I spent time yesterday with a very distressed friend. 2009 had been an awful year for his business, and he was no reconsidering everything – his business model, his aspirations, and his future.

My guess is that many of us resonate with him, and have enterered 2010 a little unsure of what “moving forward” looks like. For those still trying to get a handle on what comes next, here’s a series of questions from Seth Kahan that I found very useful.

As you reflect on your business’s past, ask yourself these three questions:

1. How did this service/program/product come to be?
2. What factors in the environment made it possible?
3. What new context emerged that gave birth to my initiative as a solution?

Now, transport your answers to today and ask these questions:

1. What has changed?
2. What do these circumstances look like today?
3. How are they the same and how are they different?

And finally, to squint and look into the foggy mystery of tomorrow, ask:

1. What appears to be forming?
2. How can my service/program/product best address the emerging needs?
3. What needs to change to sustain relevance?

2010 has opened a new chapter for business – a post-recession, post-hierarchal, globally-competative, social-media-rivetted, community-driven era of business. This is not business as usual, or a return to an earlier system of business operations. It’s the beginning of something completely new. And we’re here to help you navigate it, strategize for it, and build the engaged and change-ready organizations that can embrace it.

To get started, we’re offering workshops (live and vitural) through February to help business leaders and owners craft a vision-driven, values-based, and innovation-driven business plan for 2010. Email me for dates and more information.