The Competitive Advantage Hiding in Plain Sight: Master Weak Signals Before Your Competitors Do

How do trendsetters get it so right when they anticipate and harness the value of change? They hit the target so well because they are attuned to seeing, hearing and feeling weak signals.

What are these you say? They are the things happening around situations, even your team, which disrupt and anticipate change before it happens. Not being aware of them can be your worst energy. But by anticipating their potential impact in a new and open way can help you to get wind in your sails and navigate your own journey.

WEAK SIGNAL - Definition: small shifts, odd occurrences or patterns of difference to the norm which can signal change.

Nature shows us weak signals all the time.

Unexpected data showing unusually low ozone readings in Antarctica in the 1980’s has British scientists checking their instruments for faults. But the real cause was the ozone hole in the atmosphere. This weak signal later led to the development of the Montreal Protocol.

Strange animal behaviour (aka a weak signal) prior to an earthquake has been reported as far back as Ancient Greece.  Historians described how snakes, weasels and rate left the city days before a devastating earthquake I the city of Helice in 373BC. But the most famous example is the Haicheng case in China in 1975. Weeks before the quake people reported snakes coming out of hibernation only to die in the snow. Livestock were breaking out of stabling and fencing refusing to go back in. Rats meeting in groups in unuausal places during the daytime.

But weak signals also are present in the work and relationships we have with team members, clients and consumers. For example:

Minecraft enjoy a small devoted following when it was first released despite the native commentary from game industry experts, saying that Minecraft was ugly in design and too simple. The weak signal was a ripple of the shift to user based sandbox creativity which would go on to reshape the reality of world gaming.

Alpha kids (ages 8-14) are showing a quiet move away from smart-phone centric behaviour. Their preference is for voice interfaces (think Alexa), wearables and dumb phones. This could have major implications for phone manufacturers, app developers, social media platforms and even how we design our cities and homes. This one is still a weak signal but watch this space and how it pans out.

 So why is acknowledging weak signals so important to you and your team? Weak signals can:

·       Show opportunities in changing consumer behaviour (both positive and negative)

·       Be early indicators of the direction needed for breakthrough innovation

·       Highlight changes in behaviours and even vocabulary which flag shifts in culture, acceptance and thinking

·       Bring attention to the ripple effects that can impact and change regulation and standards

·       Give direction to where capabilities will be needed into the future and how those capabilities are best applied.

Weak signal acknowledgement isn’t just an exercise in analysis.  Knowing the signals and then how to respond to them appropriately as a team (your structure, your governance, your priorities, your audience, your process, your focus) give you and your people agency and resilience.

Really, it’s a choice. Do you pay attention, planning earlier and more thoroughly to create change in an emerging reality to be ahead of the crowd? Or do you let it happen around you only to then sit in crisis talks in desperate survival mode?

If you want to enable your team to look in the right places and know what to do with that information, aligned to your niche situation, set up a 20-minute strategy call with me to learn how we can facilitate your strategic preparation and implementation.