There is so much being said about the world of the future that it has almost begun to take an ominous place in our minds. The future world seems to have already overtaken our past world and is almost competing with the present world in terms of sheer quantity of thought content. Clearly, advancement is not bad in itself. It is the speed that seems to have accelerated faster than any single generation can absorb. The trouble with these crystal-ball-gazing predictions of the future is that each one of them is hugely disruptive and extremely technology intensive.
When Alvin Toffler published his famous book Future Shock (1970), he probably could not even image some of the predictions being talked of now. It is hard to imagine that humans of the future may have the option to have a computer chip embedded in their brains, connected to the outside world at all times. Imagine: no morning alarms needed, in fact no watches, no hand-held phones, no laptops – just think it and e-mail it out! Darkly, humans could well become bionic or semi-computerised, ultimately eliminating the species homo sapiens (Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari).
Environmental changes will come too. Fashion, food, language, culture will all globalise rapidly and change the way we think and do business. Politics, governance, business modelling and management thought will be very different from what we see today. The world may well become one big market and each company a global player.
Change in human order is nothing new. Humans have been rapidly advancing forever. Each passing era must have looked at the future with some degree of trepidation. Three generations ago the Frenchman Jules Verne created a world furore with his predictions, causing enormous amounts of debate, in favour and against. However each one of his predictions seems to have come true in some form or another.
Advancement is inevitable. We cannot alter it or stop it. We can only enable and prepare for its arrival. We must discover all we can about what that world will be like in the future, and try to guide our policies and actions around that. Preparing for uncertainty raises the question up from the specific to the general; from workplace skills we can define today to skills that prepare us for an uncertain range of possible futures and for steady change.
There is no sure-shot way to make ourselves future-ready. We have to create a sound learning foundation in such a way that we are well-informed, skilled in certain areas and flexible. We should be able to learn, unlearn and relearn with ease. Moreover, social and inter-personal skills, resilience in the face of adversity and an optimistic outlook must be developed. It is imperative that we have an understanding of the unpredictability of tomorrow’s world. It is only then that we can have the will to embrace change.
Algorithms will radically change the world of work. As will microwaves. This will have a telling impact on how services are carried out in an integrated corporate world. As business managers our readiness to take this in our stride will depend on our preparedness to learn, unlearn and relearn rapidly.
Together, in this edition of Process Edge we will go through a framework of reducing the shock of an unpredictable future of a business services organisation by creating ‘ACT’ion now; use the present to enable the future. In addition, we would also have a ring-side view of some of the cutting edge IT advancements that are happening in the world of business services. Hope you enjoy the journey.
Table of Contents
COVER STORY
Future Ready, Not Future Shock
– THE AGENDA FOR GBS CENTRES TO ‘GET SET’ FOR FUTURE READINESS
I Have the Power
LEVERAGING THE POWER OF HIGHLY ENGAGED EMPLOYEES TO DRIVE CUSTOMER CENTRICITY
Become ‘Future Relevant’ by ReShaping the Transformation Strategy
A REPORT ON SSF’s 7th ANNUAL GLOBAL SHARED SERVICES CONCLAVE 2017
The New Age Human Resource
LEVERAGING AI FOR A HIGH-TECH & HIGH-TOUCH EXPERIENCE
Delivering Financial Services Faster & Better
HOW BFSI CAN LEVERAGE AGILE TRANSFORMATION
Highlights from the Research Report on ‘Building Capabilities for Future and Catalyzing Transformation’
TRENDS, PRACTICES & FRAMEWORKS
Connected Customer Experience
AN INNOVATIVE CASE OF IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT TRANSFORMATION
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