¿Where is our future? Strategic Foresight & action after COVID-19

One big question after COVID19 is concerning the conditions and environment when economic activities start again. It is like to be able to have a cristal bowl to know how the future would be and to be ready to survive on a first stage and to settle the framework for a second stage of development and competitiveness. It is important to ensure business sustainability and wealth being generation for people, organizations, enterprises, regions and the country.

Strategic foresight exercises are quite useful as a guide for effective strategic planning. It is important to remember that these exercises establish  different scenarios (such as trending, catastrofic, probably and plausible) for decision making process.

How important are new strategic foresight exercises above old ones? New conditions and assumptions are relevant in those analysis: PANDEMICS have to be included. New or resurgence of any kind of pandemic that force security measures and lock down that a huge impact in economic conditions, people, organizations and business.

Relevant from this analysis is the systemic effect and cross-impact within the different scenarios. Decisions are taken in the present time, but past and trending information are important as a reference, and scenarios are a lighthouse to guide to build a desirable future and not just to arrive to an misunderstanding future that can not be profitable for high development. It has been told that to foresight it is required to use our rationality and intuition as human beings, inviting to use both hemispheres, the right (analytic thinking) and the left (imagination, divergent thinking).

Foresight-vision-planing-action: It is not enough just thinking on the future and identify alternative visions; it is necessary the planning, aligned to the business mission to stablish the actions from an informed decision making process.

Actions are fundamentals to avoid that mission might lay out on dreams just because there is no decision, structure and the necessary resources to achieve it. Evaluation and measurement of any impact in people, family, business and community  must be included in any decision. The best decision is that one that builds a high full, overall, inclusive and participatory development environment. Personal and business decisions are important for the contribution of wealth for the region which must be distributed to the people through specific processes.

Leon Guanajuato is a city that is used to build to itself. Difficulties, crisis, natural disasters and pandemics have been exceeded in the past. There is a heart and intelligence to move forward with strengthened and with better conditions. At Leon, so many talented women and men have made things happen. Just as some of them to remember: Dr. Alberto Aranda de la Parra rebuild and elbow with a turkey leg bone (there was no titanium at that time); Dr. Daniel Malacara Hernández with its developments in optics with such an importance that The Center of Research in Optics is built (CIO for its name in spanish Centro de Investigación en Optica); Industrial Association of Guanajuato that develop the first long-run strategic plan for the Guanajuato State  “Guanajuato XXI Century” (Guanajuato Siglo XXI) that has allowed the state to become one of the most competitive of Mexico and one of the most attractive internationally; María Eloísa Jiménez Gutiérrez with her painting became the best miniaturist in America in complicated times… I can follow a long list to mention successful examples of business, companies, colleges, temples, and projects in Leon and we can find that great heart and talent involved in the grandeur of the City.

Strategic foresight in this time under pandemic conditions is fundamental to design new strategies to move from a catastrofic perspective to an opportunity  perspective; from pessimism to challenges to achieve. Remember that “if our grandparents and parents could do it, then why not”..

Explore, think, decide and act are demanding actions these days. Take the challenge and that great heart and talent to achieve it. From the Soccer Team Club Leon “We will come back!”