Genomics, connected medical devices, change-aggressive millennial doctors, gene therapy, hyperconnected pharmaceuticals – this leading edge healthcare association brought me in for a talk that took a look at the trends providing both opportunity and challenge for the industry going forward. The world of healthcare is faced with tremendous challenges – massive challenges with aging, cognitive brain health, an increase in lifestyle disease throughout the world, and so for all the promise of science, we need to think big and bold about the ideas that might help to provide for massive innovation in the industry. sector going forward.
Archives for October 2016
A Keynote in Chicago for 4000: The First 3 Minutes
What’s it like to walk on stage in front of 4,000 people? It’s like this! I’ve got just a few minutes to grab their attention, bend their minds, and align them to the future!
Daily Inspiration: “What made you successful in the last 10 years will not make you successful in the next 10. Given that, what are you going to change in your thinking to adjust to this harsh reality?”
“What made you successful in the last 10 years will not make you successful in the next 10. Given that, what are you going to change in your thinking to adjust to this harsh reality?” – Futurist Jim Carroll’’
It was this far…
“It was this far from the hole!” – Futurist Jim Carroll
‘’ Seriously. It was! A picture from my keynote for the #PGA of America annual general meeting, where I spoke about future trends providing opportunity for growth for this sport.
It’s a long weekend — Canada’s 150th birthday and the July 4th weekend in the US. Lots of folks will spend their time on the golf course. Think about how the golf industry is being impacted by innovation & technology — read my article analyzing a Golf Digest article about future trends in golf. ‘’
Innovating Post-Brexit – And – Can America Innovate Again?
We certainly live in interesting times!
Here’s what I’ve noticed in this new era of hyper-turmoil and uncertainty — many organizations are turning off their innovation engines, waiting to see what happens next in a world in which volatility is the new normal.
The New Yorker had a great article in 2009 after the financial meltdown, “Hanging tough,” that outlined how some companies choose to ensure that they stay innovative in recessionary times – while others did not. In the context of the uncertainty of today, it’s worth a read. For example, they contrast two cereal companies: one that chose to focus on innovation despite uncertainty, while another did not.
“You’d think that everyone would want to emulate Kellogg’s success, but, when hard times hit, most companies end up behaving more like Post. They hunker down, cut spending, and wait for good times to return. They make fewer acquisitions, even though prices are cheaper. They cut advertising budgets. And often they invest less in research and development. They do all this to preserve what they have.”
My recent discussions with Fortune 1000 CEOs and senior executives in both UK and the US certainly indicate that this is happening again. Post-Brexit, uncertainty and aggressive indecision is roiling the C-suite in the UK — deferring decisions has become the norm. In the US, the never-ending election has placed a pause on most big decisions — inaction has settled in like a wet-sponge!
Big question – in this context, is the UK done? Can America innovate again, or is this a cultural and leadership ‘new normal?’ Here’s what I know – the winners and losers of the future are being determined right now!
Yet history has taught us, over and over again, that those who are aggressive with innovation, and who align themselves to future trends in times of uncertainty, are those who win in the long run. For years, I’ve talked on stage and in my leadership meetings of the key observation by GE’s Chief Innovation Consultant. Simple, powerful guidance: breakthrough performers manage to accomplish great things because of a decision to focus on innovation right in the middle of an economic challenge or an era of uncertainty– rather than waiting till they came into a recovery phase.
The research found that during the oil shock of 70’s, 80’s and 90’s recession, and the 2000 dot com bust, of those companies surveyed, 70% of companies barely survived, 30% died, but 10% became breakthrough performers. Noted the GE head of innovation: it was explicitly “…because of choices they made in the recession.”
So it really comes down to this: when do you innovate? Are you going to wait until you are comfortable that an era of uncertainty is over? Bad decision — because economic and political volatility is the new normal!
Everything we have learned has taught us that the winners were those who decided that it was an important thing to keep moving ahead despite massive amounts of uncertainty. Get out of your future-funk! Try this clip from a keynote I undertook on stage after the meltdown of 2008-2009. “Innovators get out in front of the recession“.
- “numerous studies have shown that companies that keep spending on acquisition, advertising, and R. & D. during recessions do significantly better than those which make big cuts”
- “a McKinsey study of the 1990-91 recession found that companies that remained market leaders or became serious challengers during the downturn had increased their acquisition, R. & D., and ad budgets, while companies at the bottom of the pile had reduced them”
- “Uncertainty is always a part of business, but in a recession it dominates everything else: no one’s sure how long the downturn will last, how shoppers will react, whether we’ll go back to the way things were before or see permanent changes in consumer behavior. So it’s natural to focus on what you can control: minimizing losses and improving short-term results.”
Innovation winners?
- “Kraft introduced Miracle Whip in 1933 and saw it become America’s best-selling dressing in six months; Texas Instruments brought out the transistor radio in the 1954 recession; Apple launched the iPod in 2001.”
Read the article. It’s powerful stuff!
Given that, what do you do? Change your culture and set out to achieve breakthrough results despite uncertainty!
Here is some more innovation-soup for your innovation-soul!
Innovation: Do it Now. Rethink it. Experiment – a Lot!
I do a lot of Fortune 1000 leadership events. By way of example, I’ll be spending time with a massive manufacturer in the rail industry in just a few weeks, and will deliver them a highly customized talk that will help them accelerate their innovation efforts.
For them, it’s important that my leadership keynote speaks to the concept of innovation in a way that is relevant to everyone in the room.
Hence, three simple things about innovation!
- it’s urgent that the organization focuses on innovation right now
- it’s important that as they do so, they re-evaluate the concept of what they believe innovation to be
- it’s critical that they take on a large number of experimental projects oriented towards innovative thinking
Putting each of this issues into perspective explains my thinking:
Do it now: Every industry is faced with unprecedented change. Think about financial services: there’s the impact of mobile banking, the transfer of wealth to a new generation who thinks about financial management in entirely different ways, the emergence of new competitors. The list goes on and on. You can come up with a similar list for any industry. That’s why it important that organizations establish a culture in which innovation is a priority, in order to keep up with and take advantage of the trends swirling around them
Reframe the concept: Many organizations fail at innovation because they don’t really understand what it could be. For many people, they think innovation is for cool people who design cool products that change the world: call it the “Apple effect.” But for years, I’ve been reframing innovation from another perspective that helps to open up the minds of people as to its opportunity.
Innovation is a culture in which the leadership and the entire team continually challenges themselves with three questions: what can I do to run the business better, grow the business, or transform the business?
There’s a good video clip that you can watch on that theme, “Rethinking Innovation”
Experiment – a lot: Technology is the driver of disruptive business model change in every industry. Social networks, new competitors, the Internet of Things, the Amazon effect — you name it, and there is an absolute flood of disruption. Most organizations don’t have the skill or insight to deal with fas technology-driven change. But world class innovators continually establish a regular series of projects by which they can build up their experience with the stuff that comes from the idea-flood. The more experience they build up, the more “experiential capital” they create. I’ve argued that going into the high velocity 21st century economy, “experiential capital” will become as critical if not more important than financial capital.
I actually spoke about the concept of “experiential capital” when I was the opening keynote speaker for the annual general meeting of the PGA of America – it’s worth a watch.
Suffice it to say, if you rethink innovation in terms of these three basic concepts, it will help you deal with a world in which the future belongs to those who are fast!
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