A Future Ready Organization

INSTITUTE FOR THE FUTURE

Change is everywhere. Whether it’s artificial intelligence and the next technology revolution, rising temperatures and the climate crisis, the changing nature of work and economic uncertainty, or the breakdown of trust and the shocks to our sense of what is true and legitimate, change keeps coming at us from all directions. 

It’s really difficult to feel grounded in this world of constant and rapid change. Instead of anticipating the future, we react to change (often too late) or we give into uncertainty (and anxiety) and do nothing. There is another way forward: we can prepare and be ready.

Future readiness is a journey
Future readiness is the state of being fully prepared for the future. Future-ready organizations anticipate systemic shifts in their environment and understand their long-term impacts. They envision alternative futures and invest in strategic foresight to manifest their preferred futures. They make sense of change by cultivating a futures mindset up and down and across their organization. 

Ultimately, future-ready organizations avoid being blindsided by change and are better able to transform valuable foresight into actionable insight by building and maintaining an anticipatory system (a network of resources including people, processes, methods, and tools dedicated to scanning the emerging future).  READ MORE...

Stories of Transformation

Change is constant. How we adapt isn’t. That’s true for our personal and professional lives—it’s part of the human experience.

No matter the cause of the change, the success outcome is largely measured by how well we react and respond to it. I know now that even the most challenging and difficult situations can bring out the best in us, spurring our creativity and strengthening our commitment to continuous improvement. And those who make changes that positively impact others are, often unknowingly, the heroes of someone else’s story.

Not all heroes wear capes

Heroes show up in all types of circumstances and in all shapes and sizes. Generally, a hero is someone who’s done something admirable and impactful that improves the lives of others. Some of those things are small acts or interactions that can go unnoticed, especially in the business environment.

We’re seeking to change that.

DocuSign is celebrating the stories of people who’ve had to rethink and change the way work gets done. It takes courage and a bit of fearlessness to embrace change, reimagine a new way and then bring everyone together in agreement. And that’s only half the battle: you also have to be committed to keeping that positive change moving forward, continuously evaluating and improving.

My role at DocuSign allows me to spend a lot of time with customers, and I’ve been fortunate to witness many of these stories first-hand over the last two years. I’d like to share a couple here, and encourage you to read each of them in more detail. We hope this will help you think of someone you know who has a hero story worth celebrating. If so, we’d love for you to nominate them here.

Real stories of real change

David
Meet David. He’s VP of strategic development at Dilawri, Canada’s largest automotive dealer group. Anyone who’s purchased a car knows it can be a time-consuming experience. Think of all the comparisons, test drives and forms to complete and sign. Now imagine having to do all that remotely. Seems impossible—but not for David and Dilawri.

Through a mixture of e-signature technology and remote payment tools, David helped all of Dilawri’s dealers continue to operate during the lockdown. Even better, their customers have shown a continued preference for the convenience of remote transactions, so there’s no U-turn in sight on their journey to full digital transformation.

Tracy
Here’s Tracy. She works as an information systems analyst for Louisville Metro Government. While change can happen in government, it’s typically an incremental and slower-paced process. Thankfully, Tracy excels at embracing and driving positive change.

For Kentucky’s largest city, “Paper-free by 2023” isn’t just a catchy slogan. It’s Louisville’s plan to be more sustainable in their operations; reducing paper waste is a huge component. But while that effort was the initial driver, the pandemic accelerated the need for digital transformation.

Tracy implemented e-signature technology to cut paper waste, which also resulted in substantial cost savings. But the best part happened next: the agency—and people’s lives—were transformed by unexpected productivity gains. And when the pandemic hit, that meant Louisville Metro could focus on positively impactful things like streamlining processes at a mass vaccination site and helping people with utilities and eviction prevention. READ MORE...

We Didn't Start The Fire

 

Listening to the lyrics of this song brings back memories of the 60's...     70's...    80's...    etc.     Lyrics  to  songs  about our past cause me to reflect upon the fact that very little has actually changed in the United States and throughout the world, except for maybe  the INTERNET and TERRORISM...  Millionaires and Billionaires and immigration...   wages have not  really increased proportionately to those of management... 

• Governments start fires
• Wealthy people start fires
• Rebels start fires
• Politicians start fires
• Hatred starts fires
• Progress starts fires
• Technology starts fires
• Education starts fires
• Incompetence starts fires
• Religions start fires
• Ignorance starts fires

WHAT FIRES HAVE YOU STARTED???

Fifty Percent Versus Fifty Percent

I am 73 years old, born in 1947 and this is the first time that I have ever seen this country SO DIVIDED outside of the HIPPIE PROTESTS of the 1960's...  which was not really a 50/50 division at all but more of a ONE GROUP DISAGREEMENT...  however, the only positive thing that came out of the 1960's was the lyrics of the rock and roll music.

I have been retired since 2015 and to be quite honest with you (implying I have not been honest before) I have not voted in an election here in the USA for over 20 years.  The original reason was so that I would not be called for JURY DUTY but then over the years, I have not been able to support either the Democrats or the Republicans.

WHY?  This is an easy answer:  Nothing has changed in this country since the 1960's as we basically have the same problems today (2021) that we had  back then...  and that is the fault of BOTH PARTIES.

BUT...  it seems that we have a bigger problem here in the US of A and that is that we are divided RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE...  half are liberal and democrat and half are conservative and republican with a handful of socialists and libertarians who bitch the loudest but who are in essence ignored behind the scenes...  as if they are spoiled children.

This division in the US of A while a natural by product of DEMOCRACY and our Democratic Republic form of government and is more or less a healthy expression of one's beliefs...  is a source of pleasure for our enemies because it is much easier to take over a country if that country is divided.

The other issue with a equally divided country is that neither party who has governmental control really has a mandate from all of the people to do whatever it is that they want to do...  This lack of support causes an upheaval in direction every 4 years and keeps the residents of the country angry at each other rather than divided.

However, what remains constant is that THE WEALTHY will continue to get WEALTHIER as we ignore them and fight among each other.  The second issue here is that TECHNOLOGY will continue to advance and the general public will be caught off guard when AI ROBOTS replace 50% of their jobs in just a few years.  

These advances in TECHOLOGY will change our lives forever...  some for the better and some for the worst as we adapt, change, and modify our behaviors.

What is even more hideous is the fact that while our Federal Government spends money (that it does not have) to give the people (you and I) more benefits, this same government will NOT BE PUTTING INCREASES OF MONEY INTO THE MILITARY while China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea will be ignoring their citizens and beefing up their militaries.

What does this mean?

This means that while you will have FREE EDUCATION, FREE DAY CARE, and a FREE GUARANTEED INCOME, the global economy will shift away from the USA and move east towards Russia, China, India, Asia, Japan, and parts of Europe and the Middle East...  rendering your free education WORTHLESS for all intents and purposes.

How will this happen?

Our Federal Government COUNTS on your short term focus rather than on your long term focus of 10 years or more.

One of the facts-of-life, that I realize after living for 73 years is that TIME MOVES QUICKLY by us all and the older we become, the quicker time seems to move.  In no time at all, I am in my 70's when my last really congnizant thoughts about all of this, I was in my 50's...  and, while you may just think it is just me and my behavior...  but, this is a comment you hear for ALL OLDER PEOPLE which is why they encourage you to live for the day and pursue your dreams.

C H O I C E

I remember someone telling me that another person told them that
whatever it was that they did was done because this other person made them do it...

My first blush reaction and comment to this statement was THAT'S BULLSHIT FRED...

Of course, Fred was not his real name....  at least, not at the time.

NO ONE MAKES US DO ANYTHING...  not even if they have a loaded firearm pointed at our heads...  We make the choice to respond/react or do nothing.  

But, if we did not do that, we would have been killed is the rebuttal, and yes that is true, but we all die eventually.  If we die, we will miss out on all sorts of things...  and, yes, that is true too.  But, we did not have the choice of whether to be born or not either...  and, had we had that choice, we may have decided not to be born...

We chose to be active

We choose to be lazy

We choose to overeat

We choose to drink alcohol

We choose to drive our cars fast

We choose to violate the law

We choose to have an extramarital affair

We choose to pay our taxes

We choose to be liberal

We choose to adversely react to our whiteness or blackness

AND...  to a certain extent, we choose when and how we want to die.

Not all choices that we make are good one and not all of them are bad ones either...  and, from each choice we should learn a lesson otherwise we remain emotionally, mentally, and physically stagnant.  

AND...  many of us make the choice to remain stagnant rather than try to convince ourselves that we should change...  No one can force us to change, they can only create the environment that allows us to change on our own.

C H A N G E

 It has been said by people smarter than me that PEOPLE DON"T TYPICALLY CHANGE UNTIL THE PAIN OF NOT CHANGING IS GREATER THAN THE PAIN OF CHANGING...

and yet, people still do not want to change...  I find that incredibly interesting especially in light of the recent change in Presidential Administrations and CHANGE is so prevalent that if you stop and take a piss, you have to learn something new when you return.

Most of us live our lives in cages that define us...  who we are...  what we think...  what we say...  how we behave...  and, those cages seldom change their appearance or the space within them...  so it is very easy for us to believe the same load of shit year after year after year without ever realize that the shit we believe is WRONG...

I remember that for most of my life, my eye vision has been 20/15 in both eyes until I was about 45-50 years old and then it started to change...  for the worse...  eventually, I purchased those readers for $2.50 each but took them off when I wasn't reading.

Eventually, my eyes worsen to the point that I had to start wearing prescription glasses and after the doctor handed me the script, I said, "do I have to wear these damn things all the time?"  His response was chilling...  "only if you want to see."  Sadly, he wasn't even trying to be humorous...

BUT...  I did not want to change...  and, I did not change until I absolutely had to change.

The irony of this entire concept is the fact that I made my living in industry as a CHANGE AGENT...  re-engineering systems to eliminate waste and increase output and productivity without any loss of quality or function of use.  If you followed my guidelines and recommendations, everyone in the damn plant had to change what they had been doing for twenty years...  and, that was painful for many old timers...

More Pessimistic Than Optimistic... (Sarcastically of course)

My first encounter with Politics came in the 1960's with the Presidency of JF Kennedy and his assassination, the increase in US involvement in the Vietnam War, Anti-War Protesting in the US especially on College Campuses, and race riots in many of our larger cities over the inequalities that still manifested themselves in the USA....

IRONICALLY, over 50 years later we still have the same problems today that we had back then except for the Global Warming situation...   but equality in the US for many has not got better, we are still fighting in foreign wars in countries where the people don't want us there...  our healthcare is decreasing in value...  our education is decreasing in value...  the wealthy are getting wealthier...  and politics on both sides keeps everything in the range of status quo...

Americans are so gullible and stupid when it comes to thinking our country has actually improved on its behavior...

1. Our family units are deteriorating
2. Our children are taking more drugs than ever before
3. Our children are drinking more alcohol than ever before
4. Our healthcare availability and quality is declining
5. Our education system K-12 is less than mediocre at best
6. Our law enforcement is racially biased
7. Our politicians are wealthy and corrupt
8. Our mainstream media censors the news

DO YOU THINK OUR  

CURRENT ENVIRONMENT 

HERE IN THE USA

IS CONDUCIVE 

TO ACROSS THE BOARD 

IMPROVEMENTS 

AND 

CHANGE???

Change is the only constant

During the summer of 1972, I was honorably discharged from the US Navy after serving 21 months on active duty in communications...  I served on a salvage/rescue ship and was stationed at Little Creek at the Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia...  During the last 6 months of my enlistment our ship was deployed on a Med Cruise and when we left port, I decided I was not going to shave until I was discharged.  So, the beard you see in the photo is the result of a little over 6 months of growth and never trimmed.  Once home in NC, I kept the beard for a couple of days then shaved it off.  I wore a mustache for a few years, then a goatee for a couple of more and have been clean shaven ever since.

I was 25 years old and had completed 3 years of college before enlisting in the military because I was not sure if I wanted to be a college student or not...  It did not take me long to realize that college was the only way for me to have a successful future.  In 1974, I was awarded a BA in English and in 1981, I was awarded an MBA...  And, while I could have used my MBA to earn massive amounts of money, I would have had to relocate much farther NORTH than Virginia and I just did not want to do that.  So, the trade off was a high salary for a slow pace life.

And, while my life was of a slow pace, all the jobs that I accepted in NC, TN, KY were anything but slow paced with the realization that the only thing I had escaped was being in a lot of traffic at rush hour.  As a result, I suffered a massive heart attack at the age of 60 that should have killed me but because I was so damn healthy due to constant exercising, I survived because my body had created its own bypass which at the time I thought was amazing and still do.

I have had about 10 employers during my 45 year career all of whom were pains-in-the-ass and did not want "free thinkers" but someone they could control to do their bidding, using numbers to measure and control their future employment.

Not only was I in a constant state of change, I taught change and continuous improvement of processes in a variety of industries:  Education, Manufacturing, Retail, Government, Military, Healthcare, Publishing, Printing, Automotive, Service, and Non-Profits.  Small scale, incremental, day-to-day changes in the way the work gets down...  including continuous improvement in how I delivered my material.

Change in the only constant in life besides the passing of time and the fact that we all grow older and what's done is done and can never really be redone since the past can never be revisited...  as it is always the present and whatever was done is now NEW.  That is to say...  a company can NEVER have any STANDARD OPERATION PROCEDURES if they are making continuous improvement by DEFAULT...

Some people find that UNSETTLING...  to say the least...