GUEST POST from Robert B. Tucker

Asked to reveal the secret of his amazing success, renowned ice hockey center-man Wayne Gretzky replied: “It’s pretty simple. I don’t skate to where the puck is. I skate to where the puck is going to be.”

Gretzky was merely stating the obvious. But his comment soon took on the dimension of strategic gospel. From Detroit to Dubai to Dublin, PowerPoint decks were suddenly ablaze with the aphorism. CEOs kicked off strategic retreats by citing Gretzky to encourage their managers to look farther up the road to discover tomorrow’s opportunities. Finally, “skate to where the puck is going to be” became such an overused cliché that it fell from grace.

As trite as Gretzky’s expression may seem to us today, he stumbled upon an important point. He reminded us of the value to be gained in spending time pondering where the puck in our own lives will be in the very near future.

As a 30 year futurist and innovation advisor to top organizations, I believe that we are about to experience an economic and social boom of epic proportions.

My research base is to interview countless leaders every year, for their insights on future trends, business prospects, disruption, and technological directions. The best leaders, like the best athletes, are hyper-focused on where things are going next. They know how to gain unique insights through what I call “playing with the clay” and considering different scenarios.

They project ahead in order to get their teams thinking ahead. In painful periods such as now they visualize future glory, and devote themselves to the task of turning vision into reality. They ask provocative questions, such as:

• what do we need to do now to prepare for this trend, development or technology?
• Where is this trend going to be in one year? Three? Ten?
• Where is the emerging opportunity for us?
• What are we missing?

In other words, their mindset is proactive rather than reactive, action-oriented rather than Sustainer Mode. They are always about envisioning a bigger, bolder “future state” rather than being satisfied with “present state.” They deploy what my colleague and fellow futurist Daniel Burrus calls “anticipatory thinking” to out-think and outfox conventional wisdom – and see the shape of the future just a little bit ahead of the rest.

To see more clearly where the puck is going to be in six months, gather up and examine the forecasts: The world economy is likely to grow by around six percent this year, according to Oxford Economics, the fastest rate in almost half a century. The US, rather than China, is going to play the role of global locomotive in 2021, according to leading economists like Citibank’s Catherine Mann. More Americans are being vaccinated each day. Herd immunity is on the horizon. The $1.9 trillion USA stimulus bill is flowing funding into people’s bank accounts. With demand surging in industry after industry, envisioning a coming boom is becoming easier with each passing day. Will you be ready?

In a world where change is incremental and slow, exercising the skills of anticipation and scenario planning are not required. In a world of rapidly accelerating change, continuously upgrading your futurist skills and carving out time to peer ahead a year, three years, even 10 years is an essential activity for success. What specific steps can you take to stay ahead of the curve and navigate successfully in the new post-pandemic era? Here are three suggestions:

1. Beef up your strategic trend-tracking skillset.

First thing I recommend: audit your “information diet” to ensure that you are getting the best data, research and insights available on topics ranging from emerging technology, economic and social trends, and geopolitical and industry developments. The leading innovators that I’ve studied over the years select, champion and prune informational sources with great care. They take in the richest information with the greatest insights and skip the empty calories of partisan vitriol and blather. They know the power of experienced reporting such as provided by the New York Times and peer-reviewed studies, versus blogs and opinion. The best trend-spotters work at it constantly, keeping their antennae up so as to recognize patterns and inform their intuition, as they discern between signals and mere noise. They take in quantitative and qualitative information and insights. And they skip over the gossipy, entertaining but vapid “news” of the day. They spot misinformation and disinformation a mile away and dismiss sources that are unreliable and biased. They exhibit genuine curiosity and sharp front-line observational skills, always questioning, and looking for potential threats and opportunities.

2. Commit to lifelong learning.

There was a time when what you learned in school lasted a lifetime, but those days are over. Personal obsolescence happens faster than you think, and at an earlier age than ever. The innovators I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing throughout my career are lifelong learners. They are autodidactic. For them, the world is their university and curiosity their lodestar. Curiosity leads them to dig deeper into a subject, and to want to know not just “how” but “why.” Their pattern of learning tends to approximate what is known in eating circles as binging. They become fascinated with a new topic and they delve into it headlong. They read all the books they can find on the subject. They amass and analyze dozens of articles, often seeking out top experts.

3. Unleash your inner visionary.

Reflecting on the current travails of hard- hit New York City, Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan wrote that “Never have we needed visionaries more than now. People in politics, in and out who have an outsize creativity and a deep knowledge of human beings, who can come up with ideas.” Noonan has a point, and not just in the arena of politics. In all industries, professions, countries – we lack visionaries to embrace change and turn problems into opportunities. Unleashing your inner visionary starts with desire to make an impact. It starts with dreaming of a better way, a better world. Not daydreaming idly but imagining the future without being limited by limits. Visionariness is a state of mind. It is the willingness to look at what is needed, and what will be needed in the future, and putting shape and texture and dimension to that vision.

When the Bubonic Plague ended in the 14th century, there was jubilation and dancing in the streets. When the administration of Donald Trump was over, people realized what a divisive, corrupt and ultimately traumatic four years it had been and began to appreciate the quietude of competence and experience at the helm regardless of their policy preferences – Biden’s approval ratings are at 57 percent.

I am more optimistic now than at any time over the past five years for economic and societal resurgence. Cycles of decay and decline do not last forever. They swing. Are you ready?

Now is the perfect time to upgrade your habits and practices in the foresight arena; to position yourself to profit from the coming boom.

This article originally appeared in Forbes
Image credit: Dall-E

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