Great workers often develop what Arie de Geus, the author of The Living Company, called a memory of the future.They continually explore many scenarios about what may happen in their chosen field.
Arie spent much of his professional life helping people to explore different scenarios. He found that those that envisaged how to deal with changes and challenges had an advantage when similar situations occurred.
He also found that superb teams devoted quality time to considering such scenarios. For some reason, however, some big organisations did not develop this ability.
Imagine that you want to continue to develop a memory of the future. One approach is to work through the following steps.
You can develop a
memory of the future
This is an approach taken by many pacesetters and pioneers who aim to stay ahead of the game. One person I worked with expressed this in the following way.
“I often find myself day dreaming about future events in my work. I love playing with scenarios and finding possible solutions.”
Imagine you want to develop this ability. Start by focusing on a specific activity that you find fascinating. It can be useful to choose one where feel in your element – at ease and yet able to excel.
You can then choose to explore a particular time frame. Such as one year, three years or further in the future. Imagine you want to consider the three year option. You can then tackle the following exercise.
Three Years In The Future
Looking three years into the future, what may be the changes in the world of work, technology and society? What may be the changes in your chosen field?
Who will be the kinds of customers you want to be working with in three years? What will be the challenges they face? What could you offer to help them to achieve their picture of success?
What may be the changes in your own life? What must you do to keep developing as a person and as a professional? What are the practical things you can do to stay ahead of the game?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to look ahead and do the following things.
Describe a possible event that could happen – such as a potential change or challenge – within the next three years in your chosen field.
Describe the potential pluses of the event that could happen in your chosen field.
Describe the potential minuses of the event that could happen in your chosen field.
The following section provides a framework for focusing on one such event. You may also want to follow a similar process for exploring several other events that could happen in your chosen field.
You can rehearse how to manage various
scenarios in your memory of the future
Great workers constantly look ahead, explore various scenarios and clarify the potential solutions. They are then more able to create a successful future. Arie de Gues explained this in the following way.
The ability to learn faster than your competitors may
be your only sustainable competitive advantage.
Speed of action can often be put down to natural ability. But it can also be expanded by rehearsing how to deal with future events.
Imagine that you have already described several possible events – such as any changes or challenges – that may happen in your chosen field. If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme.
Describe one of the specific scenario that could happen in the future.
Describe the specific things you can do to do your best to manage this situation successfully.
Describe the specific things that could happen by taking these steps.
You can maintain a
memory of the future
Pacesetters often have a different kind of psychology. They take the lead, maintain the lead and extend the lead. They make the new rules for the game.
Arie de Geus said that some individuals – and some teams – had this ability. They continued to be curious. They loved to look ahead, explore scenarios and find solutions to challenges.
Such people also continued to maintain a memory of the future. This helped them to stay ahead of the game and, in some cases, invent a new kind of game.
Arie described a different situation in big organisations. Some were full of hubris and thought they were invincible. They refused to believe that there dominance could ever be challenged.
Some senior teams in organisations did brainstorm potential scenarios during away days. But then operational matters took over and they seldom translated the ideas into action.
We know that innovation often takes place far away from the institution. It calls for people taking the time to think ahead, explore options and build successful prototypes. This can be harder to do in big organisations.
Let’s return to your own work. How can you keep maintaining a memory of the future? How can you explore potential scenarios? How can you then focus on how to manage these successfully?
If you wish, try tackling the final exercise on this theme. This invites you to do the following things.
Describe the specific things you can do to keep maintaining a memory of the future.
Describe the specific benefits of maintaining such a memory of the future.
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