How to play the long game
“It’s crazy to see how flexible we actually are. We always say it’s hard to change, but we’ve now proven as a society that we can change if we really have to.”...
Article
It's the age of abundance. When asked about their expectations for the year 2025, consumers around the world state that they expect more food innovations are coming their way. Innovation on taste, appearance, diversity, personalisation, portion size or packaging. During the Taste Tomorrow event in Berlin corporate philosopher Luc de Brabandere spoke about the need for innovation from a company perspective.
How to prepare for the future?
Luc de Brabandere is a fellow and a senior advisor in the Paris office of The Boston Consulting Group. He supports the strategic management of a wide range of companies looking to develop new visions, new products and long-term scenarios to prepare the future. Why is it important to innovate? With new ideas and business opportunities arising all the time, it can be hard to choose which ideas to focus on or to predict which route to market will prove wise in the long-term.
Creative thinking
When going into a process of strategic innovation, it is important to have an open mind. Creative thinking is of the utmost importance. 'For the last twenty years I was convinced that in creative thinking the keyword is creative. But I have changed my mind. Now I try to convince people that the keyword is not creative, it’s thinking. Box-thinking is a way to find new ideas.'
What is Box-thinking?
'Boxes are a simplifications in the mind of complex situations, based on hypotheses and assumptions. They do not exist in the real world. Nevertheless we can use these boxes to be able to identify new market opportunities.'
You might also be interested in the interview with Stephen Bates from Aryzta Bakeries, who talks about the importance of being a data driven business.
