Exploit the new realities.
Today’s new realities fit neither the assumptions of the Left nor those of the Right. They don’t mesh at all with “what everybody knows.” They differ even more from what everybody, regardless of political persuasion, still believes reality to be. “What is” differs totally from what both the Right and the Left believe “ought to be.” The greatest and most dangerous turbulence today results from the collision between the delusions of the decision makers—whether in governments, in the top managements of businesses, or in union leadership—and the realities.
But a time of turbulence is also one of great opportunity for those who can understand, accept, and exploit the new realities. One constant theme is, therefore, the need for the decision maker in the individual enterprise to face up to reality and resist the temptation of what “everybody knows,” the temptations of the certainties of yesterday, which are about to become the deleterious superstitions of tomorrow. To manage in turbulent times, therefore, means to face up to the new realities. It means starting with the question: “What is the world really like?” rather than with the assertions and assumptions that made sense only a few years ago.
ACTION POINT: List three new opportunities created by demographic shifts—changes in the composition of the population and workforce—and the shift from national to regional to transnational economies. Pursue them.
Managing in Turbulent Times
* Source: The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker