Finding the gap
A strategy for change first needs a starting point.
Over the course of this publication, we have discussed several strategically significant and substantive topics.
By definition, individuals are full of nuance and subtle differences. Every member of your C-suite will react in their own way to the themes and ideas in this publication.
Shaped by their own context and lived experiences, they will gravitate to different themes and questions for different reasons. They will bring a different sense of urgency. And they will see implications for strategy and operations through their own unique lens.
A starting point is to identify where and why those differences exist. Assess the implications of this group’s differing perspectives on any attempt to confront change in a connected and intentional manner.
Consider these six questions. Pose them to your C-suite colleagues, asking for independent consideration followed by collective discussion.
Nuanced or divergent perspectives across the C-suite can provide instructive, if not surprising, input.
Executives’ tolerance and limits regarding uncertainty, disruption, and change. The emergence of three primary categories of macro forces set to dominate the next wave of change—namely, the pursuit of infinite productivity, the changing human-technology relationship, and shifting centers and structures of power:
The possible fallout of technology, AI, and automation for the labor market of the future.
The potential ascendancy of climate realities to issues of strategic and economic durability.
Combating the perennial challenge of leadership inertia and resistance to change.
Each has warranted inclusion in this publication and, indeed, deserve far greater discussion, debate, and imagination than the constraints of these pages allow.
To bridge the gap between this breadth of issues and a first conversation among concerned executives, we recommend leaders consider the following path.
Thinking over the next 5 to 10 years, what are the three external forces or trends on the horizon that you are most concerned about—either as a source of opportunity or potential risk for the enterprise—and why?
What are the most important signals of change that you believe we should be paying attention to as an organization and debating as a leadership imperative?
How well equipped do you think you are as an executive team to cope with uncertainty, the need for enterprise-wide adaptability, and to lead the organization collectively and intentionally through a period of sustained disruption and transformation? In this regard, what is your single biggest strength? Your single most concerning vulnerability?
Do you have the right mechanisms in place for spotlighting emerging trends and forces, evaluating their potential impact, and activating experimentation within the organization? What’s working, what’s not, and where are the biggest missing pieces of the puzzle?
How confident are you in our ability to create a culture of adaptability and commitment to change at all levels in the organization, especially through the filters of internal silos and layers of management hierarchy?
What assumptions do you have about the way our organization does business today, and how does that impact our future projections? How can we challenge those assumptions with a more strategic and curious lens?
In isolation, these questions aren’t designed to directly drive strategic or operational choices. Rather, they should reveal areas of convergent thinking within your leadership team, as well as divergent or outlier viewpoints.
Critically, and in addition to the broader questions we have posed in this publication, they will provide a substantive basis for discussion and debate—ideally, the first of many.
May this provide a starting point to help your organization to begin to make sense of the next wave of change—and a catalyst to begin stretching your individual and collective uncertainty thresholds.
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Director,
KPMG Ignition
Alex
Elias
visit.kpmg.us/ignition
Director, KPMG Ignition
Head of Strategic Intelligence
Rebecca Haverson
Manager,
KPMG Ignition
Tara
Malloy
Associate,
KPMG Ignition
Arko
Bhattacharyya
Contributing
Authors
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