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1. 2014 is the year of ubiquity. As a leader it is important to come to grips with what
this actually involves. It means that technology is present in so many places it becomes harder
and harder to ignore. In this diagram you'll see that the grey area contains some examples
of ubiquity in action.
I've commented on each of these in a recent blogpost, so follow the link if you want more
information. http://www.thinkbeyond.co.nz/blog/one-2014-trend-must-aware/
2. It's really easy for leaders to focus on the business and not take time to step to
the edge, to view the organisation in the context of the wider world. Yes that's me
in the circle! When I'm looking at trends I step to the fringes and explore the signals.
I've coloured this middle area in grey because ubiquity isn't necessarily good or bad, but
neutral. We need to explore the space, find out what ubiquity might look like in our context.
This is the role of the adaptive leader. An adaptive leader can stand comfortably in the
grey space, considering multiple ideas and possibilities. It's from this space that we
view the black and the white and work towards understanding the complexity of the and-both
3. The black space is my attempt to show the dark future. These are some of the risks of
ubiquity. I'm sure you'll have some others. It's important to consider the 'what if' this
happened so we can be more prepared for various scenarios. An adaptive leader will keep options
open. Lets take the example of loss of privacy. I might decide to lock down all the information
in my organisation, trying to prevent leakage. But the trouble is, when I did deeper into
the grey space, I find out that by 2020 it is expected that shadow technology will make
up 90% of technology in my business. Shadow technology is the technology that isn't part
of my business, It comes from the outside. It ties in with the growth of bring your own
device and wear your own mind, which I talked about in a recent blogpost http://www.thinkbeyond.co.nz/blog/one-2014-trend-must-aware/
So while I may develop a strategy to try to prevent privacy leakages, I know I will also
need to have a strategy for mitigating the risk when privacy leakage happens. It's an
and-both approach.
4. Let's turn now to the preferred future. From my view at the edge of the circle I can
also explore the possibilities that ubiquity creates. I'll explore the ones of most relevance
to my context and develop some strategies that will move me closer to achieving my preferred
future. This acknowledges that small changes can lead to ripples of change, as well as
steps backward and deadends. Let's take self regulation as an example. There are huge opportunities
for people to think for themselves, when leaders create a culture where people are encouraged
to fail safely and to contribute in their unique way.
I reckon a leaders role is to regularly move to the fringes, explore some of the global
trends and make links back to their context. It means standing comfortably in the grey
space and managing the polarities of the dark and the light. It pays to be agile and adaptive
in order to thrive in the future.
If you want to find out more visit me at Think Beyond. I'm keen to explore ideas and engage
in conversation to develop this model further. www,thinkbeyond.co.nz