Wanted: Chief Future Officer

Suppose your organization hired someone to be the Chief Future Officer?

Job Title: Chief Future Officer

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

Job Purpose

To scan the environment and determine the major trends and forces that will create threats and opportunities for our organization at least 10 years from now.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Identify and prioritize the top 10 threats and opportunities over the next 10 years on a rolling basis.

• Recommend a strategy to capitalize on those threats and opportunities.

• Prioritize opportunities as 1) efficiencies in existing products and processes; 2) new markets; and 3) new products and services that add at least ten times the user-defined value when compared to existing competitive offerings. Unlike everyone else who works around here, the candidate will be expected to spend at least 90% of their time on the new instead of the now.

Qualifications

Education: No formal educational requirements

Specialized Knowledge: As much as possible about anything but sick care, including innovation and value

Skills: Extraordinary story telling skills

Ability: Demonstrated ability to see around corners and to do continuous environmental scanning

Other characteristics: Likeable, credible, and trustworthy

Experience: Has lived in the future before

Working Conditions

The applicant should be able to monitor the environment anywhere, any place, any time.

Physical Requirements

This job requires a lot of heavy lifting.

Direct Reports: Anyone willing to listen.

Now I know what you’re thinking: how do I tell the difference between one CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and the other (Chief Future Officer). Easy: one has FU in the title and the other does not. One is about protecting the cash cow while the other is about killing it.

Good luck with your search.