Essay 3.3 | Future-Focused
A former CMO once told me he had a quiet way of judging meetings. He listened for how much of the conversation was about the past and how much was about the future. The present, he said, was implicit: the decision in front of us, the issue on the table, the work to be done now. What he cared about was whether the room was stuck replaying what had happened or using what had happened to shape what came next.
That simple observation changed how I listened.
It is easy for meetings and post-event reviews to become archaeological exercises. We dig through what went right, what went wrong, who complained, where the numbers landed, and which slide earned applause. Some of that is necessary. But if the conversation never turns toward next time, the review becomes a museum. Interesting, maybe even accurate, but not alive.
At ServiceNow, another leader sharpened this distinction by asking for two lists after major events: what we would improve and what we would change. Improve meant making the existing thing better: smoother operations, clearer signage, better flow. Change meant something deeper: audience mix, story, format, purpose, role in the portfolio. One list refined the past. The other pulled us toward the future.
That distinction matters because events are expensive, visible, time-fixed bets. If all we do is repeat them because they exist, we may be loyal to a version of the organization that no longer serves the people we are trying to reach. A future-focused perspective does not ignore history. It refuses to live there.
This is especially important during transformation. Some people naturally speak from the past: what we used to do, who came before, what tradition requires. Others speak from the present: contracts, deadlines, exhaustion, immediate pressure. Someone must speak for the future: who we are becoming, what the audience will need next, what story we are trying to make possible.
The river moves. The people move. The market moves. The culture moves. A purposeful gathering should not pretend otherwise. It should help people face reality, learn from what happened, and step into what must happen next.
Acts of Humanity: The Power of Purposeful Events — releasing August 11, 2026. Learn more or pre-order at actsofhumanitythebook.com. #ActsOfHumanityTheBook
