Today and tomorrow

For corporate innovation creating the future is as important as understanding the present. The former is what everyone loves talking about. Ignoring the latter is what gets most in trouble.

Present informs the future. The future differentiates itself from the present exactly through differences, otherwise it is nothing but a glorified time-lapse. If one cannot say how future is meaningfully different than the present, then that is the signal they do not sufficiently understand the current conditions.

This is especially true for corporate innovators and large enterprises who ignore their everyday realities like existing processes, operations, bureaucracy, resources, so on and so forth. Taking stock of reality is a great, sobering exercise. Knowing what can be repurposed and what has to be modified will improve the odds for innovation success.

Hence, remember to study the present as you explore the future.