Strategy is about today

Don’t let yourself be too distracted by the future

Don’t let yourself be too distracted by the future

It may seem strange to read this headline in a blog of a person who has written so many articles about the future and foresight, but it is not clickbait. The problem is not only that we are inferior future thinkers (read more here). The future is not something that will happen tomorrow; it is something we create today.

Up to 75% of startups fail. Of course, the reasons are different, but after meeting hundreds of entrepreneurs in my professional life, I can take a risk to assume that some unsuccessful businesspeople focus on the future too much.

We are all overwhelmed by thousands of articles and books on the “fast-changing world.” It may seem that if we stop thinking about the future for a second, the rapidly moving world will overtake us. “Move faster, change faster,” business gurus urge us. But what does the word “change” mean? It means we need to do something different today than we did yesterday. And then, maybe, the world of tomorrow as we see it will come.

We can think about the future, dream about the future, and make forecasts. But we operate in a very narrow field that we call “this moment”. And if we can do something with our business or lives, we can do it only right now.

When one drives a car, they need to keep the final destination in mind, but they also must keep their eyes on the road. The best entrepreneurs are not the ones who think about the future better than the bad ones do. They have a vision but are able to convert this vision into step-by-step everyday moves. The future is being created right now, and foreseeing it is only a part of the task. For me, strategy is the answer to the question: what do we need to do right away to change our company, our products, and our market to create the future in which we would like to live and work?

You can watch the video versions of my articles on my YouTube channel here.