In 
Steve Wells, Director of Operations at Fast Future Publishing, the futurist who had come to speak at the 18th Annual CIO&Leader conference, discussed how technology is part of a gambit of different forces that are shaping the future. "Through the explosion in science and technology development, human and society will change faster in the next 25 years than that have in the past 200 years," said Wells.
He argued that as leaders, we haven't seen such radical changes that we are seeing now, that we are going to see accelerating in the future.
Although he said that we are also in a phase of increasing uncertainty, a loss of control, and emergence of different types of change, and a whole bunch of other unpredictable things.
“To see this exponential change in technology and associated radical change in the way we do businesses - we must start with customer experience,” said Wells.
“We must ask ourselves several questions, starting with - what can we do better for our customers?” he added.
What is the macro context for this period of disruption and opportunity?
How is the notion of exponentiality transforming business?
What is the technology backdrop?
What are the business and societal implications of increasing automation?
What actions could businesses take to create a very human enterprise?
Once we know the answers to these questions, Wells said that leaders must think about the solutions that can be used to deliver that? "How does that influence the shape of our businesses? -- starting with the customer and identifying how tech can respond to those needs," he said.
To summarise, Wells said that the creation of a very human enterprise will require leaders and organizations to think about how do we take our businesses beyond machine learning, and how do we balance the masculine and feminine. He explained that by balancing both, and thinking about the feminine – leaders will need to think about the softer skills that include what our customers need, about developing leadership skills, about empathy, about trying to make sense of the future, and about the way we work with our colleagues. Those, he says, are some of the feminine traits that until now have been missing in our businesses.
“The notions around extraordinary leadership and the need to re-balance the masculine and the feminine – will truly lead to the creation of a very human enterprise.”
Add new comment