Possibilities, potential and projects
Mind your Ps and Qs (18)
I’ve always been amazed by the belief that possibilities for touristic activities will continue to abound, regardless of locale or where you are in our world. With every country, region and community sending out invitations, conveying their remarkability, and welcoming everyone who arrives with open arms, progress and prosperity seem ensured.
But how can that be when predictability is on the wane? When sticky inflation, polarizing and toxic geo-political tensions, and challenges to rules-based societies seem intractable? When climate change is rampant and employees (and citizens) don`t trust their leaders?
If “our survival depends on the ability to respond quickly to change…” how is it possible that “…our organizations can still help people predict the outcomes of their actions and thus act swiftly and predictably?” As suggested: “Without predictability, people will be too scared not only to take risks but to take any actions at all”.
Perhaps it helps when destinations establish Growth Strategies, such as this one prepared by the Federal Government in Canada. As a means of encouraging investment and participation in travel and tourism, such strategies are intended to provide glimmers of hope, guidance, and positivity by outlining opportunities for employment and business expansion. With special attention, in Canada`s case, being given to specific outdoor adventures, urban destinations, Indigenous tourism experiences and more.
By establishing priorities to “invest in tourism assets; embrace recreation and the great outdoors; partner to grow Indigenous tourism; attract more international events; and improve coordination through a federal ministerial council”, the government hopes that it is signaling a commitment to move forward in specific activity arenas deemed important by those stakeholders who represent the industry`s movers, shakers and doers.
Though, why so little attention to the current governmental pull backs on ESG, DEI and climate action programs; needed investment in mobility; and the need to strengthen resilience in all destinations through focused attention on cooperation to ensure No Destination is Left Behind?
Activating and realizing tourism strategies, however, is never straight-forward, especially when they require money, the acceptance of risk and the need for change. A challenge that necessitates reimagining our futures and developing foresight based on futures literacy which can help foster engaging storytelling for the business community, residents and visitors, or encourage the pursuit of what`s been called possibility thinking – the ability to imagine what is not there and create paths to it – becoming a culture shifter - so that it can be realized.
As by design or improvisation imperatives that require a psychological push or incentives, they can give existing and potential businesses, entrepreneurs and NGOs permission to pursue and act on their instincts and intuitions, with the prospect that their investments and efforts in re-imagining the possible (associated with the priority areas) will translate into various options for value creation and capture, not loss.
With the possible exception of large city DMOs, such as London and Partners, few governments, regional and industry authorities seem willing or capable of facilitating or encouraging `possibility thinking` or the desire to guarantee `I`ve-got-your-back` promises should things go awry. Many are unprepared for the visitor flows of tomorrow. As such, organizational or individual risk-takers are expected to go it alone, set their own strategies, unleash new ideas, connect with customers/clients/ communities, help their people achieve great results, and establish their own definition of what it means to be prepared and ready to succeed.
Following their own strategy choice cascade, individual enterprises (for profit or for cause) end up being the instigators of, and the force for, innovation, satisfaction, and progress – not governments on their own. Given that “the best way to predict the future is to invent it”, the most astute entrepreneurs and enterprises know that they cannot expect to thrive by playing it safe, adopting outdated best practices, being mediocre, or practicing mimicry (copying what works for others)…unless, of course, we discover how to build a resilient future based on ancient wisdom (LoTEK).
To make meaningful long-term impact, existing and new enterprises must identify `next level practices` and priorities (of CEOs), and undertake the work that matters most – the work of originality, creativity and experimentation…the work associated with progressing to realizing an organization`s potential through pursuit of principled purpose as outlined in the “Leave No Destination Behind” policy and response roadmap.
For communities-as-destinations, strategy cannot simply be about delivering superior experiences, selecting attractive markets, or mastering economics. It must be more encompassing, and emphasize value systems that, when carefully identified, articulated and shared, can dovetail with, or even help redefine, the purpose of tourism, reshape the sense of what`s possible and be in the best interests of visitors, citizens and the community.
It`s about the unfolding of human potential that embraces the richness of possibilities, the complexity of choices and the overwhelming challenges of focusing on the right projects that are good, different, distinctive, and deeply relevant to the human experience e.g. retrofitting old cities for sustainability.
To this end, communities-as-destinations need to undertake the necessary research or deep-dive assessments of tourism (as outlined in my book, Astonish! Smarter Tourism by design) to understand the nature of existing problems (unintended consequences), the inevitability for harmony and dissonance, and the opportunities for improvement and revitalization.
In this sense, strategy is about changing organizations, not running or operating them. This means that tourism at community levels should gravitate more to the selection and prioritization of projects – festivals, events (e.g. Swiftonomics), performances, place-making, cultures, adventures, explorations – and, the adoption of more appropriate project-driven structures, the creation of more collaborative and empowering approaches that involve the private/public/plural sectors and reach across functional and sectoral silos.
While traditional project management focuses on inputs and outputs (planning, estimation, cost, time, scope, risk management), tourism -related projects tend to be more focused on outcomes and value (purpose, rationale, benefits, impacts and strategy). Given their one-off characteristics, some tourism-related projects can be experiments, run by volunteers, and subject to seasonal and cyclical disruptions. As such, various new types of managerial tools and approaches need to be utilized: Better appreciation for strategy and scale, design thinking, change management, product/service/ experience management linked with storytelling, and agile management.
Despite the problems association with predictability, `possibility thinking` can help people and organizations identify potential, so long as we learn to appreciate the difference between velocity and possibility allowing us to switch the `no` to an `on`. Once done, a project canvas may help ensure your projects turn out to be successful.