ABSTRACT
In anticipating the future, the key challenge is to identify emerging patterns from the complex array of information that lies before us. This assumes that leaders of organizations will be in a constant search for ideas that will offer opportunity to lead their competition at every chance. This requires not only the ability to synthesize the patterns emerging from all sources of information, experiences and exchanges; it also requires creativity in order to develop a vision out of what all this means and how it can then be used to develop competitive advantage. In doing so, that leader must avoid what Linden (1998) refers to as ‘the tyranny of the near past’.
