In October 2013 I gave a presentation to the University of Oslo's Green IT School. The topic was on innovation and leadership in business given the evolving context we live in - where some issues are becoming existential. Doing business in an environment that is volatile, unpredictable, complex and ambiguous demands a different kind of leadership; a different sense of calm if you will. Where does this come from? This was my attempt to relate a view on the contextual picture along with some principles of 'leadership from the future' that Veronica Lie, a Xyntéo colleague, and I wrote about in the run up to the 2013 Performance Theatre in Istanbul, Turkey - amazingly enough held at the precise time of the riots at Taksim square. Enjoy - questions and comments appreciated. Original article available here: http://issuu.com/xynteo/docs/pages_from_leadership_paper

1. We
are
Xyntéo.
We
are
reinven/ng
growth.
A
discussion
on
leadership
and
innova/on
Rick
Wheatley
07
October
2013

2. The
end
of
business
as
usual
The
coil
is
/ghtening,
uncertainty
growing
CONNECTIVITY
CARBON
BUBBLE?
(NOT
SO)
GREAT
EXPECTATIONS
Centralised
authority
is
ill-­‐
suited
to
a
networked
world
Stranded
assets
debate
gains
momentum
–
moves
from
NGO
sphere
to
banks
and
The
Economist
For
the
first
/me
in
a
century,
OECD
middle
class
children
can
no
longer
expect
to
fare
beTer
than
their
parents
CONSUMER
PREFERENCES
EVOLVING
ENERGY
TRANSITION
IS
HERE
SHARED
VALUE
ADVANCING
New
breed
of
connected
consumers
expect
more
from
business
Renewables
are
outpacing
projec/ons
and
reaching
parity
in
coal-­‐rich
geographies
Major
businesses
taking
steps
towards
a
post-­‐
shareholder,
post-­‐CSR
value
proposi/on
CLIMATE
CHANGE
EFFECTS
Michael
Bloomberg
lays
out
$20
billion
plan
to
prepare
NYC
for
a
hoTer
world
TRUE
COST
OF
CURRENT
MODEL
How
much
pollu/on
will
society
tolerate?
ENDEMIC
WASTE
&
INEFFICIENCY
1
billion
people
have
too
liTle
to
eat.
1.4
billion
people
eat
too
much.
1/3
of
all
food
produced
is
lost
or
wasted
HIGH
VELOCITY
TECHNOLOGY
Crea/ng
both
“goods”
and
“bads”,
technology
is
enabling
small
actors
to
topple
tradi/onal
power
holders
www.xynteo.com
2

3. THE
IMPERATIVE
OF
OUR
TIME?

4. The
disrup/on
squeeze
Incumbents
need
to
adapt
to
new
rules,
new
players
THE
INCUMBENTS
Playing
in
a
world
where
scale
and
precedent
offer
no
guarantees
of
protec/on
S
NEW
PLAYERces
an
technological
adv
Uncertainty
and g
new
players
to
upset
are
enablin
rvices
new
products/se
incumbents
with aper
and
beKer
suited
that
are
both
che
to
the
future
NEW
RULES
Social,
environm
pressures
are
forental
and
economic
someOmes
erraOcing
policymakers
to
act,
cally,
to
change
t
of
the
game
he
rules
EXAMPLES
OF
TOPPLED
INCUMBENTS:
www.xynteo.com
4

6. Leaders
of
men
The
end
of
clarity
Today’s
leadership
context
is
clouded
by
uncertainty.
The
goal
is
not
a
bright
polestar
against
a
blacksky.
The
terrain
is
shiUing.
www.xynteo.com
6

7. Three
bellweathers
of
the
new
leadership
context?
2001
2007
2008
9/11
TERRORIST
ATTACK
IPCC
4th
ASSESSMENT
REPORT
GLOBAL
FINANCIAL
CRISIS
The
terrorist
aKack
illustrated,
in
frightening
relief,
the
limits
of
centralised,
hierarchical
power
structures
in
the
face
of
asymmetrical
compeOOon.
ScienOsts
coalesced
around
the
view
that
human
economic
acOvity,
powered
by
hydrocarbon-­‐
fuelled
technologies,
was
damaging
the
stability
of
our
climate.
The
financial
crisis
shook
our
faith
in
the
markets
that
had
fed
our
quite
remarkable
growth
from
the
18th
century
onwards.
www.xynteo.com
7

8. Five
leadership
abili/es
To
create
a
new
kind
of
growth
1
ABILITY
TO
LEAD
ORGANISATIONS
THAT
CREATE
MORE
VALUE
THAN
THEY
CAPTURE
"There
aren’t
so
many
companies
that
think
much
about
others
and
liKle
of
itself.
And
I
think
it
really
started
in
the
80s,
that
the
only
obligaOon
of
a
buisness
is
to
make
money
for
its
shareholders.
We’ve
seen
where
this
has
taken
us.
You
have
an
obligaOon
if
you’re
in
business
to
create
value.
We
should
create
more
value
than
we
capture."
Edited
transcript
of
a
lecture
by
Tim
O’Reilly,
Stanford
University
www.xynteo.com
8

9. Five
leadership
abili/es
To
create
a
new
kind
of
growth
2
ABILITY
TO
SEE
AND
ACT
ACROSS
SYSTEMS
"In
Iraq,
when
we
first
started,
the
quesOon
was,
‘Where
is
the
enemy?’
That
was
the
intelligence
quesiton.
As
we
got
smarter,
we
started
to
ask,
‘Who
is
the
enemy?’
And
we
thought
we
were
preKy
clever.
And
then
we
realised
that
wasn’t
the
right
quesOon,
and
we
asked
‘What’s
the
enemy
doing
or
trying
to
do?’
And
it
wasn’t
unOl
we
got
further
along
that
we
said,
‘Why
are
they
the
enemy?’
Not
unOl
you
walk
yourself
along
that
intellectual
path
do
you
realise
that’s
what
you
have
to
understand,
parOcularly
in
a
counterinsurgency
where
the
number
of
insurgents
is
completely
independent
of
simple
math."
-­‐
Stanley
McChrystal
www.xynteo.com
9

10. Five
leadership
abili/es
To
create
a
new
kind
of
growth
3
ABILITY
TO
ACCEPT
UNCERTAINTY
AS
THE
NEW
NORM
AND
THRIVE
"One
day
there
was
a
lily
pad
in
a
corner
of
a
village
pond.
Every
day
the
number
of
lily
pads
doubled,
yet
the
increase
seemed
marginal.
For
the
first
28
days,
no
one
even
noOced.
Suddenly,
on
the
29th
day,
half
the
pond
was
covered.
The
villagers
were
alarmed
and
called
a
meeOng.
But
a
soluOon
eluded
them,
and
the
next
day
the
coverage
was
complete."
-­‐
Peter
Senge,
on
a
metaphor
about
disrup/on
www.xynteo.com
10

11. Five
leadership
abili/es
To
create
a
new
kind
of
growth
4
ABILITY
TO
ENABLE
ACTION
BY
OTHERS
Ricardo
Mud
is
a
giUed
conductor
known
for
his
passionate
Mozart
performances.
Forceful
and
almost
dictator-­‐like
in
style,
he
rose
to
become
the
Principle
Conductor
of
the
famed
Filarmonica
della
Scala
in
Milan.
A
few
years
on,
all
700
members
of
his
orchestra
signed
a
leKer
asking
for
his
resignaOon
–
they
didn’t
want
to
work
with
a
conductor
who
saw
them
strictly
as
instruments.
A
great
conductor,
much
like
a
great
leader,
must
enable
and
moOvate
his
orchestra
to
flourish
individually
–
provide
a
framework
for
acOon
but
allowing
the
orchestra
to
build
music
as
they
play
along.
www.xynteo.com
11

12. Five
leadership
abili/es
To
create
a
new
kind
of
growth
5
ABILITY
TO
MASTER
THE
“IRRATIONAL
TENTH”
"Nine-­‐tenths
of
tacOcs
are
certain,
and
taught
in
books:
but
the
irraOonal
tenth
is
like
the
kingfisher
flashing
across
the
pool,
and
that
is
the
test
of
generals.
It
can
only
be
ensured
by
insOnct,
sharpened
by
thought
pracOsing
the
stroke
so
oUen
that
at
the
crisis
it
is
as
natural
as
a
reflex."
-­‐
T.
E.
Lawrence
www.xynteo.com
12

13. PARIS
SAN
FRANCISCO
TOKYO
RIO
DE
JANEIRO
WHAT
IF...