The pace of change

HAVE you noticed how life is getting faster? The pace of change in business, the speed in which news is delivered and global economies react is unprecedented.

This change will gather pace to a point where machine intelligence will act on our behalf before we even think. Shopping lists will become redundant: a system will have already re-ordered it. We need never run out of milk again!

Business is also moving quickly. Competitors are continually entering the market; the barriers to entry have never been lower. More entrepreneurs have the capability and the means to create and market a new business at a much lower cost to entry.

Trading disrupters Alibaba and Amazon are creating a centralised online retail environment for virtually anything. Could Amazon be the next big threat to banking? This tells us our businesses need to be continually evolving, nimble and flexible to respond to trading conditions now and prepare for the future.

If we stay rigid, we break. Crafting a five-year plan during these times is a challenge. Regardless of Brexit, how can we predict the future when it moves so fast? Even five years ago it would have been hard to envisage the rapid pace of change.

With so many opportunities for trade, sitting at the heart of winning businesses will be innovation: new ideas, improving an existing product or service and seeking new markets.

Staying ahead will be mission critical, thinking differently and avoiding the ‘me too’ offering and involving your whole team.

You may be surprised at the outcome out of a traditional ‘no ideas are bad ideas’ session. Not only will it help with team engagement but a pearl of an idea may be conceived, to be developed and fed into your market place, keeping you and your business one step ahead.