Prepare for the Future:
Achieving Growth and
Competitive Advantage
Erin Liman
Innovation is Social, LLC

Disruption Can Come from Anywhere
Natural disasters
Accidents

Disruption Can Come from Anywhere
Intentional Attacks : Square
New Technologies : 3D Printing

How Do You Prepare for Disruption?
Know your blind side
Gather diverse perspectives
Hack your business

I. Know Your Blind Side

Four Ways of Seeing the Problem
The Fact Finder
The Options Generator
The Consensus Builder
The Action Taker

Four Ways of Seeing the Problem
The Fact Finder
Analysis Paralysis: How much data is enough?
The Options Generator
Knowing when to converge and move forward
The Consensus Builder
Balancing engagement with expediency
The Action Taker
Ready Fire Aim – May not be solving the right problem

We Like People Like Us

Opposites Attract Repel

II. Gather Diverse Perspectives
“The Lonely CEO”
The higher you advance,
the less truth you hear

II. Gather Diverse Perspectives
• Cultivate Trust
Who’s unafraid to
disagree with you and
tell you the truth?

II. Gather Diverse Perspectives
• Cultivate Trust
Hierarchical culture
trumps strategy
August 6, 1997: Korean Flight 801

II. Gather Diverse Perspectives
• Cultivate Trust
Hierarchical culture
trumps strategy
Culture eats strategy
for breakfast
Peter Drucker
Management Consultant

II. Gather Diverse Perspectives
• Cultivate Trust
• Control Reactions
How you respond to
bad news will impact
whether you hear the
truth or the sugarcoated variety.

II. Gather Diverse Perspectives
• Cultivate Trust
• Control Reactions
• Touch Down
Create opportunities
for exchanges between
leaders and the front
lines.

II. Gather Diverse Perspectives
• Cultivate Trust
• Control Reactions
• Touch Down
• Find the Experts
Who are the answer
people in your
organization?
How do you find out?

III. Hack Your Business
Hacker mindset: examine the whole system and look for vulnerabilities.

III. Hack Your Business - IKEA
IKEA hacked on 3 fronts: business model, offering and customer experience.

III. Hack Your Business – How To
Internal Activities
Exercise:
“Kill the Company’ (Wharton)
Engage employees from all levels
and functions in figuring out
ways to kill your business.
“Incumbents are rarely disrupted
by new technologies they can t
catch up to, but instead by new
business models they can t
match
--Aaron Levie, CEO box.com

III. Hack Your Business – How To
External Activities
1. Thought leaders
2. Conferences
3. Open innovation
4. Countries who are
leapfrogging older
infrastructures (e.g.,
with mobile)
5. Other industries

Preparing for Disruption and Growth
Know your blind side
Gather diverse perspectives
Hack your business

Thank You!