The next competitive advantage will be thinking beyond the next semester.

For years, we thought the main challenge of leadership was anticipating the future. That is why we invested in market intelligence, strategic planning, scenarios, data analysis, and artificial intelligence.

We have never had so much information about what could happen. And yet, we are still arriving late. Not because data is lacking, but because many organizations continue to make decisions with time horizons that no longer match the speed or duration of the transformations they face.

That is the starting point of the new handbook published by the World Economic Forum: Intergenerational Foresight: An Approach for Long-Term Responsibility in Governance. More than a foresight methodology, the document proposes a profound shift in the way governments, companies, and institutions make decisions.

From the short term to the long term

The report argues that the major challenges of the 21st century (demographic change, artificial intelligence, climate transition, or rising inequality) share a common characteristic: their consequences will unfold far beyond political cycles, annual budgets, or traditional strategic plans.

However, most organizations continue to measure success using short-term indicators. The result is a paradox. We know more and more about the future, yet we continue to make decisions as if the future only begins tomorrow.

What does the World Economic Forum propose?

The concept of Intergenerational Foresight starts from a simple idea. It is not enough to project scenarios; we must also ask who participates in building those scenarios.

The document argues that long-term decisions tend to be concentrated in a small group of people, while those who will live with their consequences the longest—younger generations—rarely participate in a meaningful way in their design.

This is why it proposes broadening generational diversity within anticipation processes, incorporating multiple perspectives, and evaluating decisions by considering not only their immediate outcomes, but also their impact on the agency of future generations.

This is not about replacing experience. It is about enriching the quality of decisions. Although the report is primarily aimed at governments, the message is just as relevant to the private sector, because companies also face decisions whose effects extend well beyond the next three to five years.

How do we prepare a workforce that will work until age 70?

How do we design products for consumers who will live close to a century?

How do we incorporate artificial intelligence without losing critical human capabilities?

How do we manage five generations living together within the same organization?

Answering these questions requires much more than strategic planning. It requires developing a true institutional capacity to think long-term.

The Latin American challenge

In Latin America, this discussion takes on an even greater dimension. The region is undergoing one of the most accelerated demographic transitions in the world. In just a few decades, lower birth rates, higher life expectancy, longer working careers, and growing pressure on healthcare, pension, and productivity systems will all coexist.

Yet most organizations still operate with leadership, talent, and planning models designed for a reality that no longer exists.

We put it to the test

The World Economic Forum argues that organizations must incorporate an intergenerational outlook into their decision-making processes. We wanted to know if that conversation has already reached Latin America.

That is why we surveyed 60 organizations across different sectors through the Organizational Demographic Maturity Index. CEOs, directors, and leaders in Human Resources, Talent, Strategy, and Sustainability participated.

The results show a clear gap.

The three main findings:

✓ Planning remains predominantly short-term. Only 35% of organizations indicated that their strategic decisions consider impacts beyond ten years. The most frequent response reflects a much more short-sighted vision.

✓ Organizations recognize the change, but are not yet prepared to respond to it. 58% of organizations acknowledge that they made no significant changes to policies, structures, or processes over the past two years to prepare for an aging workforce.

✓ Most still do not have someone in charge of demographic change. In 53% of organizations, no one is formally assigned the responsibility of monitoring the impact of demographic change. Barely 10% reported having a specific lead or a dedicated team.

From awareness to preparedness

At The Shift, we often say that demographic change no longer needs to be proven; it needs to be managed. That is perhaps the greatest contribution of the work presented by the World Economic Forum.

The problem is no longer a lack of evidence. The problem is the ability to transform that evidence into decisions. Because the leadership of the future will likely not be measured by the ability to react faster, but by the ability to make better decisions for a much longer time horizon.

In a world where we will live longer, work longer, and live alongside permanent transformations, the true competitive advantage will not be anticipating the future. It will be learning to govern it.