It may seem, when we are losing staff, to be an odd time to talk about the future. After all, surviving today is the imperative, ‘doing boring well' is the mantra and life beyond the medium term financial plan is for dreamers.

Yet concern for the long term health of an organisation is what separates leaders from managers and the business graveyards are full of those who responded only to a short-term time horizon. You only need to ask Blockbuster, Pan Am, Kodak and General Motors.