Strategic threats: Don’t wait until disruption bludgeons your company

Imagine this scenario:

You’ve just been alerted you that someone is likely to break into your house in the near future. What will you do? You won’t sit idly and ignore the threat, will you?

Of course not.

You’ll learn everything you can about the ways in which thieves tend to break into homes. You’ll investigate your local neighborhood watch group and community news to discern the pattern of break-ins in your area. And you’ll use that new-found knowledge to protect yourself.

It’s the same with your company. It’s about to be broken into. Not by an intruder but by a set of disruptive forces that even now are approaching your company. And, thanks to disruptive technologies, they’re about to become much more harmful.

In past years, your firm could take a hit from a crisis or strategic threat. You’d come away banged up and bruised from these altercations, but they were always survivable.

Not any more.

According to business strategy experts, the waves of disruption that are about to hit your business are like nothing we’ve ever seen before. These threats can potentially marginalize or irreparably damage your firm – even put it out of business.

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what some of the world’s leading business research firms tell us:

Digital disruption is real. And it’s here – now.

These respected institutions unanimously agree that digital disruption is upon us:

A 2018 Accenture study showed 63% of CEOs were already experiencing high levels of disruption – last year. And nearly half showed not just significant signs of susceptibility to disruption, but SEVERE signs.

Gartner’s second-quarter 2019 Emerging Risks Monitor Report showed that nearly 3 out of 4 CEOs consider the accelerating pace of change and digital disruption to be their biggest concerns.

These experts add that it isn’t just one force, moving fast, that’s causing problems for companies across many industries. It’s the confluence of multiple forces, interacting with each other and creating even more formidable challenges. Under these present circumstances, perhaps the worst thing you can do is stand still and try to weather the storm.

The World Economic Forum, in its Global Risks Report 2018, sees a dramatic increase in strategic threats to organizations: “As the world becomes more complex and interconnected, easily managed incremental change is giving way to the instability of feedback loops, threshold effects and cascading disruptions. Sudden and dramatic breakdowns – future shocks – become more likely.”

Turn threats into opportunities

What if you could identify and mitigate risks before they morph into threats – and even transform some of them into opportunities?

You wouldn’t have to watch all that you worked for be washed away in the rising waters of change.

You could be ahead of the curve, not hanging on for dear life in its wake.

You could be the disruptor, not the disrupted.

That’s the intent of my new e-course, the Strategic Threats Workshop: It will arm you with the insights and tools you need to recognize, avoid and outmaneuver the forces, trends and companies that dream of taking you down.

Everything you need to identify, assess and mitigate strategic threats

Here’s what’s included in this 90-minute workshop:

Introduction

• Framing the discussion – WHY is this an issue for leaders today?
• Statistics – disruption is here. Now.

Lesson 1: An introduction to strategic threats

• Strategic threats defined
• Why do organizations get blindsided by them?
• The accelerating adoption curves of technology
• 10 common sources of strategic threats
• Strategic threats vs. risks
• 8 signs your firm is vulnerable to a strategic threat
• Companies that ignored them – R.I.P.

Lesson 2: How to detect strategic threats

• How to identify strategic threats
• Environmental scanning
• Looking for “weak signals”
• 8 powerful practices to anticipate strategic threats
• SWOT and TOWS analyses
• Competitive analysis
• Threat assessment: 5 key questions to ask

Lesson 3: Disruptive innovation

• The s-curve of disruptive innovation – why it’s so unpredictable
• The 3 key dimensions of disruption – areas to watch out for
• Clayton Christensen’s powerful theory of disruptive innovation
• Why do incumbents ignore upstarts?
• Examples of this model of disruption from 2 industries

Lesson 4: Digital ecosystems and other threats

• What are digital ecosystems and why are they a strategic threat (or an opportunity) for your firm?
• An example we’re all familiar with that illustrates the concept
• How they can help you mitigate risk in an era of accelerating technological innovation
• Advantages of participating in a digital ecosystem
• What if you must compete against one?
• The power of business model transformation
• 9 ways to prepare for disruption

Resources

• A list of resources and reading – so you can continue to explore this topic
• A threat radar mind map – capture and assess the threats to your company – and make plans to mitigate them
• A competitive dossier mind map

Don’t risk being blindsided by unseen forces. Be aware. Be prepared!

Picture a prepared you

When you’re done viewing this 90-minute workshop, you’ll be:

• Equipped to set up an environmental scanning system to watch for “weak signals” that could be the early signs of future threats,
• Able to tell the difference between risks and threats and accurately assess their potential impact on your business,
• Prepared for the impact of disruptive innovation on your company and industry,
• Aware of the importance of digital ecosystems to the future of your organization, and
• Armed with action steps and exercises to get your leadership team focused on detecting, assessing and taking action to mitigate, sidestep or turn threats into opportunities.

Don’t wait to be disrupted. Arm yourself with the knowledge you need now!

My qualifications

• I am the founder and author of the Mind Mapping Software Blog, the world’s most authoritative source for news, reviews, advice and learning on all types of visual thinking tools for business
• I was the founder and publisher of InnovationTools.com, the world’s largest website focused on innovation and brainstorming from 2002 to 2012.
• Last year, I produced a course on utilizing mind mapping software to conduct strategic planning.
• I continue to write about creativity, brainstorming and innovation on my personal blog, LinkedIn, Medium and other websites.

$US49.95 – includes video lessons, 2 mind map templates and a checklist – plus additional resources and updates several times per year.

Your ROI: Side-stepping a major disruption, and even turning it into a major opportunity? Priceless.

My ironclad guarantee

If for any reason you’re not satisfied with the Strategic Threats Workshop, you can request a full refund within 30 days.