Every day business news cover dozens of new products, technologies, consumer behaviours, and to the future of business and should not be ignored. Yet, the sheer volume of this apparently critical information means that most business leaders have no choice but to ignore it. Doing so may be without consequences in the short run, but over time it compounds leaving their businesses lagging behind and sometimes committed to strategic decisions that are no longer fit. In these times of accelerating change, catching up becomes increasingly difficult and may condemn organizations to rapid obsolescence.
The post-pandemic era is one of ultra rapid change, characterized by increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). In the past 50 years, the average lifespan of a business model has dropped from 15 years to less than five and the average length of time a company stays on the Fortune 500 has shortened from sixty years to just eighteen. The COVID-19 pandemic has all but accelerated these trends. Therefore organizations must continuously update their strategic decisions.
A VUCA world is a shift in kind rather than degree. Tried and tested approaches cannot be simply updated, they should be altogether replaced. Even as strategic decisions become increasingly short lived, the rules of strategy are being constantly rewritten. As exponential technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnologies, blockchain, augmented and virtual reality, 3D printing and robotic agents become a reality, they empower new consumer behaviors and business models, which are precipitating a new economic era that is rapidly transforming the way organizations succeed.
As organizations experience the rapid pace of technological transformation of the post-pandemic era and as their go-to principles of strategy are being rewritten, they look for new solutions. In rapidly changing environments, where business models have a short lifespan, companies need to continuously look my coauthors and I discussed how companies can cultivate foresight for the long run. In this article, I illustrate the drivers of strategy for the near future, which can be used across companies and industries to craft a future-ready strategy.
