Vacation weeks are built‑in white space. When the inbox flow slows and your calendar has more leisure time than meetings, the mind gets space to flex.
We’ve listed three big topics we think are worth letting simmer under a beach umbrella (or wherever you find your shade), and returning to in a few weeks.
1. Reimagining the web
We've gotten used to Internet search being a universal gateway to everything online. But now, generative‑AI agents, voice assistants, and closed‑loop feeds answer questions before users even open a browser.
This change will start slow, but have immense impact on the open web. All businesses, but especially those that sell through owned online channels and rely heavily on search for findability, need to prepare for this shift.
Questions to ponder
- If no one “googles” us tomorrow, how would people – or their agents – still find and trust us?
- Which proprietary data sets could we surface (or guard) to stay indispensable?
- How can we build owned moments, apps and communities that become go-to options for customers or users?
2. Made in Europe
Six months into President Trump’s second term, the United States is openly questioning traditional security and climate commitments. Europe is responding by tightening its own ranks and wallets.
This could be Europe’s cue to step out of Washington’s shadow and assert a values‑driven economic model. For businesses and brands, provenance and local trust markers suddenly matter more.
Questions to ponder
- How can our European heritage translate into a global narrative that contrasts U.S. or Asia‑centric stories?
- Which EU programmes (defense, green tech, digital) could accelerate our roadmap in the next 12 months?
- Where might a stronger “buy European” mood unlock new customer segments or policy‑driven demand?
3. Time for transformation
Geopolitics, AI disruption, regulatory change – hardly any sector is spared. Yet many leadership teams freeze, waiting for peak clarity. We've seen recent surveys warn that paralysis now poses a bigger risk than wrong moves; decisive actors consistently outperform hesitant peers.
Many management teams should pin down a vivid North Star destination to both instill confidence in their organization and arm them with the ability to act assertively in the short term.
Questions to ponder
- Have we declared a clear North Star vision that lets every team act decisively today?
- Which legacy initiative should we sunset this quarter to release resources and signal real change?
- What 90‑day experiment could we launch to prove our future direction and break organizational inertia?
A challenge
Strategic transformation often begins as a quiet question. Bring these themes with out, capture your own answers, and then return from your break ready to test one bold experiment per theme. We dare you to!
