Discontinuity

Summary: "Leading through an Age of Discontinuity" by E. Kelly & J. Girzadas

Understanding from COVID-19:

• Leaders gained a deeper understanding of business resilience.

• Discovered the value of essential jobs and flexible working practices.

• Recognized interdependence with customers and societal health.

Current Era Challenges:

• Broad-reaching change is happening at an unprecedented pace.

• New era with challenges and opportunities in technology, geopolitics, and societal values.

Five Discontinuities:

1. Radical Science and Technology:

   • Exponential progress, revealing correlations and eliminating the need for lengthy experimentation.

   • Technology impacting life, creating a mirror world, developing the metaverse, expanding beyond Earth, and addressing climate change.

2. Stakeholder Capitalism:

   • Moving from maximizing short-term shareholder value to addressing externalities.

   • Shift towards environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) agenda.

   • Innovating to remove negative externalities and internalizing costs.

3. Globalization Reinvented:

   • Growth of the global middle-class disrupted by populism and COVID.

   • Government interventions challenging the Washington consensus.

   • Discontinuous changes in global strategies and geopolitical relationships.

4. Decline of the Theory of the Firm:

   • Rise of the theory of the ecosystem.

   • Ecosystems involving collaboration, competition, and co-evolution.

   • Transition from self-contained firms to collective strategies.

5. Rise of Network Power:

   • Power shifting from hierarchies to networks.

   • Decentralized, autonomous, and collaborative models gaining importance.

   • Blending traditional power modalities with new ones.

Forging a Better Future:

• Leading through discontinuity is a crucial leadership skill.

• Three key elements: Intentionality, Integration, Learning.

• Proactively directing efforts for positive impact, integrating strategies, and continuous learning.

Leadership Skills for the Next Decade:

• Ability to lead through disruptive dynamics is crucial.

• Intentionality, Integration, and Learning are essential components.

• Leaders should not remain anchored to traditional structures but adapt to sustain growth.