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Forum has singled out 10 key global challenges that, if they are to be addressed, require cooperation from the public and private sectors.
- Food security and why it matters
By 2050, the demand for food will be 60% greater than it is today. The United Nations has set ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture as the second of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the year 2030. The risks if we fail? Malnutrition, hunger and even conflict. - Why should growth be inclusive?
The push for economic growth in recent decades has led to substantial increases in wealth for large numbers of people across the globe. But despite huge gains in global economic output, there is evidence that our current social, political and economic systems are exacerbating inequalities, rather than reducing them. A growing body of research also suggests that rising income inequality is the cause of economic and social ills, ranging from low consumption to social and political unrest, and is damaging to our future economic well-being. - What will the world of work look like?
The scale of the employment challenge is vast. The International Labour Organization estimates that more than 61 million jobs have been lost since the start of the global economic crisis in 2008, leaving more than 200 million people unemployed globally. Put simply, we need jobs for the hundreds of millions of unemployed people around the world, and we need the skilled employees that businesses are struggling to find. - Climate change: can we turn words into action?
The Earth’s average land temperature has warmed nearly 1°C in the past 50 years as a result of human activity, global greenhouse gas emissions have grown by nearly 80% since 1970, and atmospheric concentrations of the major greenhouse gases are at their highest level in 800,000 years. A historic agreement reached in Paris in December 2015 outlines a global commitment to keep warming to 2°C and to strive to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. The world has agreed what is to be done. Now it is time for implementation. - What's the future of global finance?
The global financial crisis revealed significant weaknesses in the financial system and some of the vulnerabilities that can result from having such an interconnected global market. Providing access to credit and savings is a major challenge in the battle against global poverty – yet 2 billion people do not have access to high-quality, affordable financial services. Additionally, there are 200 million small and medium-sized enterprises worldwide that have no access to formal financial services. - What's the future of the internet?
The internet is changing the way we live, work, produce and consume. We are entering the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a technological transformation driven by a ubiquitous and mobile internet. The challenge is to manage this seismic change in a way that promotes the long-term health and stability of the internet. - Will the future be gender equal?
Achieving gender equality isn't just a moral issue – it makes economic sense. Equality between men and women in all aspects of life, from access to health and education to political power and earning potential, is fundamental to whether and how societies thrive. - What’s the deal with global trade and investment?
International trade and investment are vital drivers of economic growth. With the size and shape of the world economy changing dramatically in recent years, traditional patterns of trading and investing have had to rapidly evolve alongside it. The challenge is to ensure that the regulatory framework keeps up. Despite fundamental changes in the way business is done across borders, international regulations and agreements have not evolved at the same speed. In addition, negotiations to reach a new global trade agreement have stalled. - Long-term investing: how can we plug the gap?
Investing for the long term is vital for economic growth and social well-being. But seven years after the global financial crisis, the world is still facing sluggish economic growth and constrained government budgets. As a result, there is an overall lack of long-term investment, which has serious implications for global growth. - How can we make healthcare fit for the future?
Over the past few decades, the world has seen major advancements in health and largely as a result, people are generally living longer, healthier lives. However, serious challenges to global health remain, ranging from dealing with pandemics to the rise of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) to the prohibitive costs of care, particularly in developing countries.
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If you’ve ever received feedback that you “need to be more strategic,” you know how frustrating it can feel. So what specific steps can you take to be more strategic in your current role?
Start by changing your mindset. If you believe that strategic thinking is only for senior executives, think again. It can, and must, happen at every level of the organization; it’s one of those unwritten parts of all job descriptions. Once you’ve accepted that it’s part of your job, focus on developing four key abilities that demonstrate your strategic prowess.
Know: Observe and Seek Trends
In order to be strategic, you need a solid understanding of the industry context, trends, and business drivers.
- Make it a routine exercise to explore and synthesize the internal trends in your day-to-day work. For example, pay attention to the issues that get raised over and over in your organization and synthesize the common obstacles your colleagues face.
- Be proactive about connecting with peers both in your organization and in your industry to understand their observations of the marketplace. Then, share your findings across your network.
- Understand the unique information and perspective that your function provides and define its impact on the corporate level strategy.
Think: Ask the Tough Questions
With a fresh understanding of trends and issues, you can practice using strategic thinking by asking yourself, “How do I broaden what I consider?” Questions are the language of strategy.
Speak: Sound Strategic
Strategic thinkers also know how to speak the language. They prioritize and sequence their thoughts. They structure their verbal and written communication in a way that helps their audience focus on their core message. They challenge the status quo and get people talking about underlying assumptions. Those that are really skilled walk people through the process of identifying issues, shaping common understanding, and framing strategic choices.
- Add more structure to your written and verbal communication. Group and logically order your main points, and keep things as succinct as possible.
- Prime your audience by giving them a heads up on the overarching topics you want to address so they are prepared to engage in a higher level conversation, not just the tactical details.
- Practice giving the answer first, instead of building up to your main point.
Act: Make Time for Thinking and Embrace Conflict
Recognizing that we need to bring full value to the table, start evaluating tasks based on urgency and importance. Stop going to meetings you didn’t need to be at. Block out thinking time on your calendar and honored it, just as you would for other meetings. And fight back the initial guilt of “Am I doing real work when I’m just sitting at my desk thinking?”
The quest to build your strategic skills can be uncomfortable. Once the dust settles, however, and you’re able to contribute at a higher level, you’ll be glad you took the risk.
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The conventional full-time job is disappearing.
Survey research conducted by economists Lawrence Katz of Harvard University and Alan Krueger at Princeton University shows that from 2005 to 2015, the proportion of Americans workers engaged in what they refer to as “alternative work” jumped from 10.7% to 15.8%. Alternative work is characterized by being temporary or unsteady.
“We find that 94% of net job growth in the past decade was in the alternative work category,” said Krueger. “And over 60% was due to the [the rise] of independent contractors, freelancers and contract company workers.” In other words, nearly all of the 10 million jobs created between 2005 and 2015 were not traditional nine-to-five employment.
The American work environment is rapidly changing. For better or worse, the days of the conventional full-time job may be numbered.
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