There was a time when business transformation was a process that occurred once in a professional career. But cut-throat competition and short development cycles are pushing leading businesses into a state of continuous, low-level transformation.

All companies react, but handling transformation proactively requires a plan. How can your company stay out in front?

1. Use forward-looking metrics. Analytics are a great business tool, but are you forecasting or hindcasting? Too many metrics depend on extrapolating future trends from past performance. Instead, look for metrics that could be correlated with your future risks and opportunities. These could be internal to your company but they might also be external, including leading economic or social indicators.

2. Embrace uncertainty. Your forecasts will always be wrong, but if the value of key metrics can be expressed probablistically, you can explore the implications of different scenarios and build robust strategies to achieve your desired outcomes. It doesn’t have to be complicated but it needs to be rigorous.

Using these techniques for a few quarters will likely produce a few surprises and will provide the foundation for creating a more resilient and nimble organization.