Change Maker Inspirations
Unlock Your Potential: 6 Metaskills That Can Set You Apart in Any Industry or Role
We live in an era of infinite digital disruption. Digitalisation has initiated a disruption in how we build, operate and lead businesses. Businesses increasingly need innovation capabilities to stay relevant and competitive. On the other hand, rapid technological development requires that routine tasks are automatised and people start utilising their strengths, exploiting their creative capacity and do meaningful work. When we start developing our human superpowers, it's a win-win-win-win: more innovative and future-proof organisations, happier employees and customers, more value for businesses as well as societies.
Keen on business growth? Apply critical thinking.
Critical thinking is a process of actively and skillfully analyzing information gathered from observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication in order to guide belief and action. This process of thinking is not new; it has its roots in ancient Greece and has been associated with the philosopher Socrates as the founder of the concept. The importance of critical thinking cannot be overstated as it is essential for growth and development.
Great business strategy is like an awesome dinner.
What makes a great dinner? Food is only one, although an essential, part of the total experience. The setting, people accompanying you, service, other complementing add ons like drinks or entertainment and so on - the list is long.
7 Things every senior leader should hear (#6 is the most honest one)
Hi, my name is Jenni, I’m a digital age change maker. I decided to write you an open letter and share some of my thoughts and feelings after working with you for several years in many different industries, countries and organizations. I hope you don’t mind being rather honest with this letter.
Don’t put customer to the strategy slides before you read this!
Best customer experience. We're here for the customer. We are customer-centric. Is this just empty rhetoric or real strategy? Many companies are waking up to the benefits of customer centricity and the studies show that customer-centric companies perform better. But why do so many organizations' efforts fall short, and the strategies just become pretty words on the strategy slides?
60-90% of all strategies fail, why do you keep on doing the same sh*t all over again?
If you did any kind of sports and you’d almost always fail, would you keep on doing the same? If you almost always lost your investments, would you still continue the same way or change something? According to studies, 60 to even 90% of all strategies fail, and yet management repeats the same strategy theater every year. In case something doesn’t work in your personal life, you’d most probably change the way you’re doing it. Why isn’t that the case in organisations? Why do you keep on wasting time, money and energy on outdated sh*t you call strategy if it simply doesn’t work?
Read this before you hire a change maker
Changemaker, intrapreneur, entrepreneur, rebel, trailblazer. Change makers have many names, and also many qualities that are in general desired from employees that companies look for. Or better: companies think they want to hire those people. However, only few organizations know how to offer changemakers real opportunities and support, because the basic characteristics of a changemaker or entrepreneur type might frighten an organization that is traditionally built on pandering, politics and hierarchy.
Bookclub: Atomic Habits by James Clear
As new year changed most of us have set some goals for our upcoming year. However, instead of setting goals, we should actually be focusing on our systems according to James Clear. Winners and losers can have exactly the same goals, what differentiates them is the action, the small habits that you create and systematically repeat time after time. The effect of small habits compound over time. If you can just get better 1% per day, what will that be after one year?
Futures consciousness: An enabler skill for creating sustainable business value
In business context one might think futures consciousness relates only to innovation and product development. For sure it’s not the only operation where futures consciousness is needed. In fact, we need futures consciousness everywhere and every day in businesses: whenever we make choices or decisions, when we paint visions or create strategies, or when we set goals and targets for the future. Futures consciousness is needed to build truly sustainable businesses as you simply cannot operate in a sustainable way without being futures conscious. Businesses need to think what kind of legacy they leave for generations to come and what kind of businesses are overall possible in the future.
Digital age leadership skills
In order to lead companies and businesses in the digital age we need to start re-thinking leadership. Many things have changed in the way businesses, and the whole world, operates.
Start with the customer
There are still a lot of organizations who think inside-out. Who design business and operations around internal processes, organize the whole company around products, measure product category sales in silos, create more silos by organizing the company around functions etc. Customer might be the last thing that comes into one’s mind, being like lipstick on a pig that one puts on as a final decoration before launch. If you ask these companies what’s your most profitable customer segment, most of them can’t answer that. Either they don’t have the capabilities to measure it, or they might not even know who their customers are.
During exceptional times, exceptional thinking is required
Without a doubt, we are currently experiencing an exceptional era in our lives and in the modern history. Transformational changes, events and crises are continuously present in the media, in companies as well as in our daily lives, which makes everyday challenges trivial or even irrelevant.