Future Compass

Society’s dynamics are in constant flux and although technology and industry have had an impact in the last 120 years the power of dynasties, nationalism, military conflicts, and climate change amongst others have been shaping our existence for millennia. As have Pandemics! The great con is that we just never noticed these instability drivers in recent times because of an unusually long period of stability post the second world war. Stability over a human lifespan this long is rare indeed. It manifested for several reasons including a military stalemate between two great powers, immensely powerful economic growth to feed a rapidly growing population due to exponentially accelerating technological prowess and globalisation and integration of the global economy. The world population has more than doubled in my lifetime, that’s not a formula for stability. What was ignored was the fact that tightly coupled systems become more unstable as they overrespond to smaller stimuli. Future Advisory · Connect with Herman on LinkedIn · Twitter

Society’s dynamics are in constant flux and although technology and industry have had an impact in the last 120 years the power of dynasties, nationalism, military conflicts, and climate change amongst others have been shaping our existence for millennia. As have Pandemics! The great con is that we just never noticed these instability drivers in recent times because of an unusually long period of stability post the second world war. Stability over a human lifespan this long is rare indeed. It manifested for several reasons including a military stalemate between two great powers, immensely powerful economic growth to feed a rapidly growing population due to exponentially accelerating technological prowess and globalisation and integration of the global economy. The world population has more than doubled in my lifetime, that’s not a formula for stability. What was ignored was the fact that tightly coupled systems become more unstable as they overrespond to smaller stimuli.

Society’s dynamics are in constant flux and although technology and industry have had an impact in the last 120 years the power of dynasties, nationalism, military conflicts, and climate change amongst others have been shaping our existence for millennia. As have Pandemics! The great con is that we just never noticed these instability drivers in recent times because of an unusually long period of stability post the second world war. Stability over a human lifespan this long is rare indeed. It manifested for several reasons including a military stalemate between two great powers, immensely powerful economic growth to feed a rapidly growing population due to exponentially accelerating technological prowess and globalisation and integration of the global economy. The world population has more than doubled in my lifetime, that’s not a formula for stability. What was ignored was the fact that tightly coupled systems become more unstable as they overrespond to smaller stimuli. Future Advisory · Connect with Herman on LinkedIn · Twitter

What advice would I give to my younger self today?
Today’s rapidly evolving economy involves a deep interweaving of the worlds of technology, science, and business although the connections are not always obvious. I experienced this as an engineer who moved into the world of business relatively early in my career. I learned that the role of science and technology is as strategic enablers of business rather than drivers of business. Some of the decisions that I have had to grapple with include should I remain a specialist or become a generalist, learning that a process of innovation is much more valuable than a single smart product, a focus on the overall framework or architecture rather than any single language and that innovation is about being agile to find where meaning exists for clients. In addition to this was learning when to pivot or persevere, how to raise funding and manage stakeholders and figuring out how to build teams in order to get to the future first.

What advice would I give to my younger self today?
Today’s rapidly evolving economy involves a deep interweaving of the worlds of technology, science, and business although the connections are not always obvious. I experienced this as an engineer who moved into the world of business relatively early in my career. I learned that the role of science and technology is as strategic enablers of business rather than drivers of business. Some of the decisions that I have had to grapple with include should I remain a specialist or become a generalist, learning that a process of innovation is much more valuable than a single smart product, a focus on the overall framework or architecture rather than any single language and that innovation is about being agile to find where meaning exists for clients. In addition to this was learning when to pivot or persevere, how to raise funding and manage stakeholders and figuring out how to build teams in order to get to the future first. Future Advisory · Connect with Herman on LinkedIn · Twitter

What advice would I give to my younger self today?
Today’s rapidly evolving economy involves a deep interweaving of the worlds of technology, science, and business although the connections are not always obvious. I experienced this as an engineer who moved into the world of business relatively early in my career. I learned that the role of science and technology is as strategic enablers of business rather than drivers of business. Some of the decisions that I have had to grapple with include should I remain a specialist or become a generalist, learning that a process of innovation is much more valuable than a single smart product, a focus on the overall framework or architecture rather than any single language and that innovation is about being agile to find where meaning exists for clients. In addition to this was learning when to pivot or persevere, how to raise funding and manage stakeholders and figuring out how to build teams in order to get to the future first. Future Advisory · Connect with Herman on LinkedIn · Twitter

The pandemic created a massive move online for transactional type services.
Strolling became scrolling and the world of phygital was upon us. The move online en masse also had another untended consequence. The challenge is that now everyone is doing it.
How do you now stand out in a virtual crowd?
Differentiation has never been harder especially for professional services. Differentiation on the web where everyone is anonymous is tough.
This is truly the great leveller. Future Advisory · Connect with Herman on LinkedIn · Twitter

The pandemic created a massive move online for transactional type services.
Strolling became scrolling and the world of phygital was upon us. The move online en masse also had another untended consequence. The challenge is that now everyone is doing it.
How do you now stand out in a virtual crowd?
Differentiation has never been harder especially for professional services. Differentiation on the web where everyone is anonymous is tough.
This is truly the great leveller.

The pandemic created a massive move online for transactional type services.
Strolling became scrolling and the world of phygital was upon us. The move online en masse also had another untended consequence. The challenge is that now everyone is doing it.
How do you now stand out in a virtual crowd?
Differentiation has never been harder especially for professional services. Differentiation on the web where everyone is anonymous is tough.
This is truly the great leveller. Future Advisory · Connect with Herman on LinkedIn · Twitter

How will you know when you are in the right place professionally?
Home is where authenticity is.
Being authentic and happy in your own skin all the time. You know you are home when your quirkiness is an asset and not a liability. It is far easier to change jobs or roles than it is to change yourself. Your home is the location when you can be your authentic self, most of the time. Where you are not roleplaying, acting as if you are someone else. Future Advisory · Connect with Herman on LinkedIn · Twitter