In order to move forward, he highlighted the importance of striving for uniqueness, and to achieve this, “we need to focus very strongly on the road ahead.” It is a journey with no road signs to help you navigate, and “as humans, we tend to look in the wrong place, in the rear and side mirrors. We spend too long looking backwards, but if you want to drive to success, you need to focus on the future ahead.”
This uniqueness we are looking for, in a world of 7.3 billion consumers and 150 million registered businesses, is tough to achieve, but Mr Jackson, following the words of Confucius, advocates for simplification. “You need to identify what’s important before anything else; then eliminate everything else. With what’s left, if you can’t do it on your own, get advise to automate, delegate or ask for help. That is what has driven the Chinese economy to grow in our lifetime to almost unbelievable levels.”
The second essential step is “to smarten up, to start realising what’s going on around us. We need to use and rediscover our common sense and to set new globalised standards,” he affirms. It is essential to reawaken from your state of unconscious competence, as “when you apply consciousness in terms of what you do, amazing results happen. You respond to the changes going on around you all the time; you fight more competitively. Doing more of the same old, same old doesn’t cut the mustard any more.”
Thirdly, you need to become more of a specialist in what you do and start seeing things a little differently, and this is partly achieved with collective work. “Together, growing a brighter future” has, in fact, been the theme for the PMA NZ/AU event. “It’s all about researching, tuning, refining; consciously defending the areas in which you aim to grow in a highly competitive environment. And in a world of specialising, even if you are the best, a solo performance can only last for so long.”
The bottom line is that we must not be afraid of change, since “the more things change, the faster things change, and the curve is exponential.” By adopting this approach, it will be possible to escape from the constraints of the tunnel and to find the light. “Our world today is doing 487 billion US dollars of business every single day; it is already 11 billion a day more than last year. How much of that business do you want for yourself?”
“When we reawaken our passion, what’s really inside us and start to see and do things differently, then and only then will you really see the challenge of change. It's all about connecting, about networking,” and this is precisely what PMA pursues to do with the organization of its Fresh Connections events. “It’s time to start moving forward on the road ahead so that we can indeed grow a brighter future,” concluded Mr Jackson.