Think differently!
Creative thinking matters now more than ever. Ever since computers were first invented, we have all been told that the world is changing very fast. This is true, and never more so than now.
The pandemic means that we are facing huge upheavals to our businesses. It is absolutely crucial if we are to succeed in the future that we recognise these changes and build them into our thinking.
I am a great advocate of strategic thinking and I believe that right now is probably the most important time in our business career to do some of that strategic thinking and planning.
This cuts across most areas of our businesses. Just to pick a few examples:
HR and staffing
We need to adapt to new ways of working, (working from home is just one example). It is vitally important to involve staff in working out how best to work in the future – including the use of office space.
IT and AI
In order to work in different ways we need different IT. Every single business should be considering it’s IT strategy right now.
AI and algorithm driven decisions are now embedded in our daily lives, across almost everything we do. How should we take account of this in our business decisions?
The environment
Everything we do must take account of our environmental impact. This cuts across everything from how we build our houses, to travel, to use of plastics, to food wastage and use of fossil fuels. If your business does not have this as a central feature of your thinking then you will probably not survive.
Sales & marketing
We need to think of different ways of getting our products to our customers. This is not just the packaging it is in but also how we get our messages across. This is linked closely with the use of AI. Buying decisions are often made now on the basis of what the computer recommends rather than what a human thinks.
Summary
We need to be agile. We need to be creative in our thinking. We need to think outside the box. We need to change, and we need to learn how to change. It is all too easy to try to carry on as before. This simply won’t work any more.
The businesses with the new and innovative ways of working will be the stars of the future. I implore every business to put some time into this, and change.