(post was written for Talarforum in Swedish)
Euro crisis, stock crisis, job crisis, climate crisis …
It’s easy to feel concerned when thinking about the future so let me remind you that change is something positive. Change is a sign of life and crisis usually make way for new, fresh life that clears out the old.
No one knows how the future will be, but by studying behavioral changes we can identify trends that affect us when creating our future. Two such trends are globalization and information technology, together they mean change comes much faster. That is a fact.
And since the events that affect us the most often are those that were impossible to predict, speed and willingness to change is increasingly crucial. So..
It depends on how fast you are
Entrepreneurial organizations with employees focused on problem solving and a desire to test thing is a growing threat to slow moving dinosaurs wasting their time in meetings.
Companies with a culture that not only allows failures but embrace them as essential to success will increasingly win against those who seek their answers in best practices and thus choose to do what was right yesterday. “Life is a beta” as they say at Google.
2012 fast companies beat slow ones.
It depends on whom you want to beat
Many of us go to work to do the same things we did yesterday. We glance at competitors mainly to ensure no one does anything unexpected, and seldom think about if the needs we satisfy could be met in other new ways.
Why didn’t a record company give us Spotify? Why is Klarna not by a bank? Why didn’t a telecom company invent Skype?
2012 belongs to those who focus on beating themself.
It depends on which way you look
Getting closer to the customer is a mantra we recognize from all companies and industries. But as customers, we paradoxically feel, further and further away from many of the companies we deal with. I know companies with better customer relations as their main objective and an outsourced customer service at the same time..
Remember what Henry Ford said, “If I’d asked customers what they want, they’d said faster horses”.
You need to improve the customer experience before the customer asks for it.
2012 will be amazing if you look outside in.
It depends on if you cooperate
In business we are used to a kind of destructive competition in a constant quest to dominate, own, protect, control. But unless you are best at everything in the world there are people out there who could add something and help you achieve much more.
Inspiring examples of new forms of collaboration and transparency are everywhere and the question today is rather who can afford to try on his own?
2012 will be larger and more exciting if you open up for cooperation.
It depends on whether you are doing something meaningful
The Arab spring and Occupy Wall street have much in common. One important lesson for anyone who wants to lead is that oppressed people no longer feel alone. Consumers in the Western world accounts for 2/3 of our entire economy and the Internet, for the first time in history, give us the power to organize ourselves. Companies who misjudge consumer power as a trend are facing major and unpleasant surprises, and those who do things right will never have to pay for advertising. The gap is growing every day.
2012 will be brilliant for those who make a difference.
Are you fast and willing to experiment, even challenge your own models by focusing on customer experiences, and open up for new collaborations with visions that make the world better?
In that case, 2012 will be a truly Happy New Year!
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