WHERE TO NEXT?

Any team working together has goals and plans for how to achieve them, a.k.a. their strategy. But very few teams make an effort to stop and revisit their strategy. Each year many just repeat what they did the previous year, perhaps with a few improvements here and there. Some do occasionally rethink their strategy, but their process often falls short of what’s needed to really prepare for the future.

Typical processes include a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) or a PESTLE analysis (political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental). These traditional approaches help to surface important trends but when using them, teams often make the following mistakes:

• They look only at what’s in front of them. Everyone is busy, so they list the things that come to mind quickly (or ask ChatGPT for a list). As a result, several very important factors don’t make it into the consideration set. Instead, teams should look far and wide (and deep!) to spot what’s relevant. A comprehensive scan considers multiple angles, including surveys and interviews to gather the perspectives of different stakeholders.  ‍
• They expect every trend will develop along its current trajectory. This thinking may feel focused, efficient and rational, but it ignores the fact that the future will bring unexpected disruptions. Instead, teams should consider alternatives and craft not one, but multiple scenarios for the future. This may feel messy, but the real world is messy, and increasingly volatile, uncertain and complex.‍
• They plan for a single future which leads to a risky strategy. When a team fails to think beyond personal preferences, current assumptions and historic data, it becomes costly when reality diverges from the narrow pathway they imagined. Instead, teams that do mental rehearsal in multiple scenarios end up better prepared when unexpected changes occur. It also allows them to devise ‘no-regret-moves’, actions that render positive results across all scenarios.  

In 2025, I led a market research and foresight project with St Stithians College to answer the following question: what can Saints do to remain the school of choice for its stakeholders by 2035? The Saints leadership were very satisfied with the rich and robust strategy they were able to develop as a result of the project’s success.

If you’d like Yonder to help your team with market research or futures planning, feel free to reach out.