On Thursday, April 19, more than 1,500 people joined us for our 2018 annual meeting as we explored our theme of “Pivot.” Now more than ever, we recognize that foresight and a strategic mindset are only part of a successful approach to enhanced growth. In order to stay competitive in today’s economy, businesses must be agile to […]
On Thursday, April 19, more than 1,500 people joined us for our 2018 annual meeting as we explored our theme of “Pivot.” Now more than ever, we recognize that foresight and a strategic mindset are only part of a successful approach to enhanced growth. In order to stay competitive in today’s economy, businesses must be agile to remain viable and relevant.
Likewise, progressive communities must be strategic and responsive to changing circumstances, unexpected challenges, and competition from other places in order to realize a vision for a better future. Central New York is no stranger to challenges and right now there are opportunities before us that hold the potential to reshape our economic trajectory. How we respond to present circumstances and position ourselves to boldly embrace the future comes down to whether we are willing to shift our approach to match their scale and intensity with the full measure of our attention and resources.
Furthermore, developing approaches that are problem-focused rather than product-focused is even more pressing given the message presented by our event’s keynote, David Lee, VP of innovation and the strategic enterprise fund at UPS. Lee noted that today’s workplaces are dynamic and complex, and that pace of change is increasing exponentially. Jobs that are narrowly defined around a single, predictable task are at great disadvantage to automation. However, designing human-centered work that encourages and enables collaboration and unleashes the amazing human ability to adjust to uncertain situations is critical to staying relevant in an age of intelligent machines.
Lee’s message is fundamentally a hopeful and optimistic one. Yes, it’s an eye-opening reminder about the profound impacts that those changes will force on people, businesses, and society. But amidst it all, there is a lesson for people, businesses, and communities — markets change, customer needs evolve, and we ignore these signals at our own peril. It is also a potent reminder of the perseverance of the human spirit and the ability to anticipate, identify, and react proactively to the changes before us.
I have tremendous faith in this community. We will always face challenges. The world around us, our environment, technology, economic, and demographic forces, will never stop evolving. Yet, I do not fear the future that David Lee describes. I embrace it and believe, unequivocally, that we shall use these forces of change to move us forward.
Robert M. (Rob) Simpson is president and CEO of CenterState CEO, the primary economic-development organization for Central New York. This viewpoint is drawn and edited from the “CEO Focus” email newsletter that the organization sent to members on April 20.
