It is interesting to see how Jeff Immelt created parts of his strategic intelligence picture. After Jack Welch’s period of leadership (from 1980 to 2001), Jeff Immelt transformed the 125-year-old GE into a start-up, a digital industrial company. “We compete in today’s world to solve tomorrow’s challenges”, he said, quoted in HBR September/October 2017.
Economic indicators have improved since the summer of 2016, resulting in an accelerating positive level of economic performance in Europe and the other OECD-countries. Entrepreneurs and consumers are getting back into a good mood. The professionals in government, banks and other institutes did not see this coming. In our strategic intelligence best practices, we use the ‘Strategy as Active Waiting’ management tool to identify early indicators of change and create possible courses of action.
We have listed twelve Grey Swans which we see as, some of, the driving forces which will weaken the economic climate across Europe.
The 23rd June, 2016, is a historic date in the development of the EU: it is the day on which the British voted for Brexit. Our politicians still believe that all good things in the world come as a result of their actions. However, the economic reality is that our success in trade depends far more on fundamental factors such as ‘comparative advantage’, and whether we design and make things that others want to buy, than on politician’s bureaucratic schemes.