Actually we are not Homo Sapiens, but Homo Prospects. We as a species have evolved not so much because of what we know, but because we have the ability to look ahead.

Future-driven organizing is man's greatest and most important asset. Unfortunately, we have been using this ability below par in recent decades. As a result, we are currently insufficiently future-wise. We lack future wisdom to solve the big problems of our time. Crises follow each other faster and faster and sometimes seem unsolvable. Think of the waning confidence in the government, shortages on the labor market and the consequences of climate change. Examples of problems that can be easily solved if we let go of our dominant logic and be future-wise.

The way we organize work, economies and societies leads to numerous challenges. More and more people experience their office job as meaningless and three out of ten people experience information stress. Productivity is still barely growing, while the costs to our prosperity are increasing by 2-3% per year. This gap is filled with printed money with all the consequences that entails. Cyber-attacks disrupt our society and we suffer from propaganda, fake news and disinformation. In addition, privacy cannot be properly guaranteed, algorithms are not transparent and the power of American and Chinese tech companies is increasing rapidly.

The question is: how future-wise is your organization. Are you fit for a durable, digital and decentral future?

In these columns, Paul Bessems shares his radar for future-driven organizing.