Ahead of the Curve:  A Guide to Applied Strategic Thinking
New and rapidly developing technology has created in society a "need for speed."  As leaders, we are faced with incredible pressures to deliver immediate results, to do more with less, and to manage an ever-increasing personal workload.  The pace and urgency of daily demands can make it difficult to see more than a step ahead.  But in a world of changing conditions and priorities, leaders and individual contributors alike must be able to look beyond the now and achieve a strategic perspective about their work.As humans, we have the capacity to think broadly and beyond the immediate, therefore we can choose to think consciously and deliberately about the future and the big picture.  Unless we change our current think pattern and develop our thinking capacity more fully, our success will remain stagnant or possibly come to an end.Real leadership means being responsible for the future, as well as for what is happening today.  A primary goal of a leader is to gain a better understanding of business conditions, the environment (the market, customers, and competitors), and leading indicators that identify new trends and situations that will arise.A leader must be tuned in to the signals that provide insight about the needs and wants of team members, senior management, and suppliers.  As a leader, you must know who your customers are, why they come to you, what they will be looking for in the future, and how your field is changing.  A leader must be tapped into the competitors that most affect the strategic landscape (what products they offer and how customers see them).This book is meant to help leaders address these issues, tame the operational beasts, scope out the horizons, and prepare for the future, not only for their companies but personally.