You work within a set of nested boxes and it’s your job to keep them mentally aligned. Otherwise, you’ll be blind to emerging problems and opportunities.

Plan on spending 90 minutes every quarter with your team to discuss the implications of changes in the larger environments that might affect your plans and decisions.

Work on answering the following five question-sets.

1. What’s going on in the business ecosystem that will affect your industry?

See if you can finish the following statements: Based on the events, trends, and clues that you see ……

• Our industry will probably ………
• Our industry might ……….
• It’s possible that our industry will ……….

2. What’s going on in your industry that will affect your organization?

If the business ecosystem is evolving, it’s a sure bet that your industry will start to evolve. Look for it. What’s changing among the following factors?

• Investors
• Competitors
• Employees
• Customers
• Channels
• Suppliers

Considering these changes, what modifications to your strategic priorities make sense as you prepare for the future? Given what you see and expect:

• The following will become more important.
  •  
  •  
• The following will become less important.
  •  
  •  
• The following new priorities are to be expected.
  •  
  •  

3. What’s going on in your organization that will affect your unit?

Has there been a shift in your organization’s de facto strategy? (Watch the actions, not the words, of senior management.) If so, what has changed?

Have there been changes in senior management? What is she/he doing differently than the predecessor?

What else is interesting about company changes? What might this mean for your unit and you?

4. What’s going on in your unit that will help or hinder your ability to turn strategy into action?

Have key performance metrics changed?

Has your boss’ priorities changed? Will this affect jobs?

What else is interesting about how your unit is changing? What should you expect?  

5. What does any of this have to do with you?

Are your skills and knowledge aligned with new and emerging challenges?

What decisions should you be making or influencing now to prepare for the future? 

How do you think your job should change in the coming 12 to 18 months?

Care to learn more?

I write a newsletter weekly that provides tools, techniques, and commentary focused on better (business) thinking. You can learn more and sign up for MindPrep right HERE.