John Kao
Chairman, The Institute for Large Scale Innovation Former Harvard Business School Professor who developed the acclaimed curriculum on Innovation & Business Creativity Bestselling Author
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John Kao
Featured Keynote Programs
What the Hell Do We Do Now? The Art and Discipline of Navigating in Uncertain Times
In this keynote speech, John covers how we stand and face the future and particular the wicked problems – greater uncertainty, turmoil, disruption, wicked problems, the gap between generations, accelerating technology, changing definition of nation states in a time of globalization, super-empowered individuals who upset the playing field, non-linearity, income inequality and on and on.
Living and working in an era of hyper-disruption.
Creating a new playbook when the old playbook doesn’t work any more
The dinosaurs will perish, the new mammalian forms will survive.
Future-proofing Your Organization (country) (industry) (life)
In this speech John covers the essential Future Proofing Portfolio
Building capabilities for looking around corners
Embracing the network – digital fluency for speed, agility, awareness
Affirming core values
Leveraging diversity – gender, culture, age
Expanding creative repertoire – exercising organizational intuition
Conducting experiments, learning, lean, rapid prototyping
Use beginner’s mind
Innovation becomes a way of making the future you want
EdgeMaking
21st Century Leadership
In this speech John covers the shifting landscape and the challenges to traditional leadership:
A particular leadership approach is a set of answers to a question; it arises in a particular context. Cultivating 21st century leadership skills requires a new set of character strengths, including curiosity, creativity, agility, ability to tolerate uncertainty and paradoxes, intuition, empathy
The EdgeMakers character strengths framework
The Leader as an EdgeMaker
The leading organization as an EdgeMaker
The 6 Intelligences that Will Drive Smart Leadership in Disrupted Times
Leaders who navigate successfully through times of great uncertainty understand that resolving problems in an era of constant disruption involves enlarging a leader’s cognitive space and cultivating a new kind of hybrid thinking, acting and organizing. This blended framework of thought and action is what Dr. Kao refers to as The Six Intelligences that will drive smart leadership in disrupted times.
Leaders who ultimately understand and implement this blended framework of six intelligences, will be able to:
Become the patrons of new possibilities
Know how to make useful exceptions
Champion emergent opportunities and anticipate emergent threats
Find, empower and provision talent
Sponsor meaningful experiments
Evangelize by keeping and communicating the vision/culture
Orchestrate processes to capitalize on human diversity
Inspire activism and galvanize action
If your leadership team is looking for new strategies to move beyond disruption and closer to a desired future state, then Dr. Kao is an essential guide. Bringing his personal brand of deep knowledge, foresight and method to leaders and organizations in search of their desired future, Dr. Kao helps his clients reimagine the current state of disruption and activate fresh new agendas for success.
Bringing Innovation to Innovation
Innovation: one of the most commonly used yet most poorly understood concepts in the management lexicon. These days, innovation is “the new black,” yet organizations and leaders who know how to do it and “get it done” are in woefully short supply. It’s no wonder that most organizations embracing innovation wind up with disappointment, due to a combination of vague definitions, unrealistic expectations and lack of innovation skills.
In this speech, John Kao serves up a revolutionary view on the how of innovation, where it is defined not only as a brainstorm-to-blueprint process, but by results based on discipline and practice. He will challenge you to take your innovation agenda to a new level of practicality and results.
Creating Impact in the 4th Industrial Revolution
The 4th Industrial Revolution refers to streams of hyper-rapid technology advances that confront leaders and organizations with disruption, uncertainty and complexity. The future is already here and our landscape is evolving at warp speed beyond the ability of leaders to make wise decisions. John Kao can equip you and your organization with the capacities and perspectives to address future challenges and adapt to the imperatives of change.
Jamming
Like Great Jazz Improvisation Will Be Essential to Your Innovation Future
Truly effective innovation depends on the ability to improvise – to create with relevance, speed and agility. From his long engagement with music, John shares novel tools and techniques that will help any leader to be an effective improviser and bring those skills to organizations facing the current challenges of creating value.