What do you think is more important – being future ready or future smart?
by Aminat Abubakar – Saturday, 4 February 2017

Both being future ready and future smart are important. Anderson, C., Eastwood, M., Perry, R., Vesset, D., & Villar, (2015, p. 2) in a study described “A “future-ready” organization is one that is always extending the abilities of its IT infrastructure and applications while also pursuing IT organizational practices that enable it to identify and address changing business and technology needs. These future-ready organizations not only react quickly to market changes but also are better able to become disruptors themselves.”

While, Future smart gives you insight into today, learn from the experience, and helps you to predict the future such as changing a business strategy for a business enterprise, and the effect of an innovation into the marketplace. “Future Smart may enable you compete in your business” (Canton, 2015, p. x). Being future smart enables you to be aware of future specific trends, change drivers, and early warning signs before trends emerge.
Future smart makes you predictive, challenges your thinking process forcing you to look ahead for new innovative ideas. The result, “breakthrough ideas for business, innovation, community, and social change” says Canton, (2015, p.x.).

“Future smart requires paying attention to emergent signals, early warnings, news, or consumer behaviors that proceed and later shape trends” (Canton, 2015, p. xi). Future smart is about prediction into the future.
“Future smart is about understanding and exploring the possible scenarios of the future so you will be able to better prepare for it today” (Canton, 2015, p. xii). Being future smart might lead you into disruptive thinking to alter the direction of an entire marketplace, field, or industry.

Future smart three strategic objectives are, “Predicting the future, better preparing for the future, and taking actions to apply this knowledge to create the future” (Canton, 2015, p. xiii). Use the trends to shape the future.
Canton explained, “Becoming Future Ready is preparing, adapting, and learning for the future, and this lead to becoming Future Smart, the end state of readiness” (2015, p. 1).
Are you future ready to become future smart?

Take A Journey To The Year 2020 – 2025 Future Technology

1. Anderson, C., Eastwood, M., Perry, R., Vesset, D., & Villars, R. (2015, October 30). The Future-Ready Enterprise: Driving Business Results Today While Preparing for the Challenges of Tomorrow, 2. Retrieved from
   https://marketing.dell.com/Global/FileLib/IDC/Dell_Future_Ready_Enterprise_White_Paper-2015-10-30-FINAL.pdf
2. Canton, J. (2015). Future smart: Managing the game-changing trends that will transform your world. Boston, MA: Da Capo Press
3. Future Apichet.  (2012, June 18).  Take A Journey To The Year 2020 – 2025 Future Technology [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU2iTUeCfkI