predictions Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

05
May 21
-

Business Forecasting, Today Is Easier Than Tomorrow

Tags : data forecasting predictions results risk

Do you know an expert at business forecasting? What you sold yesterday, or what is shipping today, is easy to report. When you can predict tomorrow you have something special.

Some might quickly argue that what happens today will be the predictor of tomorrow. Fair enough, perhaps, yet an actualized vision of tomorrow, knowing the future, seems more desirable.

When you attend the staff meeting, you’ll probably hear some reports about what happened recently, or across the most previous quarter. There may be a comparison to a year ago, or even two, but that doesn’t help anyone know for sure what tomorrow will look like.

Looking out your window right now you can describe the weather. You may also be able to access some weather data from yesterday, last month, or a year ago. Given the forecast for tomorrow or next week is risky.

Even our smartphones may show us historical photos which help us remember what we were doing one year ago, or two, three, or more.

Honestly, it is easy to describe right now, recently, or maybe even last year.

Can you predict the future?

Business Forecasting

Business forecasting is a great skill. It is not the same as strategy development, and certainly, it doesn’t have the guarantees of the report from last week.

Risk is always a factor. The wedding planner may have had a forecast for the 2020 wedding season. It probably wasn’t the doom and gloom that actually presented itself because of the unknown pandemic when the forecast was made.

Product and raw material shortages might be a forecast, or they may actually be factual data following the shutdown of a factory, mining, or harvesting operation weeks or months before. This information may not be a forecast or a prediction, but simply a report based on historical data.

It seems that most businesses seek is information of the unknown. Sure, historical data matters and it may be helpful, but it is unclear if it represents an accurate prediction for tomorrow.

The forecast for the weather is a risk, so is forecasting in your business.

Use the data. Call your best shot.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

31
Mar 21
-

Smart Forecasts Change Outlooks and Outcomes

Tags : positive thinking predictions self-fulfilled prophecy workplace

Do you sometimes predict what will happen next? Are you making smart forecasts about the future?

It seems like everyone does it sometimes. You believe that you know what the person will say next, you know the behavior they’ll exhibit, and you know what the reactions will be throughout their network.

Do you get is right?

The best answer is probably, “Sometimes.”

Your confidence grows when you nail it. You may even be sort of proud about it and proclaim, “I told you so.”

We’re not always correct though. Sometimes we get it wrong.

Sometimes we finish their sentence and it isn’t where they were heading. Sometimes we suggest something was different about the circumstances that we didn’t realize and that is why the behaviors weren’t as predicted.

Are your forecasts useful?

Smart Forecasts

If people are expecting a sun-shiny day, their mood might perk up. If it starts to rain there is disappointment. Perhaps even some wet clothes or soggy shoes.

It isn’t that much different in the workplace.

Sensing that your computer will crash today is unlikely unless of course, it has been crashing frequently without resolution.

Worrying about the meeting your boss just called may not help your plight unless there is something overdue or some wrongdoing that you might be able to correct before the meeting.

Attitudes and moods are often conditioned by expectations. Expectations develop from communication.

Let’s not forget about self-fulfilled prophecy. What you think or believe will often have a strange way of unfolding.

That is precisely why smart forecasts matter so much.

There has to be accuracy, but it also should be backed up by optimism.

Smart forecasts have a way of coming true.

Predict more sunshine.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

08
Jun 17
-

Building Your Future or Predicting It

Tags : career decisions future predictions teamwork

Organizations face commitments to the future. Do employees face decisions for the same kind of commitment? Are you building your future or predicting it?

I often hear stories from people reminiscing. Stories that if they only would have known then what they know now. It is true for their investments and often for major life decisions. It might be different if they had that crystal ball.

Decisions we make are important. They help to shape our future. So do our actions and behaviors.

Predicting What’s Next

Many people confuse making a decision with predicting the future. Certainly, some things will just happen but far more important than predictions might be what you will do or how you will handle what happens next.

If you are an employee within an organization, you should have a commitment to help build it. The problem that most people see is that within the organization they don’t make the decisions for their future so they try to predict what will happen next.

In many ways, this seems like a truism. However, their individual contributions will somehow make a difference for the outcomes. So perhaps the outcomes are not so much of a prediction but more about how each individual helps to co-create.

Granted the contributions of just one individual seem minuscule when compared with an entire operation. However, we shouldn’t forget the story of what can happen with just one bad apple.

Building Your Future

If everyone on the team is needed then the contribution of every individual must matter. It isn’t necessarily about predicting the future. It might be about creating it.

If your contribution doesn’t matter or doesn’t make a difference then the prediction should be clear.

If it does, there shouldn’t be as much prediction necessary. You’re co-creating.

Reputations, brands, and entire organizations don’t just happen. They are built.

Sometimes it might be better to focus on building and stop trying to predict.

Predictions are for meteorologists.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: predictions

May 21

-

Business Forecasting, Today Is Easier Than Tomorrow

Business Forecasting

Mar 21

-

Smart Forecasts Change Outlooks and Outcomes

Smart Forecasts

Jun 17

-

Building Your Future or Predicting It

Predicting What’s Next

Building Your Future

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