Perspectives — shared value & ecosystems

In a world characterised by complexity and exponential change, it is incumbent on leaders to interrogate and anticipate the nature and risks of the wave of new technologies ushering in the fourth industrial revolution, and to consider the role their organisations play in harnessing their potential for the benefit of our resource-constrained planet and societies. 

The convergence of internet technologies, cloud computing, and augmented analytical tools to interpret the rivers of data flowing through our now connected physical world is enabling the re-imagining of new business opportunities and whole industries. It's an exciting time to be involved in innovation, in harnessing this exponential level of change to deliver superior customer experience, and drive profitable growth. Yet it seems that meaningful innovation, in a world where all systems are becoming inter-connected, is now harder than ever to execute, whether you're the start up or the incumbent.  Transforming long established industries, whether automotive, pharmaceuticals, service or healthcare, requires sophisticated knowledge of regulations, testing protocols, and traditional physical assets in addition...

Managing strategic uncertainty in organisations requires you to develop your view of your possible, plausible, probable and preferable future. Developing strategic foresight requires asking better questions, recognising your unconscious biases, and collaborating with a well-informed crowd of super-forecasters.

To thrive in turbulent times requires innovation and agility, both of which demand collaboration. And one of the most significant barriers to collaboration within established organisations is that information and knowledge have long been hoarded as sources of personal power.  This tendency to hoard information and to protect fiefdoms are practices that run contrary to the logic of newly pervasive networking technologies such as social media and open innovation platforms. Such technologies are challenging attitudes about the ownership and the sharing of information and intellectual property, worldviews that have underpinned our collective interactions for centuries. The Guggenheim opened an innovative exhibition last month which allows visitors to...