The World Business Forum in Sydney was all that it was cooked up to be – 2500 people at The Star Hotel and two packed days of provocation, revelation and learning. This week I’m going to feature the conference highlights – directly aided by a series of summaries posted on the Business Research and Insights blog of NAB. The first piece is a tidy summary of my presentation. Thanks NAB. Here goes.
We live in a VUCA world, one which is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (learned after an unexpected invitation to the Pentagon to discuss how the US could improve its international image).
We must create a SUPERVUCA world, which is Vibrant, Unreal, Crazy and Astounding. Change is driving the new economy.
Whatever business you are in, whatever country you are in, wherever you are living, an irrefutable fact is that things are never going to be the way they were or the way we would like them to be; they are going to be all over the place.
Marketing is dead. The role of marketing is not to build a brand, but to create a movement. We have moved from the Era of New to the Age of Now, which is shifting from:
• Attention to Participation
• Information to Inspiration
• Interruption to Interaction
• Return on Investment to a Return on Involvement
• Pumping Markets to Creative Movements
Top tips for creative leadership
• The CEO’s role is to code: Revolution begins with language; never underestimate its power. The CEO’s role is to become the Chief Excitement Officer and the CMO’s role is to be the Chief Magic Officer.
• Creativity is just connecting things. A creative environment is fostered by Responsibility, Learning, Recognition and Joy. Each employee should feel these four things every day.
• Creative leaders believe in magic. The best leaders inspire lots of small ideas and bring them to market at speed.
• Creative leaders emotionalize: this is because emotions lead to action faster than rational arguments. If people love something and get enthusiastic about it, they act.
• Creative leaders recognize that today’s consumers Search it, Shop it and Share it.
• Creative leaders discover truth. Whilst big data is important for uncovering insights, big emotion is even more important.
• Creative leaders make brands irresistible. Brands should become Lovemarks.
• Creative leaders flow. They do this by eliminating 40% of what people do so you can focus on the important stuff.
• Creative leaders execute. In traditional companies, only 20% of their time is spent on execution, whereas in companies such as Google and Facebook, the CEO spends 70% of their day on execution.
• The role of the leader is to create creative leaders. Everyone is born creative, this needs to be nurtured. He also believes that anyone can become a leader and the role of the CEO is to bring out the best in their people.
