“The question that faces the strategic decision maker is not ‘what his organization should do tomorrow.’
It is, ‘what do we have to do today to be ready for an uncertain tomorrow’?” 

                                                                                                                        — Peter Drucker

Uncertainty is a series of unforeseen incident/s or events of which we have no forewarning or preconception. However, the seed of which is being sown today.

The world has been an uncertain place. Especially, since the last 2, 00,000 years when the first Homo sapiens (an earlier version of us) arrived on the scene.

Humans by nature are Unpredictable. Each has a unique thought process which adds to the myriad colours of this World, as it does to the complexity of the game called LIFE; played out here, on our only home: Earth.

The Last Century has been the most momentous in the annals of Human Endeavour.
Discoveries and Inventions have transformed the face of the planet.
None greater, than the connectivity through the Worldwide Web.
The slightest shiver on one extremity of the planet ripples across the world.

This makes our world infinitely more complex to understand and deal with.
A place where trends have very short lives and fashion is an ever-transforming amorphous blur.

A market is a place on the ether and a customer is one whose mind is constantly being challenged by myriad choices. In such a vortex of information, they are constantly grappling to find the right solution.

This is our world, at the moment.

How do we deal with it? How do we “Uncertainty Proof” our businesses? And more importantly, how do we maintain sustainable growth?

At Ensemble, we have curated the following steps that we feel will mitigate the impact of Uncertainty in Strategic Planning.

1. Be inquisitive Identify the demographic, technological, cultural and other changes occurring outside your company and industry.
2. Assess how those changes might impact your organization and industry.
3. Gain insight through interactions across domain and verticals
4. Codify your Knowledge Base
5. Challenge your assumptions as markets, technology and industries advance, determine whether your current plans are still relevant. If they aren’t, make competitive adjustments
6. Focus on flexibility, agility and resilience.
   Continually ask “what if” questions and plan for a range of scenarios.

Uncertainty will remain amorphous.
There will always be random events that will spawn the indeterminate.
However, if we detect the clues that surround us; we will be far better prepared to receive the Uncertain.
Mitigating Our Losses and Maximising Our Opportunities

 

 

Do share your views and add to our list in the comments section below.
We would love to hear from you.

photo credit: Bernd Thaller Path into the Unknown via photopin (license)