In the fast-paced business world, success hinges on our ability to balance the demands of the present with the possibilities of the future.
To navigate this duality, we need two distinct teams: the Today Team and the Tomorrow Team. Each serves a critical purpose, but their focus, skills, and awareness must remain separate to thrive.
The Today Team: Mastering the Present
The Today Team is the backbone of any organization. It’s focused on the immediate horizon—six months to two years out. This team is all about economies of scale, profitability, and optimizing today’s business models.
They are the experts in what works right now, ensuring the company remains competitive, efficient, and financially stable.
The Today Team’s role is indispensable. They generate the revenue and stability that fund innovation and experimentation. Without them, there would be no resources to invest in the future.
But here’s the catch: you can’t ask the Today Team to also think about tomorrow. Their awareness is rooted in the present, and their expertise lies in executing what’s already known.
Asking them to pivot their focus to long-term innovation is like asking a sprinter to run a marathon—it’s not what they’re built for.
The Tomorrow Team: Pioneering the Future
While the Today Team keeps the lights on, the Tomorrow Team is tasked with envisioning what comes next. This team operates on a longer timeline—two to ten years out.
Their focus is on economies of learning, exploring new paradigms, and building the skills and systems of tomorrow.
The Tomorrow Team is where disruption happens. They’re the ones asking, “How do we build the next Shein instead of the next Zara? How do we create the next BYD instead of the next Mercedes-Benz?”
They’re not bound by the constraints of today’s business models; instead, they’re free to experiment, iterate, and imagine what’s possible.
A legendary example of a Tomorrow Team is the group Steve Jobs assembled to create the Macintosh. When Jobs returned to Apple, he found a product called the Lisa, which he believed was outdated and misaligned with his vision.
Instead of trying to reform the existing team, Jobs set up a separate office, raised a pirate flag and brought in a new group of engineers.
This Tomorrow Team was tasked with inventing something revolutionary, and they delivered. The Macintosh disrupted the Lisa and changed Apple’s trajectory.
The Importance of Awareness
The key to making this dual-team structure work lies in understanding awareness. As a leader, if your awareness is stuck in the mindset of economies of scale—focused solely on efficiency and profitability—you’ll struggle to see solutions for tomorrow.
Stress, urgency, and the demands of the present can cloud your vision, making it nearly impossible to think creatively about the future.
This isn’t a failure of intention. Most leaders sincerely want to innovate and prepare for what’s next. But the reality is, you can’t solve tomorrow’s problems with today’s awareness.
The Today Team and the Tomorrow Team must operate in parallel, each with its own focus, resources, and mindset.
Striking the Balance
The challenge for leaders is to create an environment where both teams can thrive. The Today Team must be empowered to execute with precision, ensuring the organization remains strong and competitive.
At the same time, the Tomorrow Team must be free to explore, experiment, and fail without the pressure of immediate results.
The Today Team funds the future, while the Tomorrow Team builds it.
Together, they create a dynamic organization that can navigate the present while preparing for the uncertainties of tomorrow.
So, ask yourself: Does your organization have a clear distinction between its Today Team and its Tomorrow Team?
Are you giving both the space and resources they need to succeed? Because, in the end, it’s not about choosing between the present and the future—it’s about mastering both.
Note: This blog post is an adaptation of the transcript from the video below.
