One of the most concerning discoveries one can make at a company is a culture of complacency. An attitude of contentment with the present and the expectation that things will remain the same.
It’s easy to fall into this mindset. Isolated within an organisation we become disconnected from others in the industry by design. We horde what we consider trade secrets and see transparency as a risk. Our competitors play the same game and as a result we focus inwards.
We become the average of our colleagues, limited in our thinking by the goals and ambitions of a small selection of individuals. Meanwhile the industry moves forward, defining and dividing the market of the future.
The treadmill keeps rolling and the only way to keep from falling off the end is to look ahead, to stay in-tune with what is happening outside and to learn continuously, not just from those around us, but from those further afield. To set audacious and challenging goals that see us thriving 2, 5, 10 years from now.
Being productive in the now is the easy part. The environment is known, but it is not static. The future is certain only in that we know it will be different. When it arrives what we’re doing in the present will be obsolete or old fashioned at best, and by then it will be impossible to catch up.