Gradually, then suddenly, the business environment has changed
In a famous line from Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, a character in the story is asked how he went bankrupt. His reply: “Two ways… gradually, then suddenly.”
This line always resonated with me as an example of the way compounding interest works in finance. It is also a good description for the S-Curve that is so frequently seen in adoption of technological innovations, where growth of a technology is usually slow and boring at first, then suddenly shoots up in exponential growth. Gradually then suddenly is also an apt description of many geopolitical trends. We have all been tracking a weakening economy of China, then suddenly their GDP is in decline. We gradually saw Russia posturing for invasion of Ukraine, then suddenly the invasion few anticipated occurs.
The result of all of this is a very turbulent business environment and a need for executives to seek out situational awareness to inform operational decisions.
OODA’s leadership maintains an up to date C-Suite Report which tracks the big issues and provides recommendations for strategic action to mitigate risk and seize opportunities. The most recent edition of this report provides an overall assessment of the global environment then dives into:
- What great power competition means for your business
- The Russian invasion of Ukraine and impact in Europe and Globally
- Bleak economic prospects for China and impact on business environment
- Networked Extremism and the Convergence of Crime, Insurgency, Corruption
- Food Security as an increasing driver of geopolitics
- The Demographic Time Bomb
- New risks and opportunities in the age of converged technologies
- Automation, new sensors and new communications
- Uncertainties in computer chip supply chains
- The need to optimize small data, reduce cost of training ML, and improve NLP
- The coming metaverse and its potential to disrupt the Internet
- Unstoppable Bitcoin: Opportunity and risk of the cryptocurrency revolution
- Cyber and Geopolitical Risks
- The Rise of Ransomware
- What businesses should do about continuous cyber risks
- Using scenario planning to reduce risk, seek opportunities and inform business strategies
- Updating your strategy for the US drought and food security
- Reshoring Accelerating
We categorize and summarize these big trends into Geopolitical Issues, Technology Trends, Cyber Risk Issues, and Recommendations for Action.
To continue reading please consider joining as either a subscriber or full member to support our continued research and analysis. For more on benefits of membership see below.
Want more insight? Log in for the full report
Already a member? Sign in to your account.
OODA Loop provides actionable intelligence, analysis, and insight on global security, technology, and business issues. Our members are global leaders, technologists, and intelligence and security professionals looking to inform their decision making process to understand and navigate global risks and opportunities.
You can chose to be an OODA Loop Subscriber or an OODA Network Member. Subscribers get access to all site content, while Members get all site content plus additional Member benefits such as participation in our Monthly meetings, exclusive OODA Unlocked Discounts, discounted training and conference attendance, job opportunities, our Weekly Research Report, and other great benefits. Join Here.
Related Reading:
Explore OODA Research and Analysis
Use OODA Loop to improve your decision making in any competitive endeavor. Explore OODA Loop
Decision Intelligence
The greatest determinant of your success will be the quality of your decisions. We examine frameworks for understanding and reducing risk while enabling opportunities. Topics include Black Swans, Gray Rhinos, Foresight, Strategy, Stratigames, Business Intelligence and Intelligent Enterprises. Leadership in the modern age is also a key topic in this domain. Explore Decision Intelligence
Disruptive/Exponential Technology
We track the rapidly changing world of technology with a focus on what leaders need to know to improve decision-making. The future of tech is being created now and we provide insights that enable optimized action based on the future of tech. We provide deep insights into Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Quantum Computing, Security Technology, Space Technology. Explore Disruptive/Exponential Tech
Security and Resiliency
Security and resiliency topics include geopolitical and cyber risk, cyber conflict, cyber diplomacy, cybersecurity, nation state conflict, non-nation state conflict, global health, international crime, supply chain and terrorism. Explore Security and Resiliency
Community
The OODA community includes a broad group of decision-makers, analysts, entrepreneurs, government leaders and tech creators. Interact with and learn from your peers via online monthly meetings, OODA Salons, the OODAcast, in-person conferences and an online forum. For the most sensitive discussions interact with executive leaders via a closed Wickr channel. The community also has access to a member only video library. Explore The OODA Community