The Best Strategies Don’t Just Take a Long View. They Take a Broad View.
Leaders have long been told that to think strategically means taking the long view and focusing on where they’re going. Contemporary tools such as the three-horizons framework reflect this focus. But today, in an ever more interconnected and fast-paced world, leaders have to develop strategies that take into account not only the long view but also the broad view, which encompasses the full spectrum of opportunities and threats that are emerging on all sides.
The shift to a broad view of strategy has three key implications for leaders. First, it means they have to focus on anticipating contextual changes that might significantly and rapidly reshape the business environment, and it means they have to work with others to co-create value as they do that. Second, it means they have to imagine different time horizons and use them not just to make plans for the future but also to gain broader perspectives on the present. And third, it means they need to prepare themselves to rapidly adapt to changing circumstances, by constantly working on their agility and creating new options for themselves.
In the strategy work we have done with businesses and government organizations, including via the World Economic Forum and the Oxford Scenarios Programme, we’ve focused on the growing importance of the broad view — and we’ve learned that to properly design and execute it, leaders need to change the focus of their thinking in three fundamental ways.
