Weekly Business Insights from Top Ten Business Magazines | Week 313 | Leading & Managing Section | 3

Extractive summaries and key takeaways from the articles curated from TOP TEN BUSINESS MAGAZINES to promote informed business decision-making | Since September 2017 | Week 313 | September 8-14, 2023

Why Long-Term Thinking Can Help Solve Our Biggest Challenges

By Jens Martin Skibsted | Forbes Magazine | September 13, 2023

Extractive Summary of the Article | Listen

We live in a world that’s moving faster than ever. Products that once took months, if not years, to make are sometimes now being prototyped, validated, adapted and brought to market within weeks. At the same time, we face major long-term challenges with no quick fix, such as combating climate change or preventing the next pandemic.  To meet these challenges, we should try to be resist short-term planning and reconsidering the timeframe for which we make key decisions.

Speed.  Alas, few businesses think in this way. Most focus solely on the here and now. In many fields, like product design, their time frames are getting shorter and shorter.  But doing so puts pressure on product development—and limits the critical ideation and research phases.  Emerging technology, such as machine learning, is only accelerating this trend.

Short-Term Thinking.  Still, you might ask, what’s the problem? Well, for one thing, when key aspects of the ideation and design phase are skipped—when iterative prototyping is truncated, and beta products get shipped as the final version—we end up with a world of lower-quality products and flawed services.  Second, when we design solely for the here and now rather than for the long term, we risk making products that have a short shelf-life and are superseded by the next big thing—or products that are regulated out of existence because their designers failed to anticipate social, political or economic changes such as the shift away from certain materials, production processes and supply chains.

Broadening Horizons.   So how can we learn to expand our thinking, plan for radically longer timelines and design for the long term while operating as fast as ever? Well, the best place to start is with a trio of intellectual tools—“design fiction,” “science fiction thinking” and “scenario planning.”

Thinking Expansively, Moving Fast.  So, then, if you’re a product designer or a chief technology officer, try to imagine building your next product not for the next five months or years but for the next five decades or centuries. And here’s the thing: Thinking expansively about time and planning far ahead doesn’t mean you can’t still develop products fast or make quick decisions. It’s your perspective that changes—not the speed at which you move.

2 key takeaways from the article

1. We live in a world that’s moving faster than ever. Products that once took months, if not years, to make are sometimes now being prototyped, validated, adapted and brought to market within weeks. At the same time, we face major long-term challenges with no quick fix, such as combating climate change or preventing the next pandemic.  To meet these challenges, we should try to resist short-term planning and reconsidering the timeframe for which we make key decisions.
2. How can we learn to expand our thinking, plan for radically longer timelines and design for the long term while operating as fast as ever? Well, the best place to start is with a trio of intellectual tools—“design fiction,” “science fiction thinking” and “scenario planning.”

Full Article

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Topics:  Decision-making, Strategic Planning, Long-term