I’ve spent the last two months with clients on the road visiting eight cities in the United States and making two trips to Europe. My meetings stimulated some thoughts that I would like to share with you. Michael Dowling (CEO of North Shore-LIJ) concluded his remarks to our Board retreat last week with the following challenging question…

Are we learning as fast as the world is changing?  A hugely interesting perspective.

While participating in an Advisory Board meeting (for financial services sector) at Cisco megatrends were reviewed such as Generational Shifts, Consumer in Control and the impact of Compliance and Regulation. As an example, in the year 2020 (US) Gen Y will represent 37% of consumers vs 29% baby boomers. That shift raises the specter of multi- generational consumers and workforce, raising the strategic issues of building cultures that understand co-production of innovative products and services while reducing cost and mitigating risk. In a webinar (Credit Union Leadership Forum) we focused on the role of the Board and Brand Strategy. Peter Hubbell (Saatchi) raised a series of questions…

What can you offer me beyond price? What do you really know about me? Can you keep up with me?

Lastly, the issue of dealing with Capitalizing on Complexity is thoroughly researched by IBM. A survey of 1.5K global CEO’s identify creativity as the most important skill followed closely by integrity. 69% feel the world is getting more volatile.

There are answers. I think strategy begins with an acknowledgment that with an understanding of the world and controllable variables (like values, accountability, people,communications, and expressing a clear mission) you can prevail.