being left behind.
After all - the future just doesn't belong to those who are fast.
It belongs to those who can get there fast!
Futurist Jim Carroll has little patience for slow organizations.