HOW FUTURISTS THINK AND BUILD BUSINESS STRATEGY

As a futurist keynote speaker and trends expert, I find that it’s important to remind audiences up-front: Despite common misconceptions, futurists aren’t psychic, and we don’t actually predict the future for a living. Instead, we serve as market researchers and digital anthropologists of a sort. In effect, it’s our job to study the state of current markets and trends and create problem-solving exercises based on scenarios and events likely to impact clients in the near future. The reason for this being that it’s our goal to challenge companies to ask themselves an important question: What if?

Engaging in these exercises as futurist keynote speakers and consultants not only helps our partners plan ahead and develop winning strategies. It also helps them stockpile the tools and resources they need today to get ahead in tomorrow’s marketplace. Happily, you can do the same for your business by simulating and role-playing through similar exercises. Consider: where will your industry be headed in three, five, or even ten years? Then consider:

– Which trends are likeliest to impact it – and to what extent?

– How will customer needs and habits change as a result?

– And which kinds of business models will rise and fall based on these shifts?

Once you’ve created a working model of what the future may look like, then make a point to work backwards and ask yourself: What do we need to do as a business to successfully bridge the gap from here to there? And then start steering your efforts in that direction.

As you can see, while we can’t always say for certain what the future will bring? We always have the ability to steer the future towards more positive outcomes. After all, even when unforeseen disaster strikes, you can always learn from every circumstance and pivot accordingly.

Yes, it’s true – we live in extraordinary and eventful times. But again, you don’t have to be psychic to see what’s coming around the corner. Like we futurist speakers and trends expert also often make a point to remind audiences: A little resourcefulness is all it often takes to successfully stay one step ahead of the curve.