Smart moves to be future-ready

The British-Dutch transnational consumer goods company Unilever owns Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) with 67% stake. Over 700 million Indians use HUL products ranging from personal care to water purifiers. HUL revived Lever Ayush to beat Patanjali and a few more companies bringing Ayurveda as a marketing weapon. The strategy was ready and kept in wraps till HUL was future-ready.

The question is: are you ready for a smarter future? Do you have or plan to acquire skills that are going to define growth for the complex future needs? Not only our phones and television sets, futuristic technology surrounds our entire life. Smart homes and automated voice-controlled devices are no more awe-inspiring. The change around us is at the speed of lightning and blindsiding too.

Have you noticed that basic human life is longer now? Medical science has an accelerated change and innovated life-saving techniques. Indeed, the word is “innovation.”

Most companies are talking about “collaborative economy”. In partnership with the car rental group Sixt, automaker BMW launched a car-sharing program called “DriveNow “in 2011. The high-end clothing company Patagonia invested in Yerdle, an online marketplace for pre-owned goods.

Whether one is an entrepreneur or a freelance consultant, a CEO or working in a manufacturing company, getting ready to embrace the rapid change and learning futuristic skills is a smart strategy.

Smart skills of tomorrow and ways to acquire them can be an extensive list.

But to begin with, here’s what one can do:

Pay attention to every innovative stuff

Read news about start-ups, recent technologies, and emerging trends in your industry and otherwise.

Rethink your work or business process

Is there speed and connectivity with clients, vendors, and each stakeholder? Ever-changing mobile industry had a rethink how it wants the planet to remain connected. Now, SMS and calls are far outdated, and various apps are a new way of staying in touvh. About 4% of global gross domestic product (GDP) of 2013 --$2.7 trillion--was contributed by the mobile industry.

Understand customer mindset and desires

Nothing will be more important than getting into your customers’ mind. Recently, in Bengaluru, I ordered a wine bottle but three of us could not finish it. Hate to waste it? No worries, HipBar, a start-up which is “Alcohol in the cloud” lets you deposit the remaining liquor and encash it in Mumbai or anywhere. The consious customers now have information at fingertips and fintech organisations need as innovative approach as this.

Learn a new skill: It could be completely different than what you do now. Any drastic change in learning pattern throws you out of comfort zone. Trust me, in the next ten years, every competition will be global, opening and emerging with opportunities and challenges.

Over the decades, many companies have shut shops because they did not understand the wave of change coming in rapidly. The futuristic vision is important for every individual. An old discovery says that we use our brain only by 12%.

The need to gear up and use it 100% is here.

The writer is a strategic advisor and premium educator with Harvard business publishing