We live in an age of exponential change. It’s impossible to time these well – jump in too early, and you’ll burn energy/money/time that could have been spent other ways, and jump aboard too late and you’ll miss some early-mover/adopter advantages.
I recommend you as a leader focus on two key principles:
- Distinguish a trendline that evolves but goes forward from temporary (however popular) buzz. AI and machine learning are the former, fidget spinners and the latest social media techno-trick the latter. You can build with trendlines that evolve; at best you can extract some temporary cash from buzzy stuff.
- If something will be out of date within 5 months or maybe even 5 years, delegate that to others. The top leaders relentlessly focus on the larger picture and things which will endure.
