It's No Longer A Puck
I hesitate to use this quote since its extreme overuse has stripped it of its meaning. I am sure you have heard it.
“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”
— Wayne Gretzky
The quote has been bandied about by an endless list of business leaders, authors, and managers to remind us all that to succeed in business we can't just focus on what is – but instead on what is coming. It is used as a call to innovation, a call to look ahead. And although it has become cliche, it served its purpose. But in terms of organizational strategy in 2018, it no longer works.
A business can no longer skate to where the puck is headed because when they get there, it probably won't be a puck.
Imagine you are playing hockey, and you skate to where you think the puck will be, it's not there, and it is now a duck. That is where we are.
Even organizations that seem to be thriving at the moment are teetering on the edge of irrelevance. Some of them know it. Others don't.
We Think We Have Passed the Tipping Point. We haven't.
If you think this roller coaster is scary, I am sorry to say, we are still approaching the first drop.
I have been working with faith-based organizations for the last 15 years. The entire time I have witnessed them trying to catch up. The result is a constant rush forward to a state that is usually about five years old. And face it, in today's world, last year seems like a lifetime ago. Some organizations have heeded Gretzky's advice only finding disappointment when they get there and realize the game is no longer hockey.
What we are witnessing across organizations of all types and sizes is not a failure to adapt to the current tech landscape, it is a failure to transform into an organization that understands that constant, rapid change is now how the world functions. The world, as we understand it, will be radically different in 5 years, we can't predict how, and we won't even notice it happening.
Why WE Won't Notice
Because, as fast as things are changing, we are changing too.
We are quickly becoming accustomed to our phones being out of date the moment we get them and are immediately frustrated when our devices take more than a split second to respond to our commands.
We barely noticed the role social media was having in our purchasing and even voting decisions when we did notice, we shrugged our shoulders and went back to what we were doing.
Some of us have already forgotten a time when we couldn't watch thousands of television shows and movies on demand without leaving the house, and we simply cannot understand why live stream football games occasionally buffer.
A whole generation doesn't even remember going to a mall to buy a compact disc (not to mention a cassette or record.)
Most of us didn't even notice when nearly 2 million people were tuned in at the same time in 2017 to watch teams compete playing the video game Counter-Strike.
To quote another cliche, "we are like frogs in boiling water." These changes are happening so quickly and so often that we are becoming immune to the absurdity of it all.
So What Are We Supposed to Do?
Well, one option is to head to the couch and cover ourselves with blankets.
Another option would be to get ready for the ride. Organizations may be able to thrive simply by being willing to constantly change and adapt to changing market forces.
Still another option would be to be the one to decide where to puck is going and what it is going to be when it gets there. We are not all unwilling riders on this rollercoaster of change. Some leaders and organizations will lead us into the new reality.
Organizations that wish to thrive in the years ahead need to stop waiting to see what happens and then furiously sprinting to catch up. They should create a vision of the future and head that way. It is a risky proposition but it is far more promising than sitting still and awaiting irrelevance.