If you’ve started your planning for 2027, you know we face more change, disruption, and uncertainty than ever before – and more than you can possibly address. Some of it brings threats and risks, and some brings opportunities, but you can’t chase them all. Use this three-part lens to help you assess each trend and set your priorities.
As a leader, you might be thinking ahead to 2027 and starting your strategic planning now. How do you prioritise the things that will matter most?
We know there’s a lot of change, disruption, uncertainty, and chaos – and that creates threats and risks, but also possibilities and opportunities.
Of course you can’t address them all, so how do you prioritise?
I was working recently with a group of senior leaders, helping them plan for the future with my Future Scenarios program.
The first stage of that program is to scan wide and identify potential scenarios. That’s important because it casts your net wider. But just as important is the next stage: narrowing the list to choose where you’ll spend your precious time, energy, money, and other resources.
In the Future Scenarios program, I give leaders 12 different decision-making tools to help them narrow down that list. I’ll share one here: the CEO Method.
The CEO Method is about Customers, Employees, and the Organisation.
For example, let’s consider our ageing population. We’ve known about this trend for decades, so you might have already included it in your planning. But if you’ve put it on the back burner – or not addressed it adequately – now’s the time to start.
So, let’s run that trend of an ageing population through the CEO lens.
First, consider the impact this will have on your customers. For example:
- Are your products and services still fit for purpose for older customers?
- As your current customers age, what opportunities does this create?
- Looking outside your current customer base, how could you attract older customers?
Second, look internally – the E of CEO is employees – and consider the impact an ageing population will have on them. For example:
- As employees retire, you lose their wisdom, corporate knowledge, and steady hand.
- But if they delay retirement – as many do – they create a bottleneck for the career paths of younger employees.
- Many employees also have caring responsibilities for older family members, which might need more flexible work arrangements.
Third, look at O – the organisation as a whole – and consider how an ageing population affects it. For example:
- Does it make you more relevant or less relevant?
- If you’re a listed company, are you more attractive to self-funded retiree investors? Or super funds?
- Can you engage past employees who retire but want part-time work as mentors or consultants?
That’s a quick overview of applying the CEO lens to a trend for the future.
This exercise helps you assess the importance of this trend to your future strategy. If it doesn’t identify any significant risks, threats, or opportunities, that’s fine – that trend is just not a big deal. Push it down your priority list and focus on something else.
That’s just one of the 12 decision-making tools I share in my Future Scenarios program. I’ll share another two in my next free public online presentation, “Seeing Into The Future”. If you’re a leader, please register and invite other leaders in your team, too. I’m sure you’ll get value from it.
