Brave New Ways #13 / Weak Signals, Geopolitics, and a chance to do New Thinking Together on May 31
Thinking better, together.
I was in New York City this past week, helping some senior execs at a global consumer goods company tackle a topic they don't ordinarily deal with: geopolitics.
Now, suddenly, it's an urgent issue for them. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has unexpectedly forced them to shutter their Russia operations. Their China business is much, much bigger. What is the risk that a future war shuts down that business, too?
For me, Europe's war is the latest, sobering example of how hard it is to see the next shock coming.
So I'm grateful to everyone, the 403 people, who took part in NeueGeo's first-ever Weak Signals Survey. It comprised 20 provocative questions. Now that I’m back on my feet, I’ve been compiling the collective wisdom generated by those responses. They'e helped me to recognize some of my own blind spots and to bring a richer set of perspectives to my clients this week. (For an example, see below…)
To help us all share and deepen those learnings, I'm going to host a one-hour live “BaseCamp” on Zoom on May 31. I'll share my most valuable learnings from the Survey and we'll reflect together on the biggest insights and inquiries raised by your responses.
If you took part in the Survey, or you are a Society Member, you will automatically get the Zoom invitation by email the day before the event. You'll also get the full deck of results slides plus access to a recording of the conversation, in case you can’t make it.
If you didn't take part in the Survey but would like to take part in the BaseCamp conversation, simply join the Society before May 30. We need your perspective.
I hope to see you there,
Chris 🙏
How transformational is today?
From the very first Survey question, how people responded really makes you stop and think:
500 years from now, how big will people say today's changes were?
When we were designing the survey, I meant to kick things off with a very simple question. Your responses reveal: No, it’s not simple at all – because we evaluate change very differently.
Over 1/4 of all participants judged that today's changes – for all their hype – won't be described as transformational in the history books. Given it’s a weak signals survey, I’m especially keen to ask that sizable minority:
- Which changes won’t last?
- Which changes won’t matter?
- What forces of inertia do you see that the majority might be missing?
Speaking for myself, I don’t hear these perspectives enough. And I want to hear more from them. So, I hope they will show up at BaseCamp on May 31.
And that was just Question #1…
🙏 Thanks for bringing your energy here. - Chris and your Neue Geo team
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