Uncertainty isn't politics

A good amount of businesses will suffer as we advance in 4.0 industry revolution.

Whatever they call it, change is automatic and constant.

It seems scary, and only few gonna make it.

Blockbuster didn't transition online and went out of business. Kodak didn't innovate and fell behind.

This happened at a time when the globe was less connected and there was no presence of social media.

The problem is that many don't see this transition as being any different.

The world has been living in uncertainty for the last 15-20 years. It's strange that now business leaders and media outlets are talking about uncertainty.

They must have been sleeping under a rock or lacking observation to predict the future.

That begs the question: What were these business leaders doing while changes in market trends, directions, technology, etc., were occurring?

Were they solely focused on cost and revenue? It seems so.

This narrow focus limited their vision and led to a lack of skills in scanning the environment of their business.

But uncertainty has been developing for a long time. It's only recently, after 2020, that people have begun to talk about it because it has accelerated. And most relate uncertainty to politics.

What uncertainty is, an advance in technology in many sectors. That gave others leverage in power that caused new political balance.

Once again, this is the result of a connected globe fuelling a worldwide desire. It's the reason many businesses and companies are either panicking or asleep amidst technological, societal, and market transitions.

With these transitions come changes in skills, consumer needs, habits, models, and methodologies.

Outdated leadership leads to outdated resources, costing companies significantly in innovation.

When the majority of their resources aren't relevant to today's trends and skills. The proof is that 70% fail to transform.

This creates two sides to transformation failure:

On one side, there are outdated human resources within the company. On the other side, there's the commercial approach to problem-solving provided by consulting firms.

A survey of more than 25,000 consumers across 22 countries, found two-thirds (67%) expect companies to understand and address their changing needs during times of disruption.

I don't see many companies actively working to meet new consumer needs. Most are quite ordinary. Common businesses create common people, so you’re who you work for, unless you swim against the tide.

The take way of this post is to show what skills you need to get along with market and consumers change.

To my attention, I've noticed that a few large companies have started to hire design strategists. I'm happy that they've realized what they need.

In one of my previous posts, I highlighted every company needs to change according to market transitions.

As I mentioned traditional consulting firm look at your problem like changing broken part in your car. They look at the problem like a part replacement.

It doesn't work like this in this era of business, its different.

I believe design strategists are important for every company, regardless of size, because many companies struggle to understand the requirements of market transitions.

A design strategist is like the architect who designs your desired future. They create the blueprint for a company to follow, much like an architect designs plans for a real estate developer to build upon.

A design strategist combines diverse skills to assist companies in informing the creating or improving their products, services, strategies, processes, or technologies.

The key is to perform a deep scan of the business challenge to reach a well-informed stage. Getting to the informing stage is a process.

This stage precedes the delivery and development of the solution. It serves to inform the delivery process and ensures the success of the project, or determines whether to proceed with the project or not.

Before delving into what the solution is, design strategists design the building blocks of the solution, determining what the solution requires:

• Find opportunities and identify barriers

• Capabilities and features you need

• Prototype and validate

• Prioritize and roadmap

• How the solution work (user experience and process)

The above outcomes set the direction for your future; you move forward with a well-informed guide, and then the delivery team delivers those building blocks.

I want to list the combined skills of a design strategist so you know what to hire:

• Design-thinking methodology

• Human-centred system thinking

• Human factors and user experience principles

• Research and analytics

• Identifying risks and opportunities

• User experience design

• Prototyping and testing ideas

• Business and strategy design

• Collaboration and communication

It's a diverse skill set that combines design expertise, strategic thinking, and business acumen to drive innovation and create value for organizations and their customers.

Solving business challenges the traditional way is like throwing cash and effort into a waste.

A startup founder can't scale or advance far without having the right people on board to push forward, just as transforming your outdated company requires.

Thanks for reading!

Ahmed

PS two things I can help you with:

1. Run a business design discovery

Exploring and defining the strategic direction, objectives, and key elements of a project. uncover opportunities, understand user needs, and design solutions that align with business goals.

2. Guiding and advising

Guide you and help you on a project you’re working on; need help to set direction to reach desired outcomes.