"Innovation you can take to the bank"
We start better, we race better, we finish better.
Futureproofing : Next is focused on unlocking your next level of growth that outthinks & outperforms your peer companies,
Knowing What Needs to Be Done for the Future, Helping Make it Happen
Most companies work hard, they simply miss the future.
Futureproofing : Next uses market-tested pragmatism, bespoke process design and partnering approach to instil client confidence, credibility & trust with a team that has done it before.
We provide everything you would want in an innovation partner, just not available currently (see below for our Tale of the Tape). Let’s bridge the gap between early stage ideas & reliable revenue generation and take innovation to the bank.
Outsmarting the Innovation Competition
Futureproofing ; Next looked at the current incumbents of “innovation”, “transformation” and “growth”, and on the key criteria clients look for, we come out ahead.
Most firms work in a box, making clients conform to their pace, process & production. Futureproofing : Next is collaborative to the core, offering 16 different futureproofing solutions driven by your needs.
“Futureproofing : Next acts on the right trends to grow our business capacity & innovation. They have a unique blend of future left brain intuition & right brain corporate smarts to deliver the promise of revenue generation from marketplace shifts. I consider them my SWAT team for the challenges beyond our current quarter.“
BETTER INPUTS, BETTER OUTPUTS, BETTER RESULTS, AdvANTAGE F:N.
OUR 15 F:N BENEFITS profileD below.
#1 WIDER GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
We know that the best futureproofing focuses wide, outside of current geography and often on the periphery. Futureproofing ; Next has structured itsefl best to deliver that mindset:
Tangible proof points:
- Futureproofing 66° Global Guild of Innovation & Growth Champions
- Global Partnerships and Innovation Connections Across: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania & South America
#2 DEEP Cross Industry & Functional Expertise
Futureproofing ; Next is able to bring to life experience and insights from across a wide range of industries and companies who we have worked with and present an objective, functionally-agnostic view with principles that having previously worked inside a variety of corporate functions::
Tangible proof points:
- Nine Functions – F:N principals have worked across the executive, corporate innovation, finance, HR, marketing, product/operations, digital, sales and strategy functional areas in a variety of comapny sizes
- Thirty Five + Industries – F:N has worked deeply with 35+ industry sectors including: alcohol/beverage, consumer goods, education, finance, government, health care, professional services, retail and tech/soiftware
- Fusion Co-Lab Innovation Engagements – F:N can host a cross-pollination exercise between executive teams of companies from different industries with different masteries and shared challenges
#3 Objectivity & Pragmatic Viewpoints
Companies need to determine their future readiness objectively, Futureproofing : Next has a leading assessment tool and grading scheme to reveal corporate truths & gaps and trigger actions without bias:
- The F:N Audit – a 15, 60 and/or 160 factor audit (depending on investment) that audits a company’s innoavtion, transformation and growth readiness
- The F:N Readiness Grade – a benchmarked scoring and ranking scale that provides a snapshot of where your company performs vs. its peer companies and gold standards
#4 HIGH Level of Customization & Coverage
Futureproofing : Next acknowledges sometimes companies need a little, and sometimes they need a lot of futureproofing help. We are structured much more malleably than the innovation incumbents:
- 12 Bespoke Solution Formats – Futureproofing : Next has a repertoire 0f 16 solutions, from ankle to head-deep futureproofing, depending on your situation, size and budget
- 25 Deliverables – Futureproofing : Next directly improves a number of ciorporate innovation levers (e.g. agility, growth, marketplace IQ) and indirectly improves a number of others ( e.g. leadership, talent, capacity)
- #Next30 Innovation Areas – Futureproofing : Next broadly defines innovation and covers off the full range of potential inputs and outputs
#5 Collaborative Approach & Spirit
Futureproofing ; Next is not married to one innovation school of thought – we know that innovation is not paint-by-numbers and have the freshest insight in what tangible and intangible factors work for corporate innovation. We’ll work with clients closely to make them look good and deliver what they need, not what we can sell:
30+ Keynote & Immersion Formats– we’ve identified the key topics that get us started with clients
Custom Innovation Canvases & Roadmaps – we tailor our key tools to our clients’ imperatives
Futureguiding & Curriculum – Futureproofing : Next offers up our leading on-demand staff for ongoing inside-company involvement as innovators-in-residence, contracted executive leaders and leadership trainers over 1-2 year engagements
#6 Impressive Value Package - Benefits / Cost
The innovation industry is overrun with boutique providers that charge a lot, but deliver a lot less. Futureproofing : Next is not the cheapest game in town but does deliver three key value drivers:
2-4X faster – Futureprofing; Next has a lean innovation approach that is designed to deliver corporate results faster across all 4 stages of development
4 -5X more experienced – Futureproofing : Next has an average of 22 years of experience plying our trade (in roles that that actually worked the business too) vs. much less experienced competition
2-3x more budget-conscious – with less overhead, fewer frills and the on-demand nature of our work, we can often deliver services at 2-3X less cost than industry peers
#7 Speed & Action Bias
Futureproofing ; Next knows there is a lot of innovation theatre – talking showing and scrambling without repeatable impact, delivery and updates. We have structured our work around outcomes and reinforcement:
- F:N Workshops/Sprints/Futureguiding – Outcome-driven resources in hours, in 12-24 week installemnts or monthly quick hitters
- F:N Curriculum/Content/Events – Multiple ongoing intercepts that accelerate and reinforce innovation-led skills, reputation and growth
#8 Marketplace Foresights / Trend Fluency
Futureproofing : Next understands better than most that business has sped up and the marketplace shifts too quickly for most clients to keep up. We are one of the best marketplace radars across all key areas:
- 16 Foresight Marketoplace Studies – we have conducted 16+ research & foresight-driven projects , and 3-4 major new oness every year
- The “150 F:N Trend” Collection – we curate and rank 150 macro & micro shift points, updated every year
- The “Future is Faster” Index – we provide a bartometer of how fast change is happening through monitoring 50 accelerating factors
#9 Business & Board room Credibility
Futureproofing : Next knows that sometimes the right solutions exist, stuck between corporate rooms A and B. There may just be a lack of resilience in moving forward – we are seasoned business pragmatists, not academic or researchers that provide you confidence and competence to take the next steps. We get you, and have been in your executive shoes before:
- F:N Track Record – an approach that has been used by 13,000 teams/200+ clients
- F:N Founder Experience/Commitment – an executive pairing with 50+ yrs experience/2 books/partner approach pedigree
- Perpetual Refresh – future & change-based, executive leadership training
#10 Tech-Savvy & Adept
Futureproofing : Next is a digital-first service provider using tools, monitors and resources swimming in tech:
- The Emerging 30 Technologies – an annually ranked and well cited study that ranks the top 30 fast growing technologies and key implications & uses
- Wikibrands Transformation On-Demand Services- a partnered comapny who can inherit F:N work and deliver business & digital transformation
- The F:N Innovation Stack (in development) – a key online hub for client innovation auditing, trend radar, collaboration, curation, commercialization and overall progress monitoring
#11 Brand & Customer-Centric
Futureproofing : Next is a customer-centric innovation provider using insights, panels and engagement to tease out market-winning innovation:
- The Customer Zeitgeist – our landmark panel study on how customers needs, wqnts and valu3s shift
- Wikibrands Transformation On-Demand CX Services- a partnered company who can inherit F:N work and deliver customer experience building, brand storytelling and commericlaizing growth
- The F:N Brand Playbook – a set of 12 steps aimed to tell your innovation story better and convince your company and market of its merits
#12 Proven Rigorous Process & Tools
Futureproofing : Next knows that wishing innovation won’t just make it so. We have a futureproofing process and tools that have been market-tested (and not making it up as we go).
- The Four Steps of Futureproofing – an overarching sequential approach to front- & back-end innovation of “see, learn, decide, commit”
- The Futureproofing: Next Toolbox – a bank of 100+ innovAtion tools, canvases and maps that can be applied against your challenge
#13 APPLIED INNOVATION EXCELLENCE
Futureproofing ; Next understands the distance between corporate innovation aspiration and delivery more than anybody – this is just not “lean startup”. We focus and attempt to amster corporate innovation and increase its batting average:
- Seven Deadly Future Sins – we’ve minted the 7 principles that get companies into future growth trouble
- Mind the Innovation Gap Compendium – we’ve identified and curated the top 300 stats as evidence for innovation, transformation and change
- The Corporate Innovation Playbook – our global study, survey and interviews of corporate innovators that answers 50+ questions corporate innovators always wanted answers to
- #FN33 Monthly Corporate Innovation Inspiration – we identify the top 33 articles and research, ours and others, that crossed our screens and desks, and include our listing on our blog and Vault newsletter each month
#14 Expert Partner Network & Extended Resourcing
Futureproofing ; Next builds wide and long networks that can support our core efforts and projects tangential to our ventures:
Thinking/Planning:
- Key Relevant Thoughtleaders
- Industry-specific Authorities
- Regional Corporate Innovation Leads
Leading:
- Busienss & Digital Transformationists
- Customer Engagement, Brand Stewards and Experience Architects
- Talent experience and Change Management Experts
Doing/Implementing:
- Designers & Front-end/Back end Developers
- Content Developers, Storytellers, Writers, Videographers, Animators, Viusualizaers
- Growth Hackers and Marketers
- Technologists and Makers
- CX/UX/EX people
- New Media Gurus
- Online & Live Event Hosts
- Innovation Software & Platforms
#15 Humble, Client Centric Experience
Futureproofing ; Next frowns on the pretension, aloofness and narcissism of the incumbent innovation & consulting industries. If you want a productive and collaborative experience, standing shoulder to shoulder with you, Futureproofing ; Next offers:
- Unlike tech/software firms – no tech speak, one-size fits all, product-focused myopia
- Unlike agencies – no “us vs. them” culture, “never been a client” staffing, narrow focus
- Unlike consultancies – no lock-in on contracts, poor service, constant ramping up of hours
- Unlike researchers/futurists – no lack of actions or implications, fuzziness on the big picture, wishy-washyness on forecasts
- Unlike innovation boutiques – no arrogance, “creative hero saves the day” mentality, lack of execution
ANTICIPATE and deliver your better futures NOW
Eight-six percent of company executives recognize the need to change their innovation capacity and only seven percent of companies believe they can test new ideas and deploy them quickly. Supercharge and accelerate your innovation curves by investing in a Future Innovation Sprint that gets you from innovation “Go” to “Boardwalk” in as little as 12 weeks.
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We're hungry to do work with passionate, driven people. The future is unwritten, let's bring some future chapters to life.
San Francisco - Toronto - Global
+416 458-2818
hello@futureproofingnext.com