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Featured Futurist: The pandemic has exposed just how flexible companies need to be, WIRED
The rate of global change and disruption was accelerating pre-COVID, but now, as we look towards the "Post COVID era" it's been turbocharged and companies need to adapt like never before.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2020) 'Featured Futurist: The pandemic has exposed just how flexible companies need to be, WIRED', 311 Institute, 17 November. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/featured-futurist-the-pandemic-has-exposed-just-how-flexible-companies-need-to-be-wired/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
Firstly, thank you to Catherine and Greg at WIRED for interviewing me for this article, and asking me to be the keynote for their 2020 events which, because of the pandemic, all inevitably ended up being virtual.
Ironically, the pandemic and what happens when we come out the other side to live in the “new normal” and come to terms living with the virus over the longer term rather than without it, also became the focus of the article as well as those events as individuals everywhere sought to understand the pandemics short and long term implications on everything from the future of work and society, right through to its impact on every conceivable industry - from aviation and construction, to communications, energy, healthcare, retail, and beyond.
Suffice to say while I’ve experienced a number of epidemics up close, for example, Ebola with my work in Africa, as well as MERS and SARS, I like many people have never experienced this “once in a generation” pandemic event, so digging into it in detail, discussing it and its implications in open forums, and presenting its impact on the future was needless to say a sobering experience. It’s also one that we have to learn from and, fortunately, are.
In the meantime though, and while we all wait for the world to hit the restart button, get back to the new normal, and enviously eye a time when all we have to worry about is climate change, echo chambers, fake news, or “Truth decay” as Barack Obama put it recently, and the erosion of western democracy, you can read the latest post pandemic insights in our WIRED article. And as a final parting weird fact, did you know that WIRED’s subscriptions and page views have tripled in the past year because of the pandemic? There are some bright spots after all …
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Source: WIRED
FAQ
Why does this matter?
The rate of global change and disruption was accelerating pre-COVID, but now, as we look towards the "Post COVID era" it's been turbocharged and companies need to adapt like never before.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- WIRED wired.com
- Coronavirus technology companies accenture wired.co.uk
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 17 November 2020. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2020). Featured Futurist: The pandemic has exposed just how flexible companies need to be, WIRED. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/featured-futurist-the-pandemic-has-exposed-just-how-flexible-companies-need-to-be-wired/
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