When my grandmother was a child, she would make ice cream by milking a cow and leaving the cream outside overnight to freeze. Ice cream for breakfast – yum! She passed away in 2000, having lived over ninety years in the 20th century.

In her lifetime she saw so much change – from the invention of the motor car, television, space travel, to microwave ovens, VCRs and ATMs!

Compare this with my children’s short lifetimes, where they have seen an even faster pace in technological and social change. This century we’ve seen smartphones dramatically change our way of life and communicating with the rise of social media and video calls. We’ve seen jobs change from self-serve checkouts, cashless payments and many more. AI is accelerating this change even further.

With such rapid change, I wonder where business leaders are spending most of their time. Harvard Business School studies published in 2018 show that CEOs spend less than a quarter of their time on strategy and more than a third in reactive mode, with more than half in a McKinsey survey dissatisfied with the time spent on strategic priorities.

How can leaders balance it better? 

A vision for the longevity of the organisation is critical to making decisions that are future focussed. The organisation we’ve been running for the past decade will look very different over the next decade.  A process for switching focus between the short and long term is essential for bridging the gap, as the route to that vision will likely change along the way.

It starts with knowing your strategic priorities. Do you?