•••
F UT URE F O CUS
poverty and
much more. At
this WEF meeting in
January, Miki Tsusaka
said there are ways to
succeed in the Fourth
Industrial Revolution but
leadership is required to seek
out opportunity. She highlighted three essential
components for success:
1) Successful companies stay on top by running
the business - but also by reinventing the business! This means don’t over-exploit existing
business models, rather explore new opportunities. Explorers grow faster and deliver higher value
than exploiters!
2) Complacency is the kiss of death! Leaders
in business cannot afford to steer away from
change. This may mean destroying old systems
or business processes – she calls it ‘creative
destruction’. The best leaders don’t attempt to preserve the past, they invent the future!
3) Businesses would be wise to embrace ‘the right’
diversity. Diversity helps any enterprise avoid
the risk of being a monoculture and it creates
a platform for innovation and adaptation.
Individuals with varied backgrounds have fundamentally different views and the melting pot
of ideas leads to stronger business results. BUT,
she highlighted the importance of choosing
the right driver of diversity, saying businesses
should not promote unqualified candidates
just for the sake of diversity. It can be easy to get
swept up in the drive towards diversity to increase
numbers, but quality trumps quantity every time.
It takes time to find and promote top talent
but those who do, will reap the rewards.
Tsusaka says to win in the new business environment, a change in mind-set is required as the
status quo or ‘business as we know it’ is not going
to be a comfort zone for much longer. She advises
that we adopt a bold outlook, surround ourselves
with top people and get ready to reinvent our
businesses sooner than we had ever imagined.
I have a feeling that the tough economic environment which farmers have been facing almost
for too long is an added catalyst, forcing us to
re-examine our business models for the future. Try
not to draw the curtains. Keep your finger on the
pulse, attend farmers meetings and support your
agricultural organisations that are lobbying on
your behalf and STAY POSITIVE!
52
Feb/Mar 2016 • SENWES Scenario