With technology's dizzying speed, we talk about whose jobs will be lost to robots, and we pronounce professions we are not used to, such as data detective, cyber city specialist and personal memory curator. Whether this scenario will come true, or how long it will take, is unknown — but it is a fact that change is ever-present and has accelerated even further with technology. Today, when automation and artificial intelligence affect every level of business life, it would not be wrong to expect management philosophies and styles to change as well. So what will the management approach of the future look like? Even if definitive judgments are not possible, it is at least worth looking at the likely scenarios and taking a position.

Just as it is today, having deep knowledge of transforming technology will be of vital importance in the future too. If you do not want your self-confidence and your appetite for innovation to be blunted, both you and your HR unit need to pay attention to this rule when selecting personnel.

Lifestyle and technology are changing skills as well. Employees and managers with developed analytical thinking, able to notice details, solve complex problems and observe trends in the data they obtain will be in demand. In the ring of the global world, where global competition is heating up, it is not the play-it-safe companies afraid to take a step, but the companies with the courage to make radical changes that will add plus points to their scoreboard. Companies that are flexible in how they do business, and that can reposition quickly according to the conditions and requirements of the day, will breast the tape.

The walls of hierarchy have already begun to come down, and this trend will continue in the future. Creating a working environment where everyone knows their own responsibility, where not only employees are accountable to managers but managers are accountable to employees as well, and where everyone takes ownership of the work and the company seems inevitable. Though few in number, the "bosses without an office" we encounter even today look set to increase.

The famous management guru Gary Hamel says: "Creating companies that approach change proactively and renew themselves before it is too late is the most fundamental business skill of our day." Can we not say the same for the future? Companies that can accommodate different ideas are more likely to achieve this. Flexibility will therefore be indispensable for success in the management approach of the future as well. And of course sustainability will continue to be one of management's fundamental goals in the future, just as it is today. The environment — one of the most important parts of sustainability — will gain far more importance than it has today, and companies will need to put more thought into it.

The days when four wrongs could be carried by one right in the business world are now being left behind. Even if you have a deep-rooted company of 100–200 years, in today's business world — where a two-year-old startup can knock you out of the competition — even a single mistake of yours can wipe out all your rights. It is therefore in your hands to read the future, to take steps today for tomorrow, and to shape your management approach with this culture from the very bottom of the company to the top. It is necessary to get to work before it is too late.

Author: Atakan Genç