What are New Zealand’s major challenges for 2012?
First, there are challenges to what we know: what we’re used to, how we work, what we think we’re entitled to, what career path is, what we’ll be doing at X or Y stage in life, how city, or house, or business or widget should be designed.
“Massive change” has been talked about as notion for years – we’re clearly seeing some of it now – and surely it won’t go away. “Nothing endures but change” – Heraclitus.
Our second challenge is to remain optimistic and proactive in the face of the above.
How well prepared are Kiwi business leaders to face these challenges?
Across the board I think we’ve got lot of people who are happy to move fast and try new things. We have recognition that systemised corporate ways of doing things just aren’t fit for today. We’re seeing large organisations rethink the way they attack problems or opportunities, and establish small, agile teams who don’t stare at Powerpoint slides all day and are challenged to make tangible progress at very rapid rate.
What more could we do as country to thrive in the current global economic climate?
Don’t try and get things 105 percent perfect before you send them into the world. The ‘launch and learn/permanent beta’ approach is what helped people like Google, Apple and Facebook smash so many business categories (and businesses). As an added bonus it’s good for your brand story.
I watched presentation by the CEO of one of America’s fastest growing brands whose mantra was “get tangible early”. Invest time in learning upfront to generate insight – then get ideas up on the wall fast. Be impolite, dispassionate, insensitive and challenge your businesses and people to prove why an older way of doing something is the best. For God’s sake, why not? M
