Are you watching the circus—or shaping the future?

Boardrooms today have front-row seats to global volatility. Markets swing wildly. Political decisions rewrite the rules overnight. Institutions falter. Climate extremes become the new baseline.

But the role of business leaders, especially board members, is not to spectate. It’s to steward. Long term responsibility is central to fiduciary duty.

Beyond the noise, at the heart of this moment, is a question: What kind of future are we building?

Recently, I worked with the board of a pan-African business to grapple with this question. We used scenario planning—not to predict, but to provoke. Four potential futures emerged, shaped by shifting geopolitics and the centrality (or sidelining) of sustainability. Some were hopeful. Others chilling. All felt close.

These futures aren’t theoretical. We’re already living fragments of each. Whether we end up in collapse or coordinated transition depends on the choices we make now.

What’s clear is that business doesn’t just need to manage uncertainty—it must shape beyond it. That means asking better questions:
🔹 What future are we heading toward?
🔹 What’s our role in shaping it?
🔹 What actions matter—no matter what scenario emerges?

All futures are already here, emerging at different rates across regions and sectors. From collapse to climate innovation, your organisation is either a passenger—or a navigator.

Boards and business leaders hold more influence than ever before. Not just to respond to unfolding crises—but to direct capital, talent, and innovation toward the futures we actually want. Futures built on shared resilience, systemic regeneration, and long-term value. Companies that invest early—into sustainable innovation, stakeholder trust, and adaptive capacity—won’t just survive. They’ll lead.

This moment calls for more than insight. It demands courage. It asks us to shift from a focus on responding to short term risk to also seizing long term opportunity. To become architects of alignment. Builders of trust. Champions of possibility.

We can’t afford to remain transfixed by crisis. Yes, the circus is loud, chaotic, and unpredictable. And we do need to manage its impact. But we don’t have to perform in its ring. We can choose to raise our ambition, roll up our sleeves, shape the systems we depend on, and build a future that works for all.
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If you want to learn more about choosing Noahs Ark over cow’s or dodo’s and how not to be a cockroach – please do get in touch to explore our scenarios to navigate uncertianty and reposition for long-term value.