Context is Key

Abstract

Throughout this book we have stressed how important it is for leaders of businesses or organizations to be aware of what is going on in the wider environment within which their business or organization is situated. The leader must be constantly on the lookout for signals and cues for possible changes or developing trends that may give rise to events that could be significant for the organization and its performance. We have discussed the importance of generating “memories of the future” through the use of techniques such as scenario planning so that the organization as a whole may become sensitive to such wider environmental trends and their possible implications. The use of such techniques and getting their messages into the organization’s bloodstream by means of the myths and stories that are told within it greatly increase the chances that signals, even weak ones, that cue the arrival of the unexpected will be picked up and that the organization will respond appropriately.