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Strategy and foresight were once the same discipline. And they should be again. The immediacy of day-to-day operations can lead to a strategic process that is more about ticking boxes and filling templates, which often end up languishing, unopened, in an inbox. With modern updates and improvements to these combined disciplines, leaders can sharpen their vision for the future, empowering managers to make informed strategic choices and propelling teams towards superior performance. This domain is true strategic foresight: a disciplined and systematic approach to identify where to play, how to win in the future, and how to ensure organizational resiliency in the face of unforeseen disruption. This article aims to define strategic foresight for leaders, advocating for its integration as a core competency in every organization, regardless of size.
I recently sat down with the CEO of a large corporation, who asked a peculiar question: Would I rather have a crystal ball that always showed me the future, or a chessboard that always told me the right strategy? He’s a sharp, curious thinker, who likes to debate — but on this day, he was mulling an urgent problem.