Today, we live in an age of exponential technologies that drive our world forward—to name a few, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, 3D printing, blockchain, cloud computing. These digital technologies use network effects that can scale much faster than what we’ve previously experienced in the industrial world (Bonchek, 2016). As Peter Diamandis mentions, we will experience more change in this decade—2020 to 2030—than in the past one hundred years (Corbyn, 2020). On top of that, unpredictability is a new reality. McKinsey & Company investigated the latest trends in the article “The Next Normal Arrives Trends That Will Define 2021—and Beyond.” The article explores recent findings related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects: forcing people to work from home, boosting digital transformation, and changing consumer behavior in the long run. Furthermore, an increasing number of startups are being created, and more and more people are deciding to launch their businesses (Sneader and Singhal, 2021)
At the same time, people within organizations are losing engagement and leaving their jobs, and in the worst-case scenario, getting fired. The gig economy is on the rise. A big wave of employees also experiences a lack of trust and belonging in their professional lives. Finally, the young generation feels hopeless about their future. The message is clear: There is a decline in corporate innovation, and corporations and individuals are no longer happy with the old model.
The following data points show our society faces a real crisis:
- According to Innosight’s 2016 report “Corporate Longevity: Turbulence Ahead for Large Organizations,” corporations in the S&P 500 Index in 1965 stayed there for thirty-three years on average. By 1990, the same index presented a reduction in the average tenure to twenty years. The future is even more revealing, with a forecast of only fourteen years by 2026 (Anthony, Viguerie, and Waldeck, 2016).
- Only 13 percent of employees are passionate and engaged at work (Hagel et al., 2017)
- An O.C. Tanner Learning Group study investigated over 200,000 people across ten years and revealed that 65 percent of employees reported a lack of recognition, and 79 percent of people who quit their jobs cite “lack of appreciation” as their reason for leaving.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, a study in the UK surveyed 2,000 people aged sixteen to twenty-five, showing more than half (57 percent) of young people is “scared” about being unemployed and that 43 percent are worried they will never be able to get a job (Harding, 2020).
- The COVID-19 crisis also pushed millions of workers to quit their job. This trend, called “The Great Resignation,” is mainly noticeable in the US and globally (Tharoor, 2021).
While our society is facing this tension, companies around the world are spending millions of dollars on their innovation programs, looking for innovators and change-makers, to build future proof businesses. However, merely spending energy and money is not an effective strategy for innovation. I had the chance to live and work in Silicon Valley and work for a startup accelerator, startup incubator and now a venture lab. My experience meeting thousands of entrepreneurs across the globe (USA, Europe, Asia, Africa) and listening to over 10 pitches every week, I can tell you that what I noticed the difference between successful entrepreneurs and the ones failing or trying.
The real change drivers are the individuals who both have the right mindset and are plugged into the best networks.
Building the future, is about how to develop – along with the learning of processes and structure – an entrepreneurial & ecosystem mindset, and how to build networks so employees and companies can adapt, build resilience, and thrive in today’s startup and multistakeholder economy, collaboration being the essence of it.
Thought? How is your company spending money and how do they train their employees? Are they focusing on developing their mindset and networks? What are your thoughts on the topic?
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Feel free to learn more in my recently published book: Today’s Superpower: Building Networks
Sources:
Anthony, Scott D., S. Patrick Viguerie, and Andrew Waldeck. Corporate Longevity: Turbulence Ahead for Large Organizations. Innosight, 2016. https://www.innosight.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Corporate-Longevity-2016-Final.pdf.
Baroudy, Kim, Jonatan Janmark, Tobias Strålin, Abhi Satyavarapu, and Zeno Ziemke “Europe’s Startup Ecosystem: Heating Up, but Still Facing Challenges.” McKinsey & Company. Last updated October 11, 2020. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/europes-startup-ecosystem-heating-up-but-still-facing-challenges.
Bonchek, Mark. “How to Create an Exponential Mindset” Harvard Business Review, July 27, 2016. https://hbr.org/2016/07/how-to-create-an-exponential-mindset.
Corbyn, Zoë. “Peter Diamandis: ‘In the next 10 years, we’ll reinvent every industry’.” The Guardian, January 25, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/25/peter-diamandis-future-faster-think-interview-ai-industry.
Hagel, John, John Seely Brown, Maggie Wooll, and Alok Ranjan. “If You Love Them, Set Them Free.” Deloitte Insights. Last modified June 6, 2017. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/future-workforce-engagement-in-the-workplace.html.
Harding, Charlotte. “Young People Losing Hope of Achieving Future Dreams Due to Pandemic.” SussexWorld, October 27, 2020. https://www.brightonandhoveindependent.co.uk/news/people/young-people-losing-hope-achieving-future-dreams-due-pandemic-3016428.
Osterwalder, Alexander, Tendayi Viki, and Yves Pigneur. “Why Your Organization Needs an Innovation Ecosystem.” Harvard Business Review, November 15, 2019. https://hbr.org/2019/11/why-your-organization-needs-an-innovation-ecosystem.
Performance: Accelerated, A New Benchmark for Initiating Employee Engagement, Retention and Results. Salt Lake City, UT: O.C. Tanner Learning Group, n.d. https://www.octanner.com/content/dam/oc-tanner/documents/global-research/White_Paper_Performance_Accelerated.pdf.
Sneader, Kevin, and Shubham Singhal. “The Next Normal Arrives: Trends for 2021.” McKinsey & Company. January 4, 2021. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/the-next-normal-arrives-trends-that-will-define-2021-and-beyond.
Tharoor, Ishaan. “The ‘Great Resignation’ goes global.” The Washington Post, October 18, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/18/labor-great-resignation-global/.