With the health and economic crisis that is shaking our current society, the concept of adaptation occurs again and again in the media: adapting to the crisis, to the conditions for restarting work, to the reduction in turnover etc.

At the same time, numerous articles have been published on “tomorrow’s world”, the one we want to work towards. How do you make the connection between these two attitudes?

The first and most essential role of a leader is to look forward/anticipate the future!

Adapting is good, but that is the role of your teams.

Adapting means making good decisions to manage a difficulty, a crisis, to get around an obstacle. You mobilise men and women, equipment, you use your resources, you act and often you succeed in adapting. The idea of “adapting” also includes the idea of adjusting to the company’s external environment: its clients, legislation, etc.

On this familiar ground, your teams have everything they need to make the right decisions, they know how to adapt to new requirements.

… Looking forward/anticipating the future is difficult and essential. This is the leader’s job!

The idea of looking forward means “inventing another world”. It means attacking a new market, a new area, changing your business, changing your destiny. Of course, looking forward is difficult; it takes time and energy, but it is an investment in future success. It requires having time, making time to step back and concentrate on a few topics (small in number but of crucial importance), asking yourself how you can function better, how you can achieve your Essentials (the direction you have set).

Always ask yourself the following question: when confronted with a problem, do I adapt, does my team need me, or do I look forward/anticipate the future? Is a transformation possible? Creating value, developing the business happens through looking forward/anticipating the future.

Permanent Reinvention® is a leader who “wastes time” on the Essentials and who seeks to look forward to a better world.

Adapting or looking forward/anticipating the future?