Present-Fighting vs. Future-Fighting

In business, there are two very important sets of responsibilities.  The first focuses on day-to-day operations.  It is very important that things don't go out of whack, because no one likes change.  Your customers will be mad, your boss will be disappointed, your coworkers may be disdainful, your house plant will wilt and regulators may slap handcuffs on someone.  I'm going to call it present-fighting mode, because your job is to maintain the status quo.  Sadly, this has nothing to do with boxing gifts. :(

The second focuses on the future.  What is the future, you ask?  No one knows, and that's why it is important to think about it.  Unfortunately for those engaged in firefighting, the future will bring change and people will have to adapt.  You should be thinking about future change some of the time, so you don't get blindsided.  You're preventing yourself from being marginalized, rather than making others happy.  Here we'll call it future-fighting, because you need to find the prevent the new status quo from gobbling you up like a grue.  


At my experience level and age, most people I know are focused on present-fighting.  That is their job and there is a lot to be said for doing your job well.  Doing your job poorly, for example, will get you fired.  No one asks the lower-level people to look at anything outside the here-and-now, so few people do.  But you need to!  You need to devote at least some time, like 30 minutes per day, to thinking about and planning for the future.  As you move up in an organization, future-fighting becomes more important and can lead you as high as you want to go.