The future of...

In conversations that we've been having recently with various people who work in different categories, there is certainly a strong sense that South African futures are shifting.

Thanks to a number of converging global and regional forces the future South African landscapes of law, finance, retail, agriculture, mining, renewables - along with other sectors - are undergoing significant change.

These changes means that a lot of new opportunities are being presented on the medium to long-term time horizon, that some are already spotting and exploring, but most are either choosing not to see or are simply not paying attention to.

The future obviously can't be predicted, but a reasonable level of foresight can be constructed to better inform current strategy.

Paying too much attention to current trend developments is not enough. Speculating too wildly about emotionally-charged futures isn't necessarily helpful. What you want is an informed balanced of perspectives into which investment can be made; requiring the art and science of the practice of foresight.

And if that foresight helps a business better understand how its category is evolving, where new opportunities may be emerging and how it might position itself today for a range of possible futures, then the work is well worth the effort.