Complacent Are Too Many
The world oil price is crashing. Supply has increased dramatically at the same time as people have learned to use less. For many consumers of oil in any of its forms this has been a nice windfall as the year ends. For others, including those countries and companies dependent on high oil prices, it has been a disaster.
The economic and political result of this has global implications.
Watching this happen over the last few months has been an interesting experience. So many were so secure in their predictions of high and even higher oil prices combined with continuing high usage that they were totally unprepared for the rapid fall. So many were so sure of the world necessity for buying their oil that it never occurred to them that they could be replaced by other sources. So many tried to stop the future from coming in a failed attempt to maintain their position of wealth and power.
The same thing has been happening in other industries and with other belief systems. It amazes me how this can be in spite of everyone noticing the world changing event called the internet that has burst upon us all. They seem to think this was an anomaly, a one time event that interrupted their calm and predictable world, never to happen again.
And yet, we all know that these days the one thing predictable is change. And more change at a rapid pace. And then an even more rapid pace. And still, so many go forward ignoring this in their thinking about the future, in their planning, in their predicting what is to come and how it will affect them and their business.
Effective leadership requires taking the blinders off and thinking about the worst things that can happen…and how you will respond and take advantage of them. What if the prices collapse in your industry. What will you do? What if a terrorist detroys your place of business. What will you do? What if a totally disruptive technology takes over your industry. What will you do?
Not only will this get you thinking and planning for how you will respond and survive the event, it also gets you thinking about how to improve your business as you work to address possible disasters that might be just over the horizon. You’ll find out some things about your industry, your business, your people that you never realized and maybe come up with some new and disruptive ideas of your own.
Get ahead of the unknown coming at you. Become the distruptor rather than the disrupted. Be prepared for whatever might come. Get ready to flourish while many fall by the wayside.