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World-Class Futurist Matthew Griffin Shares His Insights on Business Climate

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Matthew Griffin, a world-class futurist and the founder and CEO of the 311 Institute, a Global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working across the next 50 years, and the World Futures Forum and XPotential University shared this article as a companion to his podcast Coming Soon to a Business Climate Near You!  

Link to the entire interview:

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

In the ever-evolving landscape of global business, the term “VUCA” – an acronym for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity – has become a pivotal concept in understanding the challenges leaders face today. For CEOs and senior leaders across industries and countries, navigating this VUCA world demands a unique set of skills and strategies.

This article delves into how leaders can adapt to and excel in these dynamic conditions.

Embracing a VUCA World: The New Leadership Paradigm

The VUCA environment is characterized by rapid changes, unpredictable challenges, and complex global interdependencies. Traditional leadership models, which favor stability and predictability, are often ill-suited to this new reality. As a leader, it is essential to not only acknowledge this shift but to actively embrace it as the new normal – the new status quo.

Vision: The Compass in Volatility

In a volatile world, a clear and compelling vision is more critical than ever. This vision acts as a guiding North Star, providing direction and purpose amidst the chaos and turbulence. Leaders like Steve Jobs, for example, exemplified this by consistently steering Apple through technological upheavals with a clear vision. Furthermore, a well-articulated vision fosters alignment within the organization, ensuring that everyone is moving in the same direction, even when external conditions are fluctuating wildly.

Understanding: Navigating Uncertainty with Insight

Uncertainty can be paralyzing, but leaders who invest in deep understanding can turn uncertainty into opportunity. This involves not only a keen awareness of market trends and customer needs but also an understanding of the broader geopolitical and socio-economic landscapes. Michael Porter’s concept of the Five Forces Analysis is particularly useful here, providing a framework for understanding industry dynamics and shaping strategy in uncertain times.

Clarity: Simplifying Complexity

In a complex world, simplicity and the ability to simplify becomes your superpower. Leaders must strive to cut through complexity, making it easier for their teams to focus and execute. This requires clear communication, streamlined processes, and decisive action. Ray Dalio’s principles of radical transparency and idea meritocracy, as practiced at Bridgewater Associates, offer an interesting blueprint for fostering clarity and making effective decisions in complex scenarios.

Agility: Responding to Ambiguity with Flexibility

Ambiguity demands agility – the ability to adapt and pivot quickly in response to changing circumstances. This means being open to new ideas, willing to experiment, and ready to abandon old strategies when they no longer serve. Agile leadership is exemplified by companies like Amazon, which has continually evolved its business model to stay ahead in an ambiguous and competitive market.

Building Resilient Organizations: Culture, People, and Processes

Leadership in VUCA times goes beyond individual capabilities. It is about building organizations that are inherently both resilient and adaptable which I sometimes seen as an oxymoron. This involves fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation, devolving trust and decision making to lower levels of the organization, developing talent that can thrive in uncertainty, and implementing processes that allow for flexibility and rapid response.

Strategic Foresight: Anticipating and Shaping the Future

Leaders must cultivate the ability to anticipate future trends and challenges. This strategic foresight enables organizations to not only react to changes but to actively shape them. Tools like scenario planning can help leaders envision different futures and develop strategies to navigate them effectively.

Ethical Leadership: The Anchor in Turbulent Times

In a world where trust is at a premium, ethical leadership becomes more important than ever. Leaders must set the tone for integrity and ethical behavior within their organizations. This builds trust and credibility, which are crucial for maintaining morale and commitment in challenging times.

Global Perspective: Leading Across Borders and Cultures

As businesses become increasingly global, leaders must be able to navigate diverse cultures, markets, and regulatory environments. This requires a global mindset and the ability to appreciate and leverage cultural differences. Leaders who can think globally while acting locally will be better positioned to succeed in the VUCA world.

Conclusion: Leadership as a Journey of Continuous Adaptation

In conclusion, leading in VUCA times is not about having all the answers. It is about embracing the uncertainty, continuously learning, and being adaptable. Leaders who can inspire with a clear vision, navigate uncertainty with deep understanding, simplify complexity, and respond to ambiguity with agility are the ones who will thrive in this new era. By building resilient organizations, cultivating strategic foresight, maintaining ethical standards, and embracing a global perspective, leaders can turn the challenges of a VUCA world into opportunities for growth and innovation.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is a world-class futurist and the founder and CEO of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working across the next 50 years, and the World Futures Forum and XPotential University, two philanthropic organizations whose mission it is to reduce global inequality, in all its forms, and ensure the benefits of the future are accessible to everyone, irrespective of their abilities or background. He is also the author of the futuristic “Codex of the Future” series, and the book “How to Build Exponential Enterprises.”

Matthew’s clients include royalty, world leaders, G7 and G20 governments, Accenture, Aon, BCG, Centrica, Credit Suisse, Decathlon, Dentons, Deloitte, GEMS, Huawei, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Qualcomm, RWE, SAP, Samsung, T-Mobile, and many others.

A rare talent Matthew is regularly featured in the global media, including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Telegraph, ViacomCBS, and WIRED, and his ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled.

Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future.

 

Thank you for reading Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Ready to measure your leadership skills? Complete your complimentary assessment through the Innovative Leadership Institute. Learn the 7 leadership skills required to succeed during disruption and innovation.

Check out the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

Delivering the Future: Amazon’s Innovation Culture

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Maureen Metcalf, CEO of the Innovative Leadership Institute, shared this article as a companion to her podcast with Amazon executives David Carbon, Vice President and General Manager of Amazon Prime Air, John Love, VP of Amazon Pharmacy & Pillpack, Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist who is a medical analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. He also serves as a senior principal scientist with Amazon, affiliate professor with the University of Washington‘s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, attending physician at Virginia Mason Medical Center, and lead officer of the Critical Care Air Transport Team for the United States Air Force Medical Service Reserves, based at Joint Base Lewis–McChord, and Tye Brady, Chief Technologist at Amazon Robotics discuss how the e-commerce giant delivers the future through its highly successful innovation culture, Delivering the Future: Amazon’s Innovation Culture.

In our podcast episode “Delivering the Future: Amazon’s Innovation Culture,” four Amazon executives discuss how the company fosters a culture of innovation to deliver new products and services to customers. The guests revealed how Amazon innovates to deliver a better customer experience, care for their employees, increase sustainability, and help our communities.

 

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

The discussion uncovered several common traits. Each leader is highly successful, passionate about their work, and kind. Kindness was the most surprising trait. In an era when many organizations struggle with civility, these leaders genuinely care about their customers, people, the environment, and their communities. They are committed to significant innovation and making the world a better place.

These four executives revealed insights into Amazon’s innovation process, which is based on five fundamental principles:

  1. Start with the customer. Amazon always begins by identifying customer needs and pain points. This customer-centric approach ensures that all new products and services are designed to meet customers’ real needs.
  2. Use purpose-driven design to solve real-world problems, prioritizing user needs and business goals.
  3. Put people at the center of the robotics and AI universe. Leverage AI and robotics to solve problems and, at the same time, create a safe, engaging, sustainable environment for people to thrive and grow.
  4. Be willing to experiment. Amazon is not afraid to experiment and take risks. The company encourages employees to develop new ideas and test them quickly. This willingness to experiment has led to some of Amazon’s most successful innovations, such as Amazon Prime and Alexa.
  5. Move fast. Amazon is known for its fast-paced work environment. The company encourages employees to make decisions quickly and to move forward with new ideas. This rapid pace of innovation keeps Amazon ahead of the competition.

Example of Innovation Putting People First

In the podcast, John Love and Dr. Vin Gupta share how Amazon developed its new prescription delivery service. Their team starts the innovation process by asking four key questions:

  1. Is this a large customer problem? An opportunity?
  2. Are customers already well-served by current offerings in the marketplace?
  3. Do we have a compelling or differentiated idea?
  4. Does it create convenient access and delivery?

By answering these questions, the Amazon Pharmacy team developed a new service that addresses the most significant pain points for customers who need to fill prescriptions. As a result, it delivers a superior customer experience. Beyond speedy delivery, Amazon Pharmacy leverages AI to estimate co-pays, check fill accuracy, and administer many data transaction processes. Imagine leaving the doctor’s office, and by the time you drive home, a drone has dropped your prescription at your house or apartment — no waiting in the pharmacy line with a sick child or while you feel ill.

Innovation success is further enhanced because different divisions work together in an interdepartmental ecosystem. Amazon Pharmacy, for example, partners with Amazon Air’s new drone service to deliver prescriptions within 30 minutes of being ordered. The drone program is being piloted in College Station, Texas, and will soon expand.

Imagine hundreds of drones carrying packages up to the size of a shoe box, swooping into an apartment complex or house’s front yard, dropping a package from 10 feet (high enough that people can’t interfere with the drone), then flying back to the fulfillment site to pick up the next package. This drone program will create an entire aviation infrastructure to load and fly the drones and a control system akin to an air traffic control system. The partnership between Pharmacy and Prime Air creates this solution for today’s long waits in prescription filling and delivery.

Leadership Suggestions

Here are four Amazon practices you can implement in your innovation process:

  • Put the customer first. Everything you do should be focused on meeting the needs of your customers. This means listening to your customers, understanding their pain points, and designing products and services that solve their problems.
  • Encourage experimentation. Create an environment where employees feel comfortable coming up with new ideas and taking risks. Give employees the resources they need to test out their ideas, even if they seem crazy at first.
  • Leverage AI. Understand the opportunities AI creates in your organization and leverage it while putting people at the center of the operations.
  • Move fast. Don’t get bogged down in bureaucracy or endless meetings. Make decisions quickly and encourage your employees to do the same. This will allow you to stay ahead of the competition and bring new products and services to market faster. As David Carbon says, “Perfect becomes the enemy of good enough.”

Conclusion

Amazon’s culture of innovation has helped the company to become one of the most successful businesses in the world. By following the fundamental principles outlined in this article, you can create a culture of innovation in your organization and deliver new products and services that your customers will love.

 

ABOUT THE GUESTS:

David Carbon is VP of Prime Air. Before that, he was VP of Operations for Boeing’s 787 program – with earlier work on the 747; he started with Boeing/Hawker de Havilland in Australia. He also spearheaded projects at Ford Motor Company.

John Love is VP of both Amazon Pharmacy and PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy. Before those, his 16-year Amazon career also saw him serve as VP of Alexa Shopping, as well as supporting many other business lines. He’s responsible for helping customers discover equitable, affordable, high-quality medical care and prescription access.

Dr. Vin Gupta is the Chief Medical Officer for Amazon Pharmacy. He remains a practicing pulmonologist and is an affiliate faculty member at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation and Evans School. He serves as a major in the USAF Medical Reserve Corps and is a medical analyst for NBC News.

Tye Brady is the Chief Technologist of Amazon Robotics, Fulfilment Information Technology. He has over 30 years of hands-on experience in team leadership, technical management, and system design. Before Amazon Robotics, Tye spent 15 years with Draper Laboratory. He’s a founding partner of MassRobotics, a not-for-profit that serves as a world-class platform for robotic innovation.

 

Thank you for reading Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Ready to measure your leadership skills? Complete your complimentary assessment through the Innovative Leadership Institute. Learn the 7 leadership skills required to succeed during disruption and innovation.

Check out the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers & Agile Companies

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Jeff Wald, founder of Work Market shares his insights in the podcast The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers & Agile Companies and the following article.

Some people lead with their heart, some with their head.  Some leaders are “my way or the highway”, some are “we all move forward together”.  Every leader has their own style and as long as people follow, they are leaders.

I tend to use vulnerability as a core part of my leadership style.  I do that as it’s authentic, I have a lot of vulnerabilities.  I learned to embrace this vulnerability from an unlikely source; the New York City Police Department.

I spent the better part of ten years as a volunteer officer in the NYPD.  It was here I learned that asking for help was not a sign of weakness but rather a sign of shared strength. But first, some background on volunteer officers of the NYPD.

The volunteers, or Auxiliary Officers, get about 100 hours of training at the Police Academy.  Training includes basic self-defense, arrest procedures, radio usage, first aid, and many other lessons one needs to serve.  The Auxiliary Units are designed to provide an extra set of eyes and ears out on the streets.  They are not supposed to respond to an active situation unless specifically instructed by a regular NYPD Officer.  They are not trained or authorized to use a firearm.  They carry a baton, a small stick about eighteen inches long.  They are told time and time again that their radio is the most important item on their person.

I reflect on the lessons I learned during my time as an Auxiliary Officer and how they apply to my leadership and my life.  There is always one that stands out: Never hesitate to pick up the radio and call for help.

I remember my first serious encounter as an officer.  There was an assault in progress right near where my partner and I were standing.  We knew we were not supposed to approach an active crime unless specifically asked.  However, being the invulnerable young men, we believed ourselves to be, we walked over anyway.

As we turned the corner on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, I saw two men kicking and one man hitting with a baseball bat, a prone figure on the ground.  Real police officers were less than a minute away.  My partner took out his baton and yelled “Stop! Police!” and ran in.  I actually panicked for a second and froze, but the sight of my partner running in spurred me to action.  My action, aside from beginning to run after my partner, was to grab my radio.  The bad guys had started to run away when my partner yelled, so I called into central dispatch (and thus was heard by the approaching real officers), “three male suspects running south on First Avenue”.

They were caught and arrested, the person being attacked was injured but would be ok.

While we were not in any danger (although there were three of them and two of us, they had a baseball bat and we had batons, and I knew we didn’t have a gun but they might have!), I reached for my radio.  The radio’s primary purpose in this encounter was to inform the other officer, but its primary purpose to me was to inform the rest of the 19th Precinct that two very scared Auxiliary Officers were encountering suspects.  Implicitly the call was, “Send some real cops here now and HELP!”.

Ask any police officer anywhere in the world what is their most powerful weapon and you will get one consistent answer, the radio.  Every officer has one, and at the other end of that device is help; serious help.  When they make that call other officers will immediately be on the way.  There is no officer that would hesitate for a moment to call for help, to call for backup.  Think about that for a second.  These are some of the bravest people in the world.  They put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe.  Yet, at the slightest inkling of trouble, they ask for help.

If police officers do that, why don’t the rest of us?

As leaders, we may sometimes fall into the dangerous and self-defeating trap of thinking we need to have all the answers.  Maybe it’s driven by insecurity, maybe by imposter syndrome, maybe by the need to prove our intellect and strength.  For some leaders that may work just fine, but not for me.

I ask for help when I need it and my team responds.

I do need help, we all do.  I cannot do it alone.  No one is that strong, or smart, or well-connected that they don’t need the talents of their team.

Far from being a sign of weakness, asking for help is a powerful sign of strength.  It tells everyone that you are confident enough to ask for help when you need it.  Smart enough to know you don’t have all the answers.  Brave enough to rely on the intellect, creativity, and networks of others.  To me, this is what leadership looks like and it’s worked well.

So be brave like police officers all over the world and pick up your radio when you need help.  For leaders, it can be your most powerful weapon.

 

About the Author

Jeff Wald is the Founder of Work Market, an enterprise software platform that enables companies to manage freelancers. It was acquired by ADP. Jeff began his career in finance, serving as Managing Director at activist hedge fund Barington Capital Group, a Vice President at venture capital firm GlenRock and various roles at JP Morgan.

Jeff is an active angel investor and startup advisor, as well as serving on numerous public and private Boards of Directors. He also formerly served as an officer in the Auxiliary Unit of the New York Police Department. Jeff holds an MBA from Harvard University and an MS and BS from Cornell University.