Twenty Years of Change
forward thinking inc opened its doors for business in September 1998, almost 24 years ago. Since then we’ve seen much change, new trends emerge and some things stay the same. Here we note ten interesting examples in each area:
Going, going, gone
The five-day office week
Ties
Paper
Voice messages
L-shaped desks
Corner offices
BlackBerrys
‘Permanent’ contractors
Thought leaders
Drinks on Friday
New in town
Being ‘On Purpose’
‘Bringing the firm’
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
Diversity & Inclusion (D&I)
More women at the top
The segment of ‘one’
Digital marketing
Zoom & Teams
Social influencers
Drinks on Thursday
Some things never change… but perhaps they could?
Some observations about things we still see, challenges and opportunities which seem a tough nut to crack - they’re worth the effort though!
Needs Work
Siloes
Different teams , departments, regions, countries working to their own agenda.
Too many bad meetings
Everyone complains about them but are still spending a disproportionate amount of time in them. Hybrid meetings are the new challenge.
Unequal opportunities
Lots of progress in twenty years but more to go.
Short-term thinking
A laser focus on this year’s P&L and not enough on the drivers of long-term value. Perhaps because the score is harder to keep?
Needs Focus
The value of strategic clarity
Multiple credible initiatives but lack of a clear strategic thread which holds everything together.
Organisational alignment
Strategy, brand development, behaviours, cultural, operational initiatives - all too often singing from different hymn sheets.
A clear value proposition
Few companies have a crystal clear one.
Great leadership
Very rare, very valuable.
New ideas and the courage to implement them
Thinking that innovation is a critical priority but struggling to put in place the right structure and incentives to see it flourish.
Quality stakeholder communities
Employees, customers, shareholders, local communities working together for the common good. Still something of an aspiration rather than a reality.