Envisioning The Leadership Skill

A Vital Skill that Humans possess is the Ability to Envision the Future!

It is not that hard !

In a book I read, Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg, the author says that “… experiments show that anyone can learn to habitually construct mental models” and that is what a large part of being a futurist is all about. Futurists don’t predict the future they construct models of possible futures. It is constructing stories about  the way things might go in your life, in your job, or in your business. Duhigg then also says “It is easier to know what’s ahead when there is a well-rounded script in your head.”

Take time to think about the future of work for your company.

Trends

Of course you need to have some idea of what is going on in your life, job, industry, etc. and that involves paying attention to trends.

Three Basic Questions

One futurist, Glen Hiemstra, suggested, in an article in called How to See the Future, that there are three basic questions you need to ask when looking at trends.

1. Is the potential future technologically feasible?
2. Is it economically viable?
3. Is the technology socially or politically acceptable?

Asking these types of questions and creating a set of stories that take into consideration these factors will help you be prepared with answers when the time comes to implement changes. Rather than answering the question with a response of “we will look in to it” you can say “In our investigation we think we are probably three years away from the technology being viable enough for us to institute changes in our hiring, training and compensation systems.”

That is a much more strategic sounding answer for the envision, engage and execute....