Invited by Kevin and Tina at abrdn, one of the UK's largest asset managers, and OnTrack, one of the UK's leading leadership and training organisations.
Matthew GriffinFounder, President and Futurist, 311 Institute
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Kevin and Tina at abrdn, one of the UK's largest asset managers with over £464 Bn under management, and OnTrack, one of the UK's leading leadership and training organisations, invited Matthew to host a session on the future of technology, trends and leadership.
He took abrdn's 300-strong global leadership team and its aspiring young leaders on a tour of the possible and probable futures they will one day experience and have to adapt to. The session covered the speed of disruption and global technological change, their impact on business, culture and society, and how the breadth of change affects abrdn's investment strategies, before moving to Q&A.
"Even though leaders only directly control around 45 percent of what happens to and within their organisation, they can still see it, understand it, and thrive from it."Matthew Griffin, United Kingdom, December 2022
Matthew framed the session against arguably the most complex times any of us have experienced. As the world lurches from one crisis to another, Collins English Dictionary named 'Permacrisis' its word of the year, and the year ahead promised more geopolitical unrest, raging inflation, stuttering supply chains, war and the ever-present threat of a resurgent pandemic.
Against that VUCA backdrop, many leaders suffer from analysis paralysis. Even though leaders directly control only around 45 percent of what happens to and within their organisation, Matthew showed them how to see that uncertainty, understand it and thrive from it.
311 Intelligence
What this means for your leadership team
Control is partial, so sight matters.
Leaders directly control only around 45 percent of what happens to and within their organisation. The rest still shapes results. The task is to see it early, understand it and act, rather than wait for certainty.
Permacrisis rewards steady learning.
Collins English Dictionary named 'Permacrisis' its word of the year, and the VUCA pressures behind it show no sign of ending. Adaptive leadership asks leaders to guide teams by learning and adjusting, not command and control.
Disruption reaches strategy and investment.
The session linked technological change to business, culture and society, and to investment strategies at one of the UK's largest asset managers. Supply-shock inflation and global value chains show how outside shocks reach the balance sheet.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
Which 45 percent of our outcomes do we actually control today?
Where is analysis paralysis slowing decisions in our leadership team?
Which outside shocks should we watch before they reach our strategy?
The trends and technologies behind this session
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
It means uncertainty is a permanent condition, not a phase. Leaders control only around 45 percent of what happens to their organisation, so the advantage lies in seeing and understanding the rest, then acting.
How does adaptive leadership relate to this keynote?
Adaptive leadership asks leaders to guide teams through uncertainty by learning and adjusting, not command and control. That matches the session's aim of helping leaders thrive in what they cannot directly control.
How do supply-shock inflation and global value chains relate to it?
Repeated supply shocks from war, energy and commodities keep inflation above central bank targets, and global value chains are being rebuilt around risk, but only slowly. Both echo the session's backdrop of raging inflation and stuttering supply chains.
How can 311 brief our leadership team on this?
Through a private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector, in person first.
Bring this to your leadership teamA private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector. In person first, anywhere in the world.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s session and 311 data.
If Matthew gave this session today
Build your own scenarios, then turn them into strategy.
The codex covers the latest strategic foresight methods and shows leaders how to develop their own scenarios and turn them into strategy, a practical answer to the analysis paralysis Matthew described.
