We do not need to warn faster, we need to learn faster. At the DTN we deliver bespoke Early Learning Systems to organisations.
Early Warning Systems are rooted in a “command and control” mindset. Events are warned of, causal chains codified, risks categorised, linked to response plans stored on the shelf, and above all managed. Risk management, consequence abatement, warning systems. The job of planning is to observe pre-defined events in the outside world and react to them in a more or less pre-defined manner.
Observing these events or opportunity/risk dualities can be enhanced through technical means (radar, space based systems, etc.). The core concept here is the term warning. The future is something that should be planned for, controlled. Surprises are dangerous, serendipity is to be avoided at all cost. This world view, born out of the deadly serious cold war geopolitics, nurtured in the context of 1950’s rational management has served us well, but has come to an end.
In an exponential world we need a new story of organisation. The discrepancy between our ability to anticipate future events and to organise our collective human activities to act on them is getting larger. At which point does the world simply become un-manageble?
At the Digital Thinking Network we believe that the combination of scenario thinking and new big data computing tools, presents an alternative approach for organisations to function in uncertain environments. An Early Learning System combine scenario thinking with big data analytics to algorithmically gain edge insights from very, very large corpi of unstructured data using NewsConsole. Learning better is the only sustainable competitive of the 21st Century as Arie de Geus often states.