The Critical Thinker #6 : Don't Forget The Growth Factor!

Business observers have been telling us, for what seems like time immortal, that it’s a “dynamic world”, or that “business is more fast-paced than ever”, or that “you snooze you lose”. The list goes on. There are so many such protestations we might easily become numb to them. Clichéd they may be, but they are also true (!) as the examples in this week’s article prove.

One of the recent phenomena that is driving this is the internet, and more specifically, social media. It’s been reported that before TV it took 58 years to reach a market audience of 50m. TV reduced this to 13 years. With social media, the figure today is estimated at 2 years. If an incident goes “viral”, it can reduce to a matter of days! Susan Boyle anyone?

This is all very well and good, you might say, but what are the implications to us? From a Critical (and Strategic) Thinking perspective there are many, but the one I’ve decided to focus on this week is what I refer to as the “Growth Factor”. No … this isn’t some mysterious drug! It’s an essential ingredient to the thinking required to properly assess the situations we face. Read more in The Critical Thinker #6 - If You Want To Grow, Don't Forget The Growth Factor!

On a separate note, due to the upcoming holiday seasons, we’ll be taking a short break from blog writing duties. We will resume again directly after Chinese New Year, on Friday, 15th February, 2010.

Have a wonderful festive season and best wishes for the New Year,

David Wilkins, Andrew Sng, Alice Goh and the Team at DPI Asia.

The Strategic Thinker #5 : Strategize For The Future Not The Present

Asia is one place where more people follow football (soccer for those of you Americans out there) than any other sport. Strikers are the players that bring both audiences in stadiums and homes alike to their feet. If you have noticed, there is, in my view, a key trait that separates the so-so strikers from the great ones. Great strikers run to where the ball is going to be.

Business leaders are no different. You want to ensure that you prepare and position your organization to take advantage of what the future business arena is going to be. This calls for the mindset and ability to proactively deal with the future. But you say, “How can anyone anticipate what the future will look like? The future is a big place, and no one has a crystal ball.” In fact, this reaction is understandable, yet our premise has a very simple and rational explanation. It has been shown that many things that look big and complex at first glance turn out to be an assembly of a limited number of smaller elements with a limited range of variables when scrutinized more closely.

In reality, the future business arena (or "sandbox," as we at DPI refer to it) in which any company will compete down the road consists of 12 discrete compartments from which disruptive trends, or indications of the future, might emerge. Read on and find out what they are . . . Learn to envision the future . . . Or risk becoming a dinosaur!

Read more in The Strategic Thinker #5 - Strategize For The Future Not The Present

To learn more about our Strategic Thinking Process, visit the Strategic Thinking section of DPI Asia's website.