Organizations were introduced to the concept of strategic planning at the beginning of the 1950s when Alfred P Sloan introduced the concepts of budget planning to General Motors. Strategy has evolved over the decades to include Corporate Planning, Corporate Strategy, Industry and Competitive Analysis, and Innovation, and now for many organizations includes future thinking or foresight to envision the various possible future scenarios in which the organization may compete. Future of Work Strategists like Heather E. McGowan emerged as the field formed over the past two decades.
The main duties of a future of work strategist include examining the macro and organizational environment, assessing the impact of emerging technologies, evaluating changes to the societal and cultural norms, and helping all the members of the organization understand the possible future states in which they may compete. A successful strategist like Heather E. McGowan not only enhances employee, customer, and community engagement but also monitors and tracks performance indicators, evaluates and analyzes performance outcomes, and Guides the organization to prepare its people, and most notably its leaders, to communicate a vision of the future that does not yet exist while inspiring employees to take an active role in building the future state.
Strategists like McGowan have exceptional visualization, communication, and storytelling skills to help persuade the people in the organization to take an active role in transforming their organization. They make sure that employees are aware that the true value of work comes not only from the final product or service but also from the partnerships, lessons learned, conversations, relationships formed, and perhaps most importantly the expansion of their own personal capacity and thus, the organization’s collective capacity. This leaves the organization better equipped to adapt to the next, inevitable, change.
Strategists, in both their current and traditional roles, scan the environment and use the results to determine opportunities and risks for a strategy as well as potential changes to the zeitgeist. Understanding the status quo or even the next inevitable evolution of work has become increasingly difficult in light of the consequential environmental shifts brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and other shifts in the social, economic, technological, and political realms that have led to a marked increase in global economic uncertainty over the past few decades.
During these uncertain times, specialists can present findings of the current situation of society. Through their intellectual prowess and well-developed methods of presenting the various future scenarios, strategists like McGowan can help organizations plan and respond to these challenges systematically. Although the COVID-19 pandemic is under control now and is nearing its end, the role strategists play right now will remain unchanged. Organizations, as well as individuals, will benefit from an in-depth understanding and knowledge of the community and the environment provided by a strategist like Heather E. McGowan.
McGowan, who was born to Sandra and Robert McGowan in Boston, MA, on 17th April 1971, is well-known around the world as a future-of-work strategist, keynote speaker, advisor, and author. To pursue her education, she attended the Norwell High School and Rhode Island School of Design, which was followed by an MBA degree from Babson College. After completing her MBA, she also received an honorary doctorate from the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
Soon after acquiring her education, she entered the corporate world as a designer and started working for Safety 1st. After working as a designer for several years in the business, sports, and medical industries, Heather E. McGowan joined Swinburne University Centre as an adjunct faculty member with a focus on the future of work research.
As a future-of-work strategist, McGowan has helped various individuals, entrepreneurs, and organizations in coping with the post-pandemic work environment. Through her knowledge and creative strategies, she provides guidance to leaders and organizations and helps them maintain a positive mindset and attitude. She believes that an organization can only sustain itself in the business world if they focus on continuous learning and innovation. In the midst of chaos administered by COVID-19, she has helped employees by providing the right direction on how to adapt to a new working environment.
She is a multifaceted individual who, along with being a strategist, is also a keynote speaker. She has addressed large audiences from universities, government organizations, start-up groups, and publicly traded Fortune 100 organizations such as Google, SAP, Biogen, AbbVie, Fidelity, FIS, Mastercard, Facebook, AT&T, Financial Times, Siemens, Raytheon, Chevron, Kaiser Permanente, JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, MassMutual, MetLife, Best Buy, Microsoft, Paramount, The US Army, Accor Hotels, AMP Financial, AARP, Zendesk, Professional Beauty Association, Tableau, de Beers, and The World Bank, to name a few.
Disrupt Together: How Teams Consistently Innovate, The Adaptation Advantage: Let Go and Learn Fast to Thrive in the Future of Work, and The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce are some of her popular works as an accomplished author. Because of her contributions to the business world, she was named in the list of Top 50 Female Futurists in the world by Forbes and was among the Top 10 Female Speakers of 2021 ranking of Big Speak.
Businesses need the innovative ideas and the envisioning of a strategist like Heather E. McGowan to survive in today’s extremely competitive and ever-changing corporate world. An effective strategist not only assists with organizational problems but also impacts the overall workplace culture in a positive manner.
