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If tomorrow never comes

by Aaron Dai, Logistics Manager

My favorite quote from future strategists is: ”He, who predicts the future, lies even when he tells the truth”. You’ve probably heard me state this before, and will most likely hear it again. Simply because no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to tell the only true future. The world is complex and, the people in it seems to act by free will, leading to some expected and many unexpected turns.


Financial gurus, more often giving contradictory advice than the other way around. Meteorologists, telling us very vague and disclaimed weather forecasts. NCAB Group Sweden future study in 2014 not even considering 3D printing as an important factor within the nearest 5 years. So how can future studies be of any use at all if it’s so hard to predict the future?

Prepare for the future
Well, knowing is better than guessing. So if we start at that end, we can probably agree that the more solid and reliable the guesses are, the more knowledge are within reach. When working with strategic future studies, one of the main purposes is to become more knowledgeable about what possible futures are to expect, and how to prepare for whatever might occur. That said, we will not be able to prepare for everything, but for sure prepare for what is more likely to happen. If we work with different scenarios, where we see fairly detailed forecasts, we know that the real future is probably somewhere in between two or three different scenarios. By being prepared for those, and monitor early indications, we will stand ready as the change occurs.

The next big thing?
Having 20 years of experience from the electronics industry I feel enlightened every day being so close to both new technologies and products as well as fascinated by some products that seems to never go out of production. Technical development are not the only reason behind success. Japanese teenagers were more or less solely driving the texting development, being added onto the first GSM phones more or less as a gimmick no one know what to use it for. Apples iPhone reverted the demand for smaller and smaller phones, and completely changed how we use our personal devices. Were you prepared for this change? I was not, for sure. And I still wonder what will be the next blockbuster? Wearable tech is already here, self-driving cars are already here. Maybe the next revolution will start in a totally different area, such as environmental concerns, or third world country needs. As a future strategist, it is a thrill to host workshops working with future trends and expectations, may they be certain or uncertain. If more substances are banned, how can we be prepared for it? If tougher demands are raised on traceability, how can NCAB Group still be Number 1?

Recently NCAB Group posted our first Sustainability Report, which has been published on this site, where one can read more about how we prepare ourselves for these questions. Also, during the last year, NCAB Group performed several Future Strategy studies, establishing that our corner stones also in the near future seems to circle around global sourcing, customer relations, being technical competent and providing excellent logistic solutions. Doesn’t sounds very challenging from today, does it? Well, maybe it doesn’t, but looking into the work and analyzes performed in the background you can see that it is for sure probable that NCAB Group will be competitive and considered a great business partner for the most successful companies also in 2020.

How are you prepared for the future?
As an International Certified Future Strategist I look forward to hear from you and your expectations and challenges.

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