Anticipate

Anticipate

by Rob-Jan de Jong
Released January 2015
Publisher(s): AMACOM
ISBN: 9780814449080

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Book description

Business schools, leadership gurus, and strategy guides agree—leaders must have a vision. But the sad truth is that most don’t...or at least not one that compels, inspires, and energizes their people. How can something so essential be practiced so little in real life?

Vision may sound like a rare quality, unattainable by all except a select few—but nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone can expand their visionary capacity. You just need to learn how. In Anticipate, strategy and leadership expert Rob-Jan de Jong explains that to develop vision you must sharpen two key skills. The first is the ability to see things early—spotting the first hints of change on the horizon. The second is the power to connect the dots—turning those clues into a gripping story about the future of your organization and industry.

Packed with stories and practices, Anticipate provides proven techniques for looking ahead and exploring many plausible futures—including the author’s trademarked FuturePriming process, which helps distinguish signal from noise. You will discover how to:

Tap into your imagination and open yourself to the unconventional • Become better at seeing things early • Frame the big-picture view that provides direction for the future • Communicate your vision in a way that engages others and provokes action • And more

When you anticipate change before your competitors, you create enormous strategic advantage. That’s what visionaries do...and now so can you.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Preface
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Introduction
    1. Unraveling the Mystery
    2. The Vision Thing
    3. Context Sensitivity
    4. Short-Termism
    5. Long-Term Language
    6. The Battle
  8. PART 1: VISIONARY CONTENT
    1. Chapter 1: The Groundwork
      1. Your Personal Vision
      2. Vision 101
      3. Transformational Leadership
      4. The Alpe d’HuZes
      5. Core Ingredients
      6. Logos, Ethos, and Pathos
      7. The Dark Side
    2. Chapter 2: Tapping into Your Imagination
      1. Rejuvenated Restaurants
      2. N.N. Living in a Permanent Present
      3. The Image of the Future
      4. Alice in Wonderland
      5. Schemas, Assumptions, and Frames
      6. Two-Faced Friends
      7. Eternal Truths
      8. The Grand Illusion
      9. I Cognitive Dissonance
      10. Neural Networks
      11. Breaking the Frame
      12. That’s Funny
      13. Lateral Thinking
      14. WWGD
      15. Blue Ocean
  9. PART 2: VISIONARY PRACTICES
    1. Chapter 3: Developing Your Visionary Capacity
      1. Visionary Shoes
      2. Made, Not Born
      3. Contained Emergence
      4. A Development Framework
      5. Seeing Things Early
      6. Connecting the Dots
      7. 2x2
      8. Followers
      9. Trend Hoppers
      10. Historians, or Cynics
      11. The Visionary
      12. Deepening the Framework
      13. Narcissistic Distraction
    2. Chapter 4: Seeing Things Early
      1. Reducing Thoughtlessness
      2. Signal and Noise
      3. The Theory of the Car Crash
      4. Market Transitions
      5. Toys in the Boardroom
      6. The Priming Phenomenon
      7. FuturePriming
      8. FutureFacts
      9. More Manifestations
      10. The Four Golden Rules
      11. Food for Thought
      12. Missing Traffic Signs
      13. Rubber Hits the Road
      14. Creativity Ignited
    3. Chapter 5: Connecting the Dots
      1. June 12, 2005
      2. A Belgian Tale
      3. Black Swan?
      4. The Tunnel Vision
      5. Irrationality Rules
      6. Frame Blindness
      7. Overconfidence
      8. The Mysterious Guru
      9. Creating Memories of the Future
      10. Shell’s Awakening
      11. The Fall of Fortis
      12. Groupthink
      13. So What?
      14. Brilliant or Foolish?
      15. Responsible Visionary Leadership
  10. PART 3: VISIONARY SELF
    1. Chapter 6: Your Visionary Self
      1. On Becoming a Visionary Leader
      2. You!
      3. Utzon’s Masterpiece
      4. Jumping Off the Eiffel Tower
      5. Passion and Authenticity
      6. Discovery Mode
      7. Covey, Stories, and Pearls
      8. Mediating Reality
      9. Danone’s Ecosystem
    2. Chapter 7: Mindful Behavior
      1. Solar Roadways
      2. Mindfulnesslessness
      3. Foolish Consistency
      4. Mindfulness, Take Two
      5. Curiosity
      6. Powerful Questions
      7. Conversation Surprise
      8. Working Your Swing
      9. Recategorizing Practices
      10. New Information Practices
      11. Multiple View Practices
  11. PART 4: VISIONARY COMMUNICATION
    1. Chapter 8: Igniting Your Followers
      1. Hygiene Factors
      2. Gettysburg Address
      3. The Power of Language
      4. Workhorse Verbs
      5. Notions of Loss
      6. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
      7. Memorable Metaphors
      8. Actionable Analogies
      9. Let Me Tell You a Story ...
      10. Data with a Soul
      11. Jobs & Pausch
      12. Visionary Checklist
  12. Appendix A: Strategic Questionnaire
  13. Appendix B: Values List
  14. Appendix C: 25 Visionary Development Practices
  15. Notes
  16. Index
  17. About the Author
  18. Free Sample Chapter from Leading at The Edge by Dennis N. T. Perkins, with Margaret P. Holtman and Jillian B. Murphy

Product information

  • Title: Anticipate
  • Author(s): Rob-Jan de Jong
  • Release date: January 2015
  • Publisher(s): AMACOM
  • ISBN: 9780814449080