Strategist Scott Steinberg on thinking like a futurist in the age of disruption

Scott Steinberg is a globally recognised strategist, award-winning futurist and innovation expert whose insights have helped organisations navigate rapid change and uncertainty. In an exclusive interview with the Champions Speakers Agency, he explains how businesses can think like a ‘futurist’, and how leaders can strengthen connections with customers in an increasingly virtual age.

In a business environment defined by constant disruption rather than a single “new normal”, how can leaders adopt a futurist mindset to make better strategic decisions under uncertainty?

The truth is, we’re facing a world of constant change and disruption. We’re saying it’s not so much about a new normal, like you might have heard about, but rather a series of ‘next normals’, each of which is only going to come on faster and faster.

So, if you want to learn to think like a futurist, first off you have to ask yourself, what is a futurist exactly? I know a lot of people tend to think of us as the corporate version of late-night psychics, but the truth is that we’re not reading tarot cards or tea leaves. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, futurists don’t actually predict the future for a living. Rather, what we do is carefully study the state of the market and society, looking for trends that you should be keeping on your radar. Then, by asking clients to ask more “what if” questions and to simulate and role-play their way through different potential future scenarios, we challenge our partners to think more closely about these trends and their potential impact on their business.

So, the short answer is, if you want to learn to think more like a futurist, you’ve just got to ask more “what if” questions and think about potential future scenarios or trends that are on the rise, and what you can be doing to plan for them right here, right now.

From your perspective, which digital disruption priorities should organisations focus on now to drive productivity, resilience and long-term competitiveness?

Well, the first and most important thing is to think about where you can bring artificial intelligence and automation into your operations, because anything that’s a routine, repeatable task should be outsourced to technology. That will help free yourselves up, your people up, to do more creative and high-value work.

Also, keep in mind that when it comes to embracing new technologies, we often tend to assume it’s going to be more difficult, more time-consuming and more expensive. But at the same time, you’ve got to remember that there’s an off-the-shelf, plug-and-play, pay-as-you-go technology solution for just about any task you could imagine at this point.

So, it’s really about a mindset shift. It’s about embracing change. It’s about becoming more data literate, learning to use all that information that’s coming into your organisation and capturing it at every turn. It’s also about thinking where you can institute technology to free up time and resources so you can be more productive.

That really requires people to say, “Hey, look, all this technology, I’m not competing with it. It’s not here to take my job. The future really belongs to man working with machine.” How can I leverage all this technology to be more successful? And again, the nice part is it can be simpler and cheaper than you think to implement.

As customer relationships increasingly move online, what practical steps can businesses take to rebuild meaningful connection and stay genuinely customer-centric?

Well, obviously we’re entering an age where more and more connections, relationships and exchanges are happening virtually and online, and that can leave you feeling a little bit disconnected from your audience.

So, it’s important to find good excuses to be in people’s inboxes, to interface with them and to have a reason to connect with them time and time again. Some simple ways to do that might be creating online forums, such as message boards or groups, or hosting online webinars and virtual programmes.

You might also think about how you can film videos where you feature your clients. You could interview them, ask them for their thoughts on new trends and technologies, or hints and tips on business advice. Really, what you’re trying to do is create more good excuses to be in people’s inboxes and to invite people to participate in a conversation with your business or brand.

By the way, you can also do that by crowdsourcing ideas and input for new innovations, new discounts or deal programmes. Of course, finding ways to spotlight your customers is also important. That might mean videotaping testimonials or asking them for their thoughts on where the field is going.

Really, you’re trying to find more reasons to connect with and be in front of people. As long as you have an opportunity to put them front and centre, you really have an opportunity to better connect in an age of digital and online exchanges.