The day after tomorrow

Technology is changing our society. Disruptive will hit hard everywhere. But what the impact will be is a dime a dozen. Would you have seen the potential in the first car that drove down the street? Or would you have held the reins of your horse convulsively? The fourth industrial revolution today is not about technology an sich but about the will to change. Companies must reinvent themselves in this new world and rise like phoenixes from their ashes.

The cloud, social media, big data, APIs ... these are buzzwords that form the baseline for start-ups. Some with great success. These are the so-called unicorns, by their official definition start-up companies worth more than 1 billion. Some of the best known are Airbnb, Uber, SpaceX ... Companies that have spread disruption like a virus and captured the imagination. Young engineers want to work there, entrepreneurs want to become unicorns. But it's not that easy. And these success stories also increasingly come with a downside once they move beyond their start-up status.

Instead of dreaming about unicorns, companies today should aspire to become phoenixes. Phoenixes are animals from Greek mythology that could regenerate themselves cyclically. They burn down only to rise from the ashes. Thus, phoenixes are about renewal and transformation. To be reborn stronger than ever. An ambition that is in fact achievable for anyone, as long as a corporate culture that welcomes change is created. Walmart, for example, is the largest traditional retailer in the world. Yet the company keeps its finger on the pulse. Even stores in the middle of nowhere are equipped with pick-up towers where customers can pick up their online orders. Prefer home delivery? Today they are experimenting with smart doors that let the courier in so he can already fill the fridge. And you track everything remotely in the app. 

Digital is the new normal. Data is everywhere and released by everyone, on social media, through platforms ... The next step will be the combination of all this data with psychology. This will be the playing field of artificial intelligence. Today, humans are still the best computer , but automation is moving very fast and the huge mountains of data that are created will still be difficult for humans to mine. It is high time to start looking ahead. For 93%, companies are concerned with what is happening in the workplace today and the shit from the day before. What tomorrow and the day after will bring is less relevant. Yet that is precisely where the focus should be. Innovation is no longer a luxury but a necessity. It is the day after tomorrow that will determine your success.

But how should you turn the intelligence present in your company walls today into looking ahead? Everything starts with knowing what's happening in the world and thinking about what that might mean for your business. Observing and learning from unicorns to become phoenixes. Important in that will be encouraging disruptive thinking, employees who are comfortable trying new things. They usually make up only 1% of a workforce (at start-ups 99%), but are just essential to ensuring your company's future the day after tomorrow.