Podcast appearances and mentions of andrea kates

It used to be, not long ago, that business was a zero sum game with winners and losers, where strategy was about gaining competitive advantage to win bigger marketshare. That model seems to be quickly dating.  An emerging new approach to business is leveraging the power of co-creation to effect combinatorial gains across businesses and industries to not only increase market share for everyone but to also create new value opportunities for customers. Welcome to the Ecosystem Model. In this roaring interview with international, Sillicon Valley based, thought leader, Andrea Kates we discuss how incumbent organisations can leverage their scale and influence to build Ecosystems that maximise, growth, impact and opportunities for players of all sizes and customers.

The Future of Work++ - Leadership & Culture An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) Episode summary Futureproofing Now hosts Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt provide their top updates on what’s changed and how to get ahead of the next wave of leadership, work + technology. We explore the companies leading the way and present practical guidance to crawl, walk and run toward the future state workplace. Before the COVID pandemic, headlines on technology + work focused on gradual transitions into mobile, cloud, quantum, and virtual. Now, we’ve witnessed a rapid acceleration of timelines of what’s possible as the global workforce has embraced an anywhere, anytime mindset. Practical guidance for leaders on these critical topics: - 10 new realities for The Future of Work - What’s changed in work + technology in the past 3 months - 5 models for how to get your team on board with a technology-enabled workplace - 3 secrets to leapfrogging past barriers - How to bridge the gap between where you are today and where you need to be in attracting talent and enhancing skills KILLER QUOTES Sean Moffitt: Speaker 1: (time code 25:05) The biggest emerging future forces that I believe are here to stay: #1 The rise of HR as a central strategic function as companies are struggling to rethink their relationship with talent #2 The importance of purpose for companies as a core value that is not only expressed on paper but lived through clear and explicit action On the rise of HR, the playing field has gotten so complex: we can work from anywhere, talent can live far away from the traditional headquarters, and the skills we need to make our companies strong are changing so quickly that there needs to be upskilling in place like never before.

FUTUREPROOFING AWARDS Experiences, Engagement, Technology, Platforms An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) Overview: This episode focuses on the Award-Worthy Winners who brought great ideas to scale. We share the results of our scouting efforts and provide rules of thumb for companies that want to hit new levels of growth in today’s market. Futureproofing Now hosts Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt and expert panelists shine the spotlight on award-worthy companies in Experiences, Engagement, Technology, and Platforms. We reveal the factors that put some companies ahead of their peers and provide guidance for every industry in how to move forward in today’s market. The chaos of the past year has driven tremendous innovation in technology and platforms to support societal shifts related to the workplace, consumer goods, manufacturing, entertainment, travel—virtually every industry. Tune in as we discuss the ingenuity and commitment of companies that went above and beyond to provide customer experiences that were rich and engaging, or technologies that were a cut above their competitors. What you'll learn: - Which companies are winning the day in Customer Experience - What it takes to command Customer Engagement in today’s crowded marketplace - How Technology + Platforms serve as a multiplier of innovation - Companies — on and off the radar — that are winning today - How to be a leading company in today’s market With F:N Webcast Hosts: Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt with special guest panelists: John Monks, and Jean-Marc Frangos

FUTUREPROOFING AWARDS - Products, brands, channels & growth An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) Overview: In this episode, Futureproofing Now hosts Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt and expert panelists shine the spotlight on award-worthy companies in Products, Brands, Channels and Growth. We reveal the factors that put some companies ahead of their peers and provide guidance for every industry in how to move forward in today’s market. It’s been a challenging year to develop products that stand the test of time, brands that continue to earn customer loyalty, channels that drive new paths to market and new models for growth. Over the past year, we’ve experienced dramatic shifts in virtually every industry, due in part to the impact of a health pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and economic stress. Yet, despite it all, some inspiring companies rose to the top of the list for consumers. What have been the secret ingredients? Who’s done it best? Which companies deserve a Futureproofing Award—proving that they ride the waves of change and inspire others to thrive? What you'll learn: - Which products are at the top of their industry in each category - Which companies—on and off the radar—deserve to be award winners in Products, Brands, Channels and Growth categories - What it takes to win in each category: which trends guide leadership in today’s market With F:N Webcast Hosts: Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt with Special guest panelists: Bob Walton, Storm Surge Strategies and Taylor Ryan, Klint Marketing. SUMMARY OF AWARD RECOMMENDATIONS SO FAR: CATEGORY: Brands: Samsung, Nokia, AccendoWave, JetBlue, Patagonia, TentStyle, Aviation Gin CATEGORY: Products: Twill, Ware2Go, Metabiota, Clorox, Hershey’s, White Claw, StyleSaint CATEGORY: Channels: SpaceX, TikTok, Blue Shield of California, Morrisons, Article CATEGORY: Growth: Swile, Canva, Medivis,, Spatial.io, Prodigy Oculus Quest, Medivis, Lego. Amazon, Shopify, Prodigy HASHTAGS: #AccendoWave #Samsung #Nokia #JetBlue #Patagonia #TentStyle #AviationGin #Twill #Maersk #Metabiota #MunichRE #Clorox #UnitedAirlines #ClevelandClinic #Hersheys #WhiteClaw #StyleSaint #SpaceX #TikTok #Morrisons #BlueShieldofCalifornia #Article # #machinelearning #digitialhealth

An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) OVERVIEW Futureproofing Now hosts Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt share insights from their recent Future of Work 2020++ foresight study and invite various FN guild members into a free-flowing conversation on what's next people-wise. They tackle the big questions, and surface ideas and thoughts on the very meaning of careers, work and skills needed to succeed in the future. GENERAL BACKGROUND FOR THE DISCUSSION The program includes a look at which skills will keep people ahead in a rapidly-changing work environment and the explores the importance of employee experience as a driver of corporate strength. The panel looks at what’s driving the widening gap with the ability to satisfy that need with talent. Focus of the conversation: - What are the biggest future tipping points in talent, careers and skills? - Will certain industries be affected more than others? - How do we deal with the ethics and morality of where work is going? - Where do we settle on the key seven debates about the future of talent, careers and skills, with evidence? - What do smart, future-minded leaders, companies, HR people, governments, edtech and universities do to harness the people future ideally ? CO-HOSTS Sean Moffitt + Andrea Kates, Futureproofing : Next PANELISTS Wagner Denuzzo Head of Capabilities for Future of Work at Prudential Financial Soulaima Gourani, Founder of Women Reignite Karen Koucher, General Manager, Global Talent & Learning Experiences, Microsoft Matteo Rizzi, Societe Generale, global fintech expert, author Talents & Rebels

FUTUREPROOFING AWARDS Business Models, Ecosystems, Talent, Transformations An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) Overview: In this episode, we look at which companies have embraced business model innovation as their leading growth driver. We also share our winners in talent—what are the factors that distinguish them? Which are the companies that have adapted best to the dramatic shifts in global markets to win the day in corporate transformation? Futureproofing Now hosts Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt and expert panelists shine the spotlight on award-worthy companies in Business Models, Ecosystems, Talent and Transformation. We reveal the factors that put some companies ahead of their peers and provide guidance for every industry in how to move forward in today’s market. The secret weapons of award-worthy companies are hidden—they’re built into the fabric of their culture: novel business models, robust ecosystems, distinctive talent, and corporate DNA that fuels transformation. What you'll learn: - Which companies are winning the day in Talent: acquisition, inspiration, reskilling, impact - What it takes to deploy Business Models designed for today’s market forces - The ABC’s of building a stellar ecosystem - Companies that have risen to the top in resilience and transformation - How to be a leading company in today’s market With F:N Webcast Hosts: Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt with Special guest panelists: Moisés Noreña and George Mathew, MD.

An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) Co-Hosts: Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt Guest Panelists: Bob Gourley CTO and Co-Founder, OODA Kayne McGladrey Security Architect, Ascent Solutions Carol Tang Automotive Cybersecurity Expert Overview: In this episode, Futureproofing Now hosts Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt provide their top cybersecurity and trust insights from The Digital Periscope foresight study on what variables to consider during each stage of innovation++ development. They explore the factors involved, the roster of current solutions and future panaceas to defend against financial peril & espionage. With cyberthreats looming large and cybercrime predicted to cost the world US$6 trillion by 2021, it’s no wonder that cybersecurity has sprung up as a "board need-to-know" and an investment “hot commodity”. In fact, the world needs +145% more cybersecurity professionals simply to meet the growing needs and global demands of the market. There is real risk here too, share prices of breached companies fall over 7% in the two weeks after a breach is made public. Never mind the careers lost and brand equity bruised, the average breach causes $4 million directly in damages. Fueled by the dizzying new array of technologies that makes change & innovation more vulnerable to cyberthreats, the Futureproofing : Next team + their panelists, explores what the biggest cyberthreats are and how to defend, and in some cases even harness the threats as potential value. Episode Hashtags: #FutureproofingNow #FutureTrustSee all of webinars at: http://futureproofingnext.com/futurep...

In the Author’s Studio: The Fearless Organization. Amy Edmondson in conversation with Andrea Kates, Futureproofing : Next In this episode of Futureproofing Next’s In the Author’s Studio, we speak with Amy Edmondson, author of The Fearless Organization. Edmondson’s groundbreaking research in the importance of Psychological Safety established a global standard for organizations working to drive innovation and engineer top-performing teams. Google studied the secret behind out-performing teams, they were surprised to discover a common element at the heart of it all—psychological safety. Real life research pointed to an irrefutable correlation between team results and the presence of “psychological safety”, a team dynamic that encourages people to speak up without negative repercussions. That revelation set the stage for Amy Edmondson to expand her insights about psychological safety into her book, The Fearless Organization. Corporate examples in the episode: Volkswagen, Wells Fargo, Barry Wehmiller, and Fukushima Daini, Google. To Build a Top-Performing Fearless Organization, Leaders Need a New Standard to Create a Culture of Psychological Safety Be clear at framing the work and openly address the potential for failure to be part of the process. Emphasize purpose: clearly articulate why the work matters and for whom. Demonstrate situational humility: communicate that you don’t have all the answers. Emphasize the importance of learning more Practice proactive inquiry. Make sure you ask good questions and not simply assert your own point of view. Create systems that force open dialogue Express appreciation. Destigmatize failure. Sanction clear violations.

The Future of Finance - A Glimpse at the Next 5 years of Banking, Investing. Insurance & Fintech, Payments & Finance An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) #FutureproofingNow #FutureofFinance Overview: For the greater part of the last century, finance operated above the fracas of most year-to-year marketplace shifts. Now it's part of a perfect storm of change. The finance world is not only a $30 trillion industry annually but it has also been deemed the most disrupted industry, with threats from all sides. Futureproofing Now hosts Sean Moffitt & Andrea Kates engage with panelists from the banking, investment, insurance and fintech worlds to imagine what the face of finance will look like over the next five years. GENERAL BACKGROUND FOR THE DISCUSSION What's changing? How will technology impact the sector? How will the customer and their demands change? How will the business model of finance change? What does all of this mean for the future of finance work? Who is climbing, winning and losing? What will be the burden of regulation and compliance? Where will future threats will most likely come from? Focus of the conversation - The biggest dynamics shifting the world of Finance - Expert commentary on changes in key finance sub-sectors - What all these shifts mean for the world around us - A landscape on who will and who won't be at the top of the pile five years from now (and why) - What the incumbents and revolutionaries need to do to get "traction" in this new world - What leaders should focus on to futureproof their organizations CO-HOSTS Sean Moffitt + Andrea Kates, Futureproofing : Next PANELISTS: Jessica Ross, SVP Finance, Office of Transformation, Salesforce [Global] Thomas Krogh Jensen, CEO Copenhagen FinTech [Denmark] Amy Dawson, Head of North America Innovation, Visa [North America] Mario Hernandez, CEO OpenFinance2020 [Mexico]

Corporate change needs to change. How can it be that a disappointing 74% of corporate transformation projects fail? Greg Satell, author of Cascades, How to Create a Movement that Drives Transformational Change, has figured out why and provides a powerful alternative. In this interview, In the Author's Studio with the Futureproofing : Next team, Satell acknowledges that successful corporate transformation begins with a small group of people getting inspired that things can change. However, what sparks change in conceiving of the new vision is not effective in spreading that vision to a larger organization. Here’s how to start a mass movement. Step One: Initial zealots become fully engaged in a significant shift because of what’s NEW and DIFFERENT. Step Two: A small group gains early wins. Step Three: The zealots shift their narrative AWAY FROM what’s new and different in favor of a view of WHERE THERE IS COMMON GROUND between the old way of working and the new model. “The things that make people passionate about a new idea initially are NOT the same things that bring new people in. For a movement to take flight, you have to switch the narrative from an emphasis on DIFFERENTIATED VALUES to SHARED VALUES.” You’ll learn how companies like Netflix, Experian, and P&G broke the mold to move from small, team-level wins to a corporate movement. In this lively discussion, Greg Satell shares practical wisdom that is essential to getting well-intentioned change initiatives across the finish line.

The subscription economy is a white-hot business model for companies, regardless of industry. Strategy consultant Robbie Kellman Baxter has been helping companies excel in this business environment for more than a decade. Now, in "The Forever Transaction - How to Build a Subscription Model So Compelling, Your Customers Will Never Want to Leave", she reveals all her secrets. You’ll find out how industry leaders like Under Armour, Microsoft, and Netflix have created an ever-expanding customer base of loyal subscribers―and are keeping them coming back. You’ll learn how to lead your organization through every step of the process―from initial start-up to new product testing, scaling for long-term growth and sustainability to revamping your culture so everyone works together to optimize customer lifetime value. You’ll also master all the essentials of succeeding in the Membership Economy, like subscription pricing, Software-as-a-Service, digital community engagement, and freemium incentives as a way to turn casual browsers into cash-paying super-users. In Robbie's second book (her first was "The Membership Economy") The Forever Transaction, you have everything you need to build durable, long-term relationships with every customer, and leverage them for ultimate business success―today, tomorrow, and forever.

In our debut episode, host Andrea Kates interviews Tendayi Viki on his upcoming book "Pirates in the Navy - How Innovators Lead Transformation" due out May 14th, 2020. Message: There is nothing harder in business than trying to innovate within large corporations. Innovators in big companies often face internal opposition as well as their external competitors. It is the management of the core business that tends to get in the way of innovation. Most intrapreneurs recognise that innovation can’t be carried out as a series of one-off projects that always have to jump through political hurdles. They realise that there is a need for innovation to happen as a repeatable process. But how can they achieve this? This is a step-by-step guide to getting continuous innovation done in companies and reshaping them in the process. It is for anyone involved in corporate innovation and driving company change. Category: Business & Digital Transformation

A webcast/podcast presented by the global innovation practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com). It used to be that business model innovation was a nice to have to drive growth. In this dynamic market, the ability to morph into a new business model can be the killer skill. But, how can we determine which model is best for our organization? What does each model do most effectively? Why are some companies moving fast toward a new model? What are examples of brands that exemplify the archetypical models that are leading the pack today? What should we do first to understand, evaluate, select and ultimately implement a fresh business model? In this episode we: Share research we’ve done on which business models are rising to the top of the list in corporations and scaleups in today’s market Hear from 4 experts from around the globe with expertise in applying business models innovatively and with impact to drive growth and shift direction in a dynamic market. The panelists are: Sun-Mi (aka Sunny) Choi, Karla Congson, Shelley Kuipers, and Dave Stritzinger (bios below) Launch our flashcard deck of the leading 52 business models of the future - equipping our community, clients and curiosity seekers to up their game to drive business impact. We share why we built the deck, how to use the cards, and how we arrived at our list of 52 (from our starting point of 181). Address questions from the community of futureproofersand discuss each of the four buckets of business models: SUIT A Making Stuff—Assets & Structures Ace: Data/Intelligence-based King: Decentralized/Disintermediated Queen: Commons/Open Access Jack: Dropshipping/Asset-Free SUIT B Making Stuff—Activities and Partners Ace: Platform/Interface King: Strategic Alliances Queen: Bespoke/Mass Customization Jack: Co-created Development Partners SUIT C Selling Something—Customer Segments & Relationships Ace: Multi-sided Segments King: Trust-driven/Certified Queen: Experience/Service-driven Jack: Tribal/Values-based SUIT D Selling Something—Channels & Monetization Ace: eCommerce King: Subscription-As-A-Service Queen: Direct-to-Consumer Jack: Dynamic Pricing Who: Hosts: Sean Moffitt & Andrea Kates, Co-Founders, Futureproofing : Next Expert Panelists: Shelley Kuipers, IOVIA, The 51 & Harris Kuipers Karla Congson, openGravity & collective.iq Dave Stritzinger Sun Mi-Choi, Bosch What You'll Learn/Themes: Business model innovation is the new killer skill. (Amazonification, Alibabation) Companies today are rethinking business models in retail, consumer goods, technology, food/agriculture, professional services, energy, communications, entertainment, fintech, real estate, manufacturing. Exploration: Why the leading models rise to the top in today’s market: Data availability, global supply chain, collaboration within the network, shifts in customer experience priorities. Big idea: How can new business models be introduced within an existing business? Discussion: What was the process FutureproofingNext used to rank the leading business models of the future? How can leaders apply the research results to prepare for what's coming next? Recorded: March 24th, 2020

Getting ventures launched and up & running is one thing, having them stick and grow at ridiculous 10X multiples is quite another. Great ideas are worthless unless you know how to execute. And when it comes to the world of innovation+, you need to scale or fail. As practitioners ourselves, we have launched countless initiatives, new products and ventures into the unpredictable world of the marketplace. Sometimes you here dollar signs and accolades, other times you hear crickets and failure. In this episode, we uncover secrets of how organizations ramp up their inside swagger and outside voice and take their seed innovation ideas eventually to the bank! Growth hacking. Blitzscaling. Network effects. Hypergrowth. Demand engines. Product-market fit. Crossing the chasm. We'll discuss them all. Find out the dirty truth that most innovators don't like to tell you - they have no idea how their hatchling will perform in-market. Turn to some of the experts who know differently. Join us for our most pragmatic webcast & podcast episode as Futureproofing Now explores the secrets of scaling innovation+ on and discusses some of the 20+ factors the best corporate growth hackers and change agents get right. An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com). With special guests: Kent Lawson, Executive Director of Brand and Customer Experience, Blue Cross Blue Shield (Chicago) https://www.linkedin.com/in/kent-laws... Stine Kalmer Jørgensen, CEO /Co-founder, dreamplan.io (Denmark) https://www.linkedin.com/in/stinekalmer/ Jed Schneiderman, Executive VP, Growth & Marketing, EQ Works (Toronto) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jed-schne... Ann Hargraves, Principal Mindset (Boston) https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-hargr... And your hosts: Andrea Kates, Co-Founder, Futureproofing ; Next and MD, iScale (Silicon Valley) https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreakates/ Sean Moffitt, Co-Founder, Futureproofing : Next and MD, Wikibrands (Toronto) https://www.linkedin.com/in/moffittsean/ See all of webinars at: http://futureproofingnext.com/futureproofingnow Take our 5 Minute Scale & Barometer Survey at: http://bit.ly/scalebarometer

Join us for perhaps our proudest webcast & podcast episode as Futureproofing Now exploring our founders' new page turning book. We'll take you inside the thinking and behind-the-scenes development or our book "Futureproofing : Next - The Future Beyond Innovation", available where all good books are sold. In a highly personal episode of Futureproofing Now, we are going to share our favourites among the 4 steps, 11 chapters, 10 canvases, 25 case studies, 30+ research pieces, 50+ tools and over 100+ relevant web links of content. Most importantly, authors Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt have six core messages that they want to share in this webcast that are what the book is all about and important rallying cries for changemakers heading into the new decade. We are also going to provide some energy on how this innovation++ industry has to get better; we simply need to find better ways to challenge the status quo and deliver change faster, bolder, simpler and friendlier.

You hopefully know by now that AI is already a big thing, and only getting bigger. We're now going to peer inside the AI treasure chest and tell you why and how. Join us for our first AI-specific Futureproofing Now webcast & podcast where we provide some of the best practical takes on why, how and when AI will emerge as a force in many industries with "AI & the New Dimension of Innovation+" and how the very nature of change and transforming your business surrenders to AI's advancement. An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) With F:N Webcast Hosts: Sean Moffitt, Andrea Kates, and special expert guests and FN66 Champions: Kevin Surace, Chairman & CTO, Appvance.ai Nathana Sharma, General Counsel, Labelbox Charles Jankowski, Conversational Systems Expert Benjamin Levy, Co-founder & General Partner, Bootstrap Labs Alex Tsado, Founder, Alliance4AI Description: AI was ranked by a wide margin as the most transformative technology in our Emerging 30 Tech ranking for 2019. It will likely be #1 again in 2020 but what will that actually mean. Futureproofing Now takes aways the veil from your eyes and gives you tangible evidence of how fast, how important and how broad sweeping AI will affect how we do work, how we manage change and how we reinvent our businesses in the future. This is the AI webcast for innovators people have been waiting for. In our doubleheader of a twelvth episode of Futureproofing Now, we are going to bring the experts doing AI work in the trenches, both corporate champions of the technology and interesting specialist firms changing the ways we do work. What is AI? What are its 10 key components? How do innovators implement it? What are some of the more interesting applications up close? What is the best advice for somebody starting out? and for people and teams taking it to the next level? Futureproofing Now will also be asking some of our newly minted FN66 champions to provide their views. And an exciting new AI-based research venture taking place in spring 2020 will be announced. The AI genie is out of the bottle, let's take it on a magic carpet ride! What you'll learn: Table stakes - what is AI? what types exist? what are its underpinnings? key benefits and key watchouts? The top 10 applications of AI ranked and why each received their ranking A timeline when you are no longer going to be the early adopter of AI Some practical considerations implementing AI at scale A quick hitter on what are the biggest by industry impacts to watch for induced by AI A demonstration and conversation with 4 leading AI firms implementing AI with customers & brands, talent & the workplace, change & innovation and transformation & process

Hosts: Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt, Co-founder Futureproofing : Next An interactive webcast and demonstrations presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) With F:N Webcast Hosts: Sean Moffitt, Andrea Kates, and special expert guests and FN66 Champions: Kevin Surace, Chairman & CTO, Appvance.ai Christian Lawaetz Halvorsen, Chief Experience Officer, Valuer,ai Clarice Wong, Machine Learning Support Engineer, Labelbox Jonathan Eisenzopf, Founder & CTO, Discourse.ai Description: You hopefully know by now that AI is already a big thing, and only getting bigger. We're now going to peer inside the AI treasure chest and tell you why and how. Join us for our first AI-specific Futureproofing Now webcast & podcast, where we provided some of the best practical takes on why, how and when AI will emerge as a force in many industries with "AI & the New Dimension of Innovation+" and how the very nature of change and transforming your business surrenders to AI's advancement. Description: AI was ranked by a wide margin as the most transformative technology in our Emerging 30 Tech ranking for 2019. It will likely be #1 again in 2020 but what will that actually mean. Futureproofing Now takes aways the veil from your eyes and gives you tangible evidence of how fast, how important and how broad sweeping AI will affect how we do work, how we manage change and how we reinvent our businesses in the future. This is the AI webcast for innovators people have been waiting for. In our doubleheader of a twelvth episode of Futureproofing Now, we are going to bring the experts doing AI work in the trenches, both corporate champions of the technology and interesting specialist firms changing the ways we do work. What is AI? What are its 10 key components? How do innovators implement it? What are some of the more interesting applications up close? What is the best advice for somebody starting out? and for people and teams taking it to the next level? Futureproofing Now will also be asking some of our newly minted FN66 champions to provide their views. And an exciting new AI-based research venture taking place in spring 2020 will be announced. The AI genie is out of the bottle, let's take it on a magic carpet ride! What you'll learn: Table stakes - what is AI? what types exist? what are its underpinnings? key benefits and key watchouts? The top 10 applications of AI ranked and why each received their ranking A timeline when you are no longer going to be the early adopter of AI Some practical considerations implementing AI at scale A quick hitter on what are the biggest by industry impacts to watch for induced by AI A demonstration and conversation with 4 leading AI firms implementing AI with customers & brands, talent & the workplace, change & innovation and transformation & process

Hosts: Sean Moffitt & Andrea Kates, Co-founders, Futureproofing : Next Expert collaborators and product, brand & channel innovation specialists: Doyle Buehler, Head of Dept. Digital/Breakthrough Digital/Digital Delusion James Euchner, Partner, Outside Inside Consulting LLC Mark Zawacki, Founder, 650 Labs Put on your virtual tuxedos and ball gown dresses - we are hosting our own Oscars for innovation. Which companies our owning the futures red carpet this year? Working through our esteemed panel of F:N 66 Guild and global experts, we've pulled together our short list of candidates that should be recognized and noted for their clairvoyant, groundbreaking innovation & growth efforts as we're about to ring in the next decade. In our tenth episode of Futureproofing Now, we project what companies should likely be owning the future. Unlike many magazines' efforts, it's not because our editor had drinks with the company CEO, or that we saw they raised a lot of money on Crunchable or that we live in NYC/Silicon Valley/London (insert big city here) so i guess we should reward the big local hero. No, we've scoured the earth the find the big (or getting bigger), bold and beautiful that are challenging convention and winning the future. Futureproofing Now will be inviting our judges and nominees to the backstage webcast party in a set of three webinars, each rewarding: Top Product, Brand, Channel & Growth Futureproofers In this episode you'll : Preview the nominees for F:N's 2020 Futureproofing Awards Hear from our judges on what drove their choices Discover how large companies are embracing the future Find out how challenger companies and scaling business are beating incumbents Learn about the Top Ten Product, Brand & Channel Futureproofing Nominees Get involved with Futureproofing ; Next's 2020 Futureproofing Awards Have a look at our 2020 Futureproofing Awards nomination & portal page: www.futureproofingnext.com/thefutureproofingawards/

Hosts: Sean Moffitt & Andrea Kates, Co-Founders, Futureproofing : Next Special Guests: Gregg Witt, Chief Strategy Officer, Engage Youth Co. Jonathan Hoffberg, Principal, F360UX Nina Fountain, Founder/Workplace Strategist, Transformed Teams Farid Mheir, Founder, fmhs Put on your virtual tuxedos and ball gown dresses - we are hosting our own Oscars for innovation. Which companies our owning the futures red carpet this year? Working through our esteemed panel of F:N 66 Guild and global experts, we've pulled together our short list of candidates that should be recognized and noted for their clairvoyant, groundbreaking innovation & growth efforts as we're about to ring in the next decade. In our tenth episode of Futureproofing Now, we project what companies should likely be owning the future. Unlike many magazines' efforts, it's not because our editor had drinks with the company CEO, or that we saw they raised a lot of money on Crunchable or that we live in NYC/Silicon Valley/London (insert big city here) so i guess we should reward the big local hero. No, we've scoured the earth the find the big (or getting bigger), bold and beautiful that are challenging convention and winning the future. Futureproofing Now will be inviting our judges and nominees to the backstage webcast party in a set of three webinars, each rewarding: Top Product, Brand, Growth & Channel Futureproofers Top Experience, Engagement, Technology & Platform Futureproofers Top Business Model, Ecosystem, Talent and Transformation Futurerproofers What you'll learn in this episode: Preview the nominees for F:N's 2020 Futureproofing Awards Hear from our judges on what drove their choices Discover how large companies are embracing the future Find out how challenger companies and scaling business are beating incumbents Learn about the Top Ten Business Model, Ecosystem, Talent and Transformation Futurerproofing Nominees Get involved with Futureproofing ; Next's 2020 Futureproofing Awards

Hosts: Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt, Co-founder Futureproofing : Next Join us for the start of our Season 2 Futureproofing Now webcast & podcast on change, growth, innovation, transformation and the future, where we give a state of the nation on a "2020 Vision for 2020" and what change agents need to do this year. An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation++ practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) With F:N Webcast Hosts: Sean Moffitt, Andrea Kates, and special expert guests and FN66 Champions. Description: 2020 is an interesting year. it's also an interesting number. The pace of change is unrelenting, and the need for clarity and focus is so fundamental to healthy, growing business. Futureproofing Now hosts Sean Moffitt & Andrea Kates will have a fireside chat that acts as a "get up and go" spark to our community focused on implementing change. We're going to start wide and go narrow by providing our take on what's ahead and some helpful tools to spur people to action over the next 12 months. In our eleventh episode of Futureproofing Now, we are going to patch our learnings from 2019 from our 200+ clients, 66 FN champions and recent marketplace studies to deliver sharpness and acuity to your work ahead. What will be more important than ever? What are the biggest learnings we have on the change space? What are our musings on our January FN33 top news headlines? What are the Metatrends that will affect all industries? How can you make change a personal mandate with our simple test? And our FN99 - choices for the best 99 books on the world of futureproofing? Futureproofing Now will also be asking some of our newly minted FN66 champions to provide their views. And some exciting new developments ahead. 2020 may be your best year yet! What you'll learn: The heightened premium for 4 fundamental needs to build into your change leadership for 2020 and beyond The top observations and pearls of wisdom from our FN66 champions Our review of the top FN33 headlines for the month of January A revised list and ranking of our top 20 Metatrends that will drive behaviour across every technology, industry, culture and marketplace A list of attributes that make change a personal mindset and an interactive quiz to test your own appetite for change The consummate bookshelf - our group's choices for the best books on innovation++ Some teaser announcements we'll reveal to our community & network as we begin the year

Hosts: Sean Moffitt and Andrea Kates, Co-Founders, Futureproofing : Next Guest Panelists: John Koetsier, Journalist, Analyst, Futurist, Dreamer, CEO, Sparkplug9 Lars Ib, CEO, Business Institute Denmark Jeanne Bliss, CEO, Customer Experience Bliss Put on your virtual tuxedos and ball gown dresses - we are hosting our own Oscars for innovation. Which companies our owning the futures red carpet this year? Working through our esteemed panel of F:N 66 Guild and global experts, we've pulled together our short list of candidates that should be recognized and noted for their clairvoyant, groundbreaking innovation & growth efforts as we're about to ring in the next decade. In our tenth episode of Futureproofing Now, we project what companies should likely be owning the future. Unlike many magazines' efforts, it's not because our editor had drinks with the company CEO, or that we saw they raised a lot of money on Crunchable or that we live in NYC/Silicon Valley/London (insert big city here) so i guess we should reward the big local hero. No, we've scoured the earth the find the big (or getting bigger), bold and beautiful that are challenging convention and winning the future. Futureproofing Now will be inviting our judges and nominees to the backstage webcast party in a set of three webinars, each rewarding: Top Experience, Technology, Engagement & Platform Futureproofers Top Business Model, Ecosystem, Talent and Transformation Futurerproofers What you'll learn: Preview the nominees for F:N's 2020 Futureproofing Awards Hear from our judges on what drove their choices Discover how large companies are embracing the future Find out how challenger companies and scaling business are beating incumbents Learn about the Top Ten Experience, Engagement, Technology & Platform Futureproofing Nominees Get involved with Futureproofing ; Next's 2020 Futureproofing Awards Webcast Pages: http://futureproofingnext.com/futureproofingnow/ Awards portal: www.futureproofingnext.com/thefutureproofingawards/

A webcast presented by the global innovation practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com). TOPIC: The Future of Work I : Talent, Careers & Skills (part of a two part webcast also covering Culture, Leadership & the Workplace) Full Episode Page: http://futureproofingnext.com/fnnowfutureofworktalent/ WHY: In corporate innovation, it doesn’t matter how elegant your plans are or how cutting edge your technology is, if you don’t have your leadership and talent onboard, you’re doomed. Only 9% of CHROs believe their company has figured it out and it is the 2nd and 3rd most important reason holding innovation back.. RECORDED WHEN: Tuesday 19 November WHO: Seasoned change & innovation hosts – Andrea Kates & Sean Moffitt Expert panel of collaborators, future-minded strategists and Future of Work specialists – Laura Goodrich – GWT Founder, Behice Ece Ilhan – Senior Trend Strategist, Mintel and Camilo Russi – Head of Fulfilling Future INSIGHT: In corporate innovation, it doesn’t matter how elegant your plans are or how cutting edge your technology is, if you don’t have your leadership and talent onboard, you’re doomed. COVERAGE OF TOPICS & WHAT YOU’LL LEARN: In our ninth episode of Futureproofing Now, we project what the workplace of the future will look like in 3-to-5 years and look at what companies should be doing now to reflect the trends, values and structures of the future. – Preview early insights and kickoff our “Future of Work 2020” foresight project and get involved – Get the best predictions on what the future workplace looks like from people who are fully vested in its insights: – How to set a culture that empowers people and drives bolder innovation – How open or closed to outside talent your innovation needs to be – How to build and structure innovative talent and where is it moving next – How to build and structure innovative leadership and where is it moving next – How to build and structure innovative offices and where is it moving next – How to build and structure innovative careers and where it is moving next – How to lead and the traits required in the future – Where to focus on skills that equip us for the future – The future of careers: What does a future career look like?

Join us for our Futureproofing Now episode where we go beyond the handcuffs of innovation and take a brisk pace through the key foresights in our research report The Corporate Innovation Playbook and our favourite innovation tools in our upcoming book "Futureproofing : Next - the future beyond innovation " (scheduled publish date January 13, 2020). An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) With F:N Webcast Hosts: Sean Moffitt, Andrea Kates, and special guest: Dave Marvit, Innovation Strategy Consultant with Open Innovation Gateway, powered by Fujitsu. Description: When it comes to corporate innovation, the roster of leading philosophies, branches of thought and approaches to innovation are endless. Should we be doing agile, blue ocean, design thinking, lean startup or waterfall? With who? And when? Aghhhh ... for most people the volume is way too high. What's an innovator to do? Based on our simple "See, Learn, Decide, Commit" Futureproofing : Next approach and our seminal research study The Corporate Innovation Playbook, Andrea Kates and Sean Moffitt have spent literally thousands of hours tumbling through the weeds to understand how top performing corporate innovation works. They've crystallized a vivid portrait of what innovators could be using tools-wise against a marketplace landscape that is so infinite in its complexity and choice. We've pulled it together in a 48-page guide eponymously titled The Corporate Innovation Playbook and a 198 page book entitled Futureproofing : Next. In our eighth episode of Futureproofing Now, we walk though the key elements and tools that made it into our guidebook (and some that didn't) and provide some perspective on their importance and applicability to corporate practitioners. Futureproofing Now will also be inviting a global set of collaborators and guidebook advance readers to chime in on their reactions and what they find are the most helpful tools to get their companies and clients to next. Scan the repertoire of process maps, audits, benchmark grids, landscape, exercises, canvases, cheat sheets and tools that F:N and their expert peers actually use. What you'll learn: Develop a clear view of the top challenges and barriers corporate innovators face Glimpse the aperture of what corporate innovators will face in a fast accelerating, next 3-5 year future Gather the key highlights of Futureproofing : Next's new guide book Understand a simple "See, Learn, Decide, Commit" glide path to simpler, bolder & better innovation Share commentary on F:N's and expert innovator's favourite tools that codify and translate great thinking into great innovation action Benchmark where your company is and what things your team could apply in their own environment See a compressed highlight reel of F:N's very best tools that made it into the guidebook A special offer of Futureproofing : Next 's Corporate Innovation Playbook RECORDED: Tuesday, October 22nd

An interactive webcast presented by the global innovation practice Futureproofing : Next (futureproofingnext.com) With F:N Webcast Hosts: Sean Moffitt, Andrea Kates, and special guests: Haydn Shaughnessy - Co-founder, Flow Academy, Navrina Singh, Global Technology Leader & Robbie Kellman Baxter, Founder, Peninsula Strategies LLC PIVOTING OR EXPANDING INTO NEW BUSINESS MODELS IS THE PATHWAY TO GOLD. In our seventh episode of Futureproofing Now, we take research results gleaned over the last year from our global Corporate Innovation Playbook and rank our top candidates for the business models of the future. With technology advances, customer acceptance and new propositions, we will mix in some of the traditional corporate paths to wealth creation with some of the newer, value generators. Who will rank in the top 10? And can you take advantage of them? Futureproofing Now will also be asking our panel of business model and innovation luminaries to chime in on where they would place their bets. We’ll also be tackling how executives and change agents can go about switching to or adding business model innovation to their arsenal and how to gain acceptance from boards and management who may see these proposals coming through the front door as a misfitted toy, ugly stepchild or intimidating new tenant.

An interactive webcastpresented by the global innovation practice Futureproofing : Next. Hosted by; Sean Moffitt & Andrea Kates. Special guests; Natasha Longo & Ashok Kalyanswamy. CEOs run companies, CFOs run finances, CTOs run technology assets, CMOs get to run marketing operations and CHROs get to run talent operations, but who gets to run corporate innovation efforts? Hmmm ...it'a question that has perplexed many as we have seen the failure rates climb for corporate innovation. Does the CEO have to lead from the front? Is it everybody's job? or can there be one person that becomes the locus of all company innovation efforts.The answers may surprise you. Culled from insights from our global research study The Global Corporate Innovation Playbookwe provide insights into the who, how, where, why and whats of leading innovation. We look at how companies are structured for success and which people play a key role in the innovation agenda of successful and struggling companies. Futureproofing Now has also asked impressive innovation leaders from across industries and functional areas to add their practical two cents on what works and what doesn't work when you try to turn that corporate cruise chip onto change and growth. What you'll learn: Leading innovation best practices How future innovation leadership will evolve Key background dynamics of people who lead innovation Top functional promoters and poorest corporate performing functions Key criteria that innovation leaders live by Biases that innovation leaders have that lead to blindspots and failure Level of centralization or decentralization that should be encouraged Variances by industry and situation

The first of two webcasts presented by the global innovationpractice Futureproofing : Next. With F:N Webcast Hosts: Sean Moffitt, Andrea Kates, and a special panel of international guests. With all of our connected technology, the world may be getting smaller but when it comes to corporate innovation, it's not quite flat yet. Innovationaround the world has many different nuances given the socio-economic climates, geopolitical aspects, cultural differences, customer motivations, talent mindsets, regulatory conditions and technologies at play in each region. So we're going to travel around the innovationworld, not in 80 days, but in less than two hours. Along for our expedition, we've invited some of the most worldly innovativeminds in each geography to get a flavour of how innovationgets done similarly and differently in their respective geographies. Since there is so much to talk about, we are going to split our world up into two: - Our early webcast session will canvas the smartest insights from Asia, Europe and Oceania. - Our later webcast session will travel back to Africa, North America and South America. What we'll cover: General trends affecting corporate innovation- contrasting and comparing similarities and differences across geographies Specific regional/geographic issues, regulations, concerns and barriers to corporate innovation Specific regional/geographic areas of excitement, optimism and contributors to corporate innovation Driving technologies, customer shifts, talent and routes to market Applicable Insights about key global business topics: Fintech, AI and Machine Learning Open innovation, Collaboration and CoCreation Eastern Silk Road vs.Western Silicon Valley Polarization of Wealth, Jobs & Beliefs Effective business models & shiny company examples by geography

The second of two webcasts presented by the global innovationpractice Futureproofing : Next. With F:N Webcast Hosts: Sean Moffitt, Andrea Kates, and a special panel of international guests. With all of our connected technology, the world may be getting smaller but when it comes to corporate innovation, it's not quite flat yet. Innovation around the world has many different nuances given the socio-economic climates, geopolitical aspects, cultural differences, customer motivations, talent mindsets, regulatory conditions and technologies at play in each region. So we're going to travel around the innovationworld, not in 80 days, but in less than two hours. Along for our expedition, we've invited some of the most worldly innovativeminds in each geography to get a flavour of how innovationgets done similarly and differently in their respective geographies. Since there is so much to talk about, we are going to split our world up into two: - Our early webcast session will canvas the smartest insights from Asia, Europe and Oceania. - Our later webcast session will travel back to Africa, North America and South America. What we'll cover: General trends affecting corporate innovation- contrasting and comparing similarities and differences across geographies Specific regional/geographic issues, regulations, concerns and barriers to corporate innovation Specific regional/geographic areas of excitement, optimism and contributors to corporate innovation Driving technologies, customer shifts, talent and routes to market Applicable Insights about key global business topics: Fintech, AI and Machine Learning Open innovation, Collaboration and CoCreation Eastern Silk Road vs.Western Silicon Valley Polarization of Wealth, Jobs & Beliefs Effective business models & shiny company examples by geography

We continue our odyssey in splitting the atom of how companies and organizations get past challenges and barriers and actually "get to their next" chapter. In our second episode of our webcast series "Futureproofing Now", we demonstrate and support the six key steps for innovation-led growth that has now formed the basis of our key programs and engagements. Along with hosts Andrea Kates and Sean Moffitt, we have corralled executive thought leaders on the subject Denise Lee Yohn and Roland Harwood who will be sharing their expertise on the steps, strategies, processed and tools to get companies unstuck. The topics we’ll cover: — The 6 Core Corporate Innovations Steps and Blindspots Explained — The Six Steps & Relevant Case Studies — How to Create a Futureproofed Company Culture

Three innovations head into the ring but only one shall exit. Who will it be? Okay maybe a little too combative, but in our third webinar instalment we thought we'd have a little fun and have a debate for the century - we know each has merits but which innovation school of thought should triumph for today's fast-changing age? Will it be: In the red corner, Agile Innovation - and its focus on fast iteration, sprints and building the right things or In the white corner, Lean innovation - and its focus on experiments and validating a business model fit or In the black corner, Design Thinking - and its focus on big problem solving exploration and empathy for the customer Join the Futureproofing : Next team, Sean Moffitt and Andrea Kates, in conversation with three leading experts on each school of innovation thought. What you'll learn: 1. The Three Key Schools of Modern Innovation Explained 2. The Strengths of Each Innovation Approach 3. The Weaknesses of Each innovation Approach 4. When and Where to Ideally Use Each One 5. Wherever the debate takes us... Cheer on this innovation slugfest from the digital rafters.

Andrea Kates, Sean Moffitt, Samantha Yarwood & Neil Cohen discuss the art and science of corporate innovation and how to improve the performance of innovation in large and scaling companies in their debut episode. For the full description : http://futureproofingnext.com/fns1e1successinnovationrates/

I dagens episode af CEONOW har vi innovationsekspert Andrea Kates med på telefonen direkte fra San Francisco. Snakken går på innovation i virksomheder, og Andrea giver indsigt i de syv dødssynder, som Andrea og hendes team har opdaget i deres arbejde i andre virksomheder. Lyt med og bliv klogere på disse dødssynder i dag!

I dagens episode af CEONOW får du indsigt i de trends og tendenser, der florerer i Silicon Valley. Vi har innovationseksperten Andrea Kates med på telefonen til en snak om dette, og hun deler ud af hendes viden fra sit konsulentarbejde i Silicon Valley. Emner som etik, IoT og AI er omdrejningspunktet for dagens diskussion. Lyt med og bliv klogere i dag!

My guest today is Andrea Kates. Andrea is a consultant and author who equips leaders to translate emerging trends into growth for their businesses. She's helped major organizations around the world to “find their next,” and has spoken about business innovation at TED and The Aspen Institute among other venues. In this episode, we discuss how Andrea helps clients innovate by thinking beyond the confines of their existing information environments. Listen to the full conversation https://theinformeddotlife.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/episode-4-andrea-kates.mp3   Show notes Andrea Kates on LinkedIn iScale Asana Fitbit The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp Find Your Next: Using the Business Genome Approach to Find Your Company's Next Competitive Advantange by Andrea Kates Steve Jobs's home office Sea-Monkeys When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties by Paul Collier Microsoft OneNote Microsoft Surface Lean innovation Business Model Canvas John Hagel Thinkers50 Singularity University Wikibrands Collective Read the full transcript Jorge: Andrea, welcome to the show. Tell us about yourself. Who are you? Andrea: I love that question because there are​ so many different directions of where that could go. But I think in terms of the context for The Informed Life, who I am right now is that I work with large corporations and scale-ups​ to drive revenue growth in new arenas. I'll tell you in a minute about my heritage, which I never talk about, but it's fun to have a podcast to do that. What I do for ​clients now, large corporations, it really requires a way of thinking that I think is very parallel to this notion of The Informed Life. Because I need to think beyond a traditional MBA analysis — that I was trained in — and have pretty much over the years developed a lens for seeing untapped customer needs and looking at information in very different ways than clients do and being able to do early interpretations of market shifts. And what it really requires is a way of thinking about information in terms of not just the way it comes at you naturally, or the way that it can bombard you, quite frankly, but to start structuring ways that you let the information in and the way that you let the information transform into something so you can put it out in different ways. So what I do for a living is I help companies find new sources of revenue, usually in the bucket of innovation. And the way that I do it is by being able to help them see differently and understand meaning from a lot of diverse information around them. Jorge: That's fascinating. The way I'm hearing your description of how you use information in this is that somehow you're trying to help these organizations see new… See things that they might not see right now — surface new things — and information plays a role in that in that you are kind of constantly on the lookout for things that might influence their trajectory. Is that fair? Andrea: It's completely fair. And you know, I've been doing this for more than 20 years. It's interesting, somebody once asked how I'm able to do this and… I perceive anomalies. Whereas within the four walls of a company, they don't see these different pieces of information as anomalies, they just listen to information and put it all into the same sets of categories. Whereas a lot of times it's the outsider or the guide of a growth process… I see anomalies. And it allows them to have a fresh set of eyes, quite frankly, and move in new directions. Jorge: Can you give us an example of what an anomaly would be in a project? Are you talking about anomalies in the market for an organization or anomalies in the way they're working? Andrea: Yeah, so it comes from two arenas. Inside the four walls, it'll come as… A lot of times people say “well, it's not that we're…” and whatever comes after that statement on a consistent basis means that there's probably something that that is an untapped opportunity that they should probably pay more attention to. So I work with an energy company that was in traditional oil and gas and they said, “it's not that we're stuck in a mindset of traditional oil, but and I think that's interesting…” And it turned out that they were in fact missing the opportunity to transform into the gas market which was like 500 million dollars of opportunity for them. But I could feel from from the way that that I started working with the teams that there was something that was a limit that they didn't see and it was because of this this piece, right? And then when I'm working with customers, there's a lot of times where there will be an anomaly where the expected answer is the thing that the people start telling you about, but then they'll apologize and say “well, you know, I really don't mean to say this…” We're doing a project in the automobile industry now — in the auto industry and mobility — and people will say “well, you know, actually I don't want to drive it all. Hahaha!” And I realized after a while that that's meaningful. That the joke, the humor, the anomaly — the thing that's off pattern — is actually the beginning of being able to use information to find a pathway to a new business opportunity. Jorge: How do you keep track of this stuff? This information that you're gathering that might be relevant to them? Andrea: I ran a company years ago and made the mistake of explaining — on the record, at a board meeting — that we had two sets of books. And I didn't I didn't mean that we were being illegal, what I meant was that there is the set of books that was sort of managerial and the set of books that was more the reporting. But they said, “please never say that again, that you have two sets of books.” But in fact, I have two sets of organizational systems for how I manage information: the one that I tell people I use, which is like Asana and all of these linear organized ways like Fitbit, you know, like how many steps. So that's what that's what I say I do, because I feel like that's like telling the doctor that you only have one glass of wine per month. But the reality is that — and this is where I'll start with a bit of a confession — I learned a long time ago that the way that I process information is actually kinesthetic and visual. What that means is that if I move a pile from one place to another, I literally have to start all over and can't remember the order of my thinking. I was trained as a teenager as a choreographer, and worked with a woman who was my mentor at the time named Twyla Tharp. She actually ended up writing a great book I recommend called The Creative Habit. And her way of choreographing was to be able to pretty much storyboard things. Have it have information that you wanted to take from lots of different places, but be able to put it in a kind of storyboard and then work it through physically. You know, be able to walk through from room to room her concepts. And so I find myself telling people that I organize information like Asana and Fitbit and tracking things. But in reality, what I'm doing is I write by taking lots of pieces of paper and putting them in different order. I work with teams by being able to really discern meaning from rearranging sticky notes within a strategy session. I take different pieces of information and I have to create almost dollhouses of how the the ideas flow. And I remember when I wrote a book — Find Your Next — about a little while ago — I sat down with the guy who was a graphic designer and we took all of the ideas for the book and put them in graphic format around the room so that I could see the ways that my ideas were full pulling together and based on that, I could do the research and analysis to develop a linear path that became a book. Jorge: There's a photo of Steve Jobs in his home office and the place is a mess. Like his desktop is just covered with stuff. And you know, he was someone who was well known for the elegant simplicity of the products that he worked on, yet his work environment did not necessarily reflect elegant simplicity. But there's there's this notion that I'm that I'm hearing from you that you use the physical environment to… you populate it with visual cues that trigger ideas. Is that a way of reading that? Andrea: It's exactly true. And and what I find is that it's strangely the rearranging of ideas… Like I just wrote a book review on a really great business strategy book. And I had all these ideas, but I couldn't figure out what my topic sentence was until I physically picked up different cards and put them in different ways and you know crumpled one and put one in front of the other and made almost like an arrangement. And as soon as I saw the arrangement that seemed elegant, I realized what I was trying to say. I was burying the lede, and after doing that little exercise with all the information I said, “oh, I know what I'm trying to say!” And I came up with my lead line. Jorge: That's so cool. I'm wondering about the constraints of that system. Because one of the things that you run into when you're dealing with using the physical environment as your thinking place, let's say, is that you're constrained by the by the limitations of atoms, right? The walls are only so big. I'm wondering how you manage multiple projects using such a system. Or if you do — I mean, maybe you focus on one thing at a time. Andrea: So multiple projects is perfect because I end up putting everything on the computer now. I mean, luckily the computer has gotten to the point where you can keep things in organized places. So I translate the sort of natural way that I organize things into things like Asana, so that it'll become a file folder. But I can't go the other way. I can't start with the taxonomy and develop any content and substance and new thinking. I can't do analysis based on that. When I do large data sets of information, I have to walk away from it and then it goes back into a spreadsheet at the end so I can reduce it. I can expand to think and figure things out, and then I reduce it so that I can organize it and tap into it later. But it's almost like a symbolic… the file folders are almost like a symbolic logic that I can go back to, and then if I quote double click on it, then I can get back to my thinking. I have to get the visual again. I'll take a lot of pictures and put them in file folders. Jorge: Pictures of the walls? Andrea: Pictures of the walls, pictures of… The work in customer discovery and the research that I do for corporations and interviews. I end up taking pictures or developing symbolic ways of representing ideas that I'm working through and then I have to sort of reconstruct them almost almost like those. What were those monkeys that you could add water and it turned back into a sponge? Remember those? Jorge: Sea-Monkeys? Andrea: The Sea-Monkeys. Yeah. It's like a Sea-Monkey. So I flatten it up and I compress it. And then if I want to get back to that thinking, I'll add the water and the Sea-Monkey appears again. Jorge: When you're talking about reduction, you're talking about a reduction kind of in the sense of dehydrating vegetables or something. Right? Andrea: That's exactly it. Because I have probably, I don't know, 20 projects going on at any given time. And you can't have all the Sea-Monkeys in full form in front of you because it's overwhelming. Jorge: I had never thought of Excel as a tool for dehydrating Sea-Monkeys. That's gonna stick in my mind now. Andrea: Yeah, well, that'll be their new tagline: “dehydrate your Sea-Monkey.” I'll call Satya Nadella right now and say, “you know, we really need to really change your tag line for Excel.” Jorge: So this is this is fascinating. I mean, the process you're describing sounds to me like t he way that people sketch. For example, when I'm thinking of folks who paint… You will often see sketchbooks filled with first drafts of the painting, right? And they know that the sketchbook is not going to be the finished artifact. It might be beautiful, but it's not the finished artifact. They're working towards a painting, which is in some ways kind of the end result of this exploration that happens in the sketchbook. And it sounds to me like for you, the physical environment is where these explorations happen and then those get reduced or formalized into digital tools. Andrea: That's right. And one of the things that has always baffled me is how people who function only in a spreadsheet can ever come up with a way to grow corporate revenues by 10% other than “let's multiply this spreadsheet by 1.10 and we'll get 10% growth.” Which, by the way, isn't how it really happens. But once you're constrained by an information system that organizes data and displays it within one set of constraints, h ow do you develop the the collisions that are required to say “where might new growth come for a corporation?” It's not necessarily going to come from one of the line items that you've already got in your current line of sight. And so my role as a corporate strategist is to be able to take people away from those constraints physically. And since they can't do it, I go away and do my process, come back and translate it. And it usually means that there'll be new line items, new columns, whatever, on a spreadsheet — because that's the lexicon that we share — but I have never been able to come up with a way for a healthcare organization, an energy company, a consumer products company, an automotive company to “get to their next.” Which is my whole concept. You know, how do you get to your next by starting only in a linear format from the organization of their information on day one? Never. Jorge: What I'm hearing you say — which is something that I agree with — is that staying within the same structures can only lead to incremental growth. Whereas if you want to affect a completely different trajectory, you have to think outside that structure and perhaps think about… Well, there's this phrase “paradigm shift,” right? Where you've you've broken outside the bounds imposed by the structures that you are accustomed to working within. Andrea: So that's super interesting, Jorge. Because that's always been a question of mine. Is it possible — and I know paradigm shift can be almost a cliche, you know in business — whatever, but what it's really about is, can you come up with those fundamental sort of “tectonic plate” ideas — shifts in ideas — without somehow changing the way that you're taking in information, processing information, manipulating information, thinking about information. I think you can't. I think that the status quo has such a magnetism when you're dealing with one view of information. Jorge: For folks in business whose life and work gravitate around tools like Excel, these things can acquire almost totemic value. I'm wondering how you manage the shift when you are advising these people and working with them… How do you manage to shift their thinking beyond the information management tools they can grow so attached to? Andrea: It's probably a daily challenge for me. Because of two things… Well, three things. I think first of all, I'm a translator. So I just got back from Japan and we were looking at blockchain initiatives for a large financial institution. And all of those things are disruptive, disruptive, disruptive. You know, there's nothing about it that's comfortable. And yet, clearly if people don't start thinking about some of these things beyond the pizzazz of “oh, blockchain, Isn't that cool?” Actually, fundamentally if we're trying to look at something you can take to the bank, you know, something you can really count on and bet on, it has to have substance to it. So how do you combine this discomfort with, “well, what the hell is blockchain? What would it look like to have a whole new way of making millions and millions of dollars based on somehow breaking up information in a new way and being able to distribute it in a new way, etc.” And so… it always has to come back to a spreadsheet. I mean it always has to come back to an Excel spreadsheet because the question is always going to be, how is this going to bring 10%, 20% growth to our current line of business. So what I do is a couple of things. One is that I'm very grounded in the fact that we have the same score card — and the Excel will always be the scorecard — but I don't allow that scorecard to be the source for inspiration of how to grow the business that drives the scorecard. And so I make sure that we kind of put a pin in it. We say “okay, we've got the spreadsheet” and I physically walk away from it. And then we start to do expansive research and make sure that there's solid evidence, but then of course we have to sort of squeeze it back in — you know, you dehydrate it again, squeeze it back into the Excel spreadsheet — because that tends to be the place where people keep score. Jorge: It sounds like you acknowledge the importance of the numbers and the structures that those numbers serve — or are served by, rather — but then move folks beyond that. And it also sounded to me like by the very nature of the sort of work that you get hired for — which has to do with thinking beyond our organization's current ways of working — those tend to gravitate around subjects like blockchain, where people are kind of willing to give the domain the benefit of doubt or to step outside their normal ways of thinking. Andrea: Yes, and I think that the way that people can capture even an idea of what is blockchain — and I think you're a really good thinker about this — you have to start then with a whole different pathway. Like have something that's familiar and make sure that you can come up with a metaphor that they can relate to and bring them on that journey of “what might it look like for this to be the case based on a different way of thinking?” than “let's just incrementally grow what we've been doing and invest in this one was a real estate project.” So invest in real estate in a traditional way versus what would it look like to have fractional ownership of this real estate, but what it looked like to be able to develop tokens that could be put to different use, what would it look like to be able to have different timing of when something is liquid versus the point of sale. That will never jump out at you if you start with Excel. So I think that it really matters to come up with visual pathways and other ways of presenting the information so that people are not trying to… It's kind of like if I'm trying to lose weight and all I keep looking at his calorie counts of food. That doesn't get me to lose weight. It gets me to understand an element that's required. But information in a in an Excel spreadsheet isn't going to leap out at you like “oh, here's a great pathway to having a new model for investing in real estate.” It's just like when people try to do storytelling and narratives using PowerPoint in the old days, and they would somehow think that if they showed enough pie charts with enough words on the sheet that you would get the narrative. And then there was a whole new style of “just put a photo up there and don't have any words and tell the story in a different way than you would tell the financial impact.” And I think that decoupling those is quite important. Jorge: Yeah, one of them is focusing on outcomes and the other is focusing on “how do we get to the outcomes?” Right? I read the comments around Excel and measuring numbers as ways of understanding the outcomes we're driving to and the variables that will lead us there, but that won't necessarily elucidate the connections between the different parts that go into making this possible. Andrea: I think that's a really great insight. Jorge: at the beginning of our conversation you talked about a three step process in which you take information in, you transform it, and then you share it back with your clients. And a lot of what we've been talking about to me feels like the “transforming” part of the process. Where you have some information — perhaps you've already met with the client few times, have done research — and lay it all out in this physical way to then transform it, reduce it into the Sea-Monkey domain. But I'm curious about the input part of this equation: how you go about finding the right information. I n the in the way of a disclaimer, you and I have worked together, and I've always been very impressed with your voraciousness as a reader. And you're always sharing incredibly useful news items and things that are germane to the project at hand. I'm curious about how you go about that. Andrea: Well, thanks. And it is interesting that we work together because our perspectives are very much in balance. You know, we have very different ways of working toward an outcome of trying to help companies grow and really figure out which information you can rely on but yet which information is surprising. And what isn't implicit versus explicit, you know things that are explicit aren't necessarily clear to everyone at the same time. So, I think the way that I take information in is — as you said, I have a huge capacity. I'm lucky. I was just reading a book by Daniel Pink called “When,” and it has to do with when you take certain times of day seem to be based on his research much more important for different tasks. And so I am lucky that I wake up ridiculously early and read and read and read and read. I have between news feeds and I try to stay off social media things, but definitely I'm always reading things that are based on how the brain works. Trends; especially certain industries of all things. You know, very basic consumer things like the food industry because that's something that we all have to do three times a day is eat. And so as things change, I feel like that's an early sign of things that are changing in society. I do my work globally and so I'm looking always in Scandinavia, Latin America, and Asia, you know, and what's going on that's different in different parts of the world. And so I do feel as if to be able to think in the ways that companies need us to think we have to be voracious readerS. So yes, I take a lot in. But also I'm always in search of something. So right now I'm very interested in the adjacencies . So I look at companies like Amazon and how they are developing business models that are not the obvious ways that people in business were trained to look at things. What in the heck is somebody who sells books over the Internet suddenly doing groceries? And then they're building airports and they have Amazon Web Services. And they are doing content for their distribution of creative. It's a model that I find to be really important, and I'm looking at how that is working around the world in terms of people who are stepping outside of the “silos” that they've been in. So I'm always looking for that as a theme right now. I'm always looking for things that are happening in brain science because I feel like the ways that consumers and customers perceive things, we know more and more about. How people make habits that stick and how people decide to be loyal to companies these days; it's not just slogans. And so I think since I'm in the world of commerce, understanding the brain is something I'm just as a theme always interested in. And then I think the other piece is social change. Paul Collier just wrote an incredible book about democracy and is capitalism and democracy… Are they what's going on in terms of the way that cultures and societies are organizing themselves? So I always have a few themes that I'm hot on and then I find that the ability to do… I think there's a famous quote that's “just connect.” So I'll be able to sit and think about what is it that's happening next. I'm working for a company in Mexico right now that is a consumer products company. What's going to be the next way that people want to buy auto products in Latin America? And so I look at things that are from either other cultures, other parts of the world, other Industries: what's happening in packaging, what's happening in retail, what's happening in some social causes, what's happening in terms of importance of the environment. And I'm always thinking of connecting. How do I connect that in this… Jorge: It reminds me one of my favorite quotes by Charles Eames. He said, “Eventually everything connects: people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.” Which is… Andrea: That's fantastic. That's so interesting. Jorge: One of the ways that folks can be innovative — where they can move beyond their linear ways of going about the world — is by exploring the points where fields connect, right? And products connect and ideas connect. And I'm fascinated by this as one of the themes that you are on the lookout for. I'm wondering if you have tools that you use to pick up on signals for these things. Andrea: Well, I don't know if it's tools, but I keep notebooks and I keep files. I love OneNote now, because I find myself… What I like about OneNote is that you can… I have a Surface computer so I can draw something, put it in the file. Take a picture of something, put it in the file. The information organization — the way that I do it — really lends itself to something like OneNote, so I can read something, take a picture of it, hear something, have an audio… I don't want to use the word ontology in polite society, but do you know the difference between a taxonomy — where you know what the organization is going to look like in the beginning? Right? So I have a file folder called pictures of flowers. Okay, great. Well, what if I take a picture of something and it's kind of partly a flower but it also has an animal and it also has a rainbow and which file folder does that go in? So what I do with OneNote is I'll take a picture of that with a bunch of stuff in it, something having to do with a new retail place that's in China that has connectivity that maybe has a great user interface. That will be an idea. Put it in OneNote, and then later I'll be able to make a quality connection. So I don't try to make the connections upfront. And I think that that's why what you've experienced is that I have this voracious input. But I end up making connections in ways that are surprising because of the ways that these new tools can actually support that way of organizing information. Jorge: And how do you come about the information in the first place? Are you issuing Google searches? Like if you're starting to work on a new project? How do you go about seeking out the content that you will be putting into your annotation system? Andrea: So I do a couple of things. One is I do a self-brainstorm. I will physically — in my office — or on OneNote — have a question. So what will it take for consumers in Latin America to serve their automobile in new ways? Something like that. So it's not just the things that they're currently buying, but what are the adjacent things that they might buy around their vehicle ownership that obviously could help with this project in Latin America. As you and I know, when we do projects that are intense for a client, and we do a combination of lean Innovation and business model canvases as well as some design thinking and customer co-creation, we can take a lot of disparate elements and start to make sense of them because we physically put them in a room and sat in a war room for three weeks with the data, and you keep organizing, reorganizing, finding meaning, categorizing until it starts to surface what it is that is important for the client. And so I think that basically, when I have a question like the what I'm dealing with right now in Latin American automobiles, I have searches that are Google searches where I have keywords and I have news feeds that I watch. And there are people that I pay attention to, people like… John Hagel I think thinks deeply about things. I'll follow Thinkers 50. I'll follow Singularity University. I'll follow Wiki Brands Collective… I'm a member of in Toronto that looks at trends on a global basis. And I start to discern based on this question that I have up on the wall and in my OneNote file. Okay, let me just put a bunch of things in here and then start to sort it out later. Jorge: That's fantastic. If you don't know what you're looking for, it's going to be hard to focus, right? Especially when there's so much information available to us. Andrea: Well, I love that. As you know now it's kind of coming out in public, but very few people who were trained as choreographers and as structured improvisational performance artists in their teenage years who then go on to get MBAs and work with Fortune 500 companies. So I don't usually tell people how I'm getting to my next level of insight, but the ability to to think that way, and to be fluid with information and sort of swim through it, and pull things, and match things in a very active kinesthetic way is something that more business executives should learn. W hat I know from my formal training and businesses is that you don't get insights, as you said, from looking at data in a traditional way. And I think that the confines and the constraints of the data structures can limit the insights. Jorge: That seems like a fantastic place to wrap up the conversation. It's such a great summary and articulation of the work you do and the value you bring. So thank you Andrea for for this conversation, it's been really insightful. Now, where can folks find you? Andrea: Well, the best place to find me is the company that I run in San Francisco, iScale — which is i-scale.io — and on LinkedIn, it's Andrea Kates. Jorge: Again, thank you for your time. Andrea: Great to talk to you.​

This week's episode shines the spotlight on the representation of women on our big screens, little screens, conference daises, and bookshelves. It's worth taking some time to consider the messages we receive from all forms of entertainment and education and whether we are getting a balanced view of the world. If you come to the realization that your bookshelf needs more female authors on it, never fear, we have a list of some favorite female authors and books. Check them out! Tweet your favorites to @UnravelingPink and we'll add them to the list.
 Resources in this episode:
 Molly Flatt, The Guardian, "Is The Future Female? Fixing Sci-Fi's Women Problem." Check out: Molly Flatt's "A Darker Wave," Kassandra Khaw’s "There are Wolves in These Woods," Madeline Ashby’s "The Cure For Jetlag," Liz Williams’ "In the God Fields." 
Jodi Picoult, "Small Great Things"
 Debby Irving, "Waking Up White" 
Karen Catlin, "Present! A Techie's Guide to Public Speaking"
 Ed Yong, 4/19/2018, "When Will the Gender Gap in Science Disappear?"
 Emma Pierson, 8/5/2014 "In Science, It Matters That Women Come Last" 
The Unraveling Pink's Brain Trust List of fav female authors and books:
 Arundhati Roy, "God of Small Things"
 Ntozage Shange, "for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf" 
Curtis Sittenfeld
 Doris Kearns Goodwin
 Loung Ung, "First They Killed My Father"
 Ayn Rand
 Kate Germano, "Fight Like A Girl"
 Julie Kratz, "ONE: How Male Allies Support Women for Gender Equality" 
Amy Waninger, "Network Beyond Bias: Making Diversity a Competitive Advantage for Your Career"
 Jennifer Brown, "Inclusion: Diversity, The New Workplace & the Will to Change"
 Iris Bohnet, "What Works: Gender Equality by Design"
 Another list of favorite female-authored business books
: Shona Brown and Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, "Competing on the Edge:  Strategy as Structured Chaos"
 Andrea Kates, "Find Your Next: Using the Business Genome Approach to Find your Company's Next Competitive Edge" 
Angeles Arrien, "The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary"
 Rayona Sharpnack, "Trade Up: Five Steps for Redesigning Your Leadership and Your Life from the Inside Out"
 Gail Larsen, "Transformational Speaking: If You Want to Change the World, Tell a Better Story"

These days, everyone is talking about the importance of innovation to an organization’s future, but what exactly does it take to be innovative and how do we start? That’s the basis of my conversation with business strategist and author Andrea Kates in this latest episode of “Leadership Biz Cafe”. Andrea ... Click to continue reading

Andrea Kates is the founder of the Business Genome project and author of the visionary business innovation book, ''Find Your Next.''Called the next generations brand whisperer, she created the Business Genome project to help companies adapt to an every-changing global business environment and to gain a competitive advantage by discovering cross-industry opportunities for innovation.