Beyond Business as Usual
The Blog
Join Elisabet in the exploration beyond business as usual, roam the frontlines of Better Business, touch on the emerging paradigm of Regenerative Business, and explore the evolution of conscious impact leadership.
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Leadership
Why We Need Inner Development to Navigate and Catalyze Outer Change
Today’s world is often described as VUCA—volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. The acronym captures the unpredictability of modern life, where everything from climate change…
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Leadership
Inner Development for Outer Change
The Inner Development Goals (IDG) Summit in Stockholm last week was an inspiring reminder that the path to a sustainable, thriving future lies in…
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Reading
Book: All Societies Die – How to Keep Hope Alive
In today’s world, with the accelerating impacts of climate change, nature loss, rising inequality, and increasing political instability, Samuel Cohn’s book All Societies Die:…
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Leadership
The power of Executive Presence
Have you ever considered what makes you want to follow one leader but not another? In its essence, it boils down to that person’s…
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Leadership
Book: Immunity to Change – How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization
In their groundbreaking book ”Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization” published by Harvard Business…
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Leadership
Book: Energy Rising – The Neuroscience of Leading with Emotional Power
Energy Rising: The Neuroscience of Leading with Emotional Power, by Julia DiGangi (Harvard Business Review Press, 2023), delves into the intricate relationship between neuroscience,…
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Leadership
Book: The Source – open your mind, change your life
In today’s rapidly evolving world, traditional leadership models are being challenged. The need for leaders who can navigate complexity, inspire collaboration, and make a…
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Innovation
It’s time for Creative Renewal
Creativity is one of humanity’s most valuable assets. It can be defined as the ability to generate new and useful ideas, solutions, or works…
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Better Business
What is needed to shape a trivable and equitable future for all in 2050?
In my last blog post, I explored the global megatrends unfolding and asked ChatGPT40 to create four scenarios for 2050 based on our current…
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Better Business
Exploring the future: global megatrends in motion and scenarios for 2050
As we navigate through 2024, understanding the key megatrends shaping our future has never been more critical. These global forces influence every aspect of…
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Better Business
How might AI contribute to building Better Business and a Better Future?
After testing different AI applications over the past year, I’m currently enrolled in the MIT Sloan Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy Program. Why…
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Better Business
Economic cycles
Here, I want us to explore the long cycles that provide a larger pattern throughout economic history – and what implications that may have…
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Innovation
What is creative destruction?
The economist Joseph Schumpeter introduced creative destruction as early as 1942. In short, it refers to the process of change that follows important technological…
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Better Business
Breaking Boundaries
When discussing the environment, we’re most often referring to Earth’s habitable zone or the biosphere – the prerequisite for life on this planet. A…
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Better Business
It’s time to move beyond business as usual
Climate and environmental scientists have warned us for decades, and we are slowly coming to understand that business as usual is no longer serving…
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Better Business
Accelerating Change: The Power of Positive Tipping Points
Have you tried to take in the fact that six out of nine planetary boundaries have already been crossed and that multiple tipping…
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Leadership
What is Conscious Impact Leadership?
In today’s rapidly evolving world, traditional leadership models are being challenged. The need for leaders who can navigate complexity, inspire collaboration, and make a…
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Better Business
Supporting Global Change Makers
I will participate in the WEF Global Shapers Summit 2023 online starting today. The summit brings together a community of young shapers worldwide, driving…
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Better Business, Future
What We Owe The Future
As business leaders, we often get stuck in the operational issues of the short term. Once a year, when we go into the strategy…
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Better Business, Strategy
At an inflection point
“We are at an inflection point in history.” – JOEL GARREAU I doubt that you have missed the urgency of the Sustainability Revolution, or…
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Future, Leadership
The future of leadership (as to ChatGPT)
I recently asked ChatGPT to write a blog post about the future of leadership. The answer was surprisingly insightful.
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Better Business
The consequences of the Great Acceleration
“We’ve watched the COVID-19 situation unfold at incredible speed… The climate crisis is playing out on a much slower timeframe. We know roughly what…
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Better Business
What do I mean with Better Business?
This is an edited excerpt from the book Better Business Better Future, by Elisabet Lagerstedt (2022). First published on Medium.com In my previous article,…
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Better Business
Better Business Better Future — the introduction
This is an edited excerpt from the introduction of the book Better Business Better Future, by Elisabet Lagerstedt (2022). First shared on Medium.com “The…
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Better Business
It’s time to go beyond business as usual
This time last year my latest book was published. It is still equally important. I’m going to start 2023 by sharing a section from…
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Better Business
A new industrial revolution
The world around us is often described as increasingly volatile, complex and ambiguous. We see signs of accelerating change and exponential growth in a…
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Better Business
Discover the Better Business Acceleration Program!
After two years of working on my latest book, Better Business Better Future (January, 2022), I’ve now spent another 6 months in transforming…
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The Innovation Hub as a means to reinvent your business
History has proven that sooner or later someone will come along disrupt your current business and eventually make you irrelevant, through new business models,…
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Better Business
Accelerate Better Business and a Better Future
Thanks in advance for taking your time to read this today. Because, I have something both urgent and important to share with you. After…
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Better Business
The power of People with Meaning and Purpose
Strategists and business leaders tend to forget that growth does not necessarily need to happen though new market entry, or new products. It can…
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Better Business
Is your organization fit for purpose?
Do you run a purpose-led company? If not, I invite you to start exploring this field, because a meaningful higher purpose can not only…
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Better Business
Meaningful innovation will help us build a better future
Interestingly, most of the companies I have studied at the frontlines of Better Business are not regarded as world-class in rankings of the world’s…
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Better Business
How and why Paulig Group supports their local coffee farmers
Paulig Group is a family-owned Finnish-based food and beverage company providing coffee, world foods, spices and plant-based options. The company has more than 2,000…
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Better Business
Webinar: Beyond business as usual – lessons from sustainability trailblazers
This webinar is hosted by Aluminary Network, a networking app for graduates of INSEAD, HEC Paris and other top business schools. Like the digital revolution before it,…
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Are you stuck in a paradigm paralysis?
”All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident.” -Arthur Schopenhauer…
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Better Business
What does opportunity mean to you?
Unleashing the potential of Better Business to address the wicked problems of the world offers not only tremendous challenges, but also vast opportunities –…
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Better Business is a key milestone
The Sustainability Revolution is here, and today’s sustainability trailblazers are leading the way. Better Business is a first and urgent milestone. Better Business is…
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Better Business
Moving towards regenerative business models
In 1970, economist Milton Friedman wrote a New York Times article titled “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.” In the…
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Better Business
Sustainability is something that concerns us all
Sustainability can be defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own…
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Better Business
The consequences of the Great Acceleration
Over the past century, the world has seen unprecedented economic development and an exponentially growing population. Industrialization and globalization have led to wealth…
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The Sustainability Revolution
“The sustainability revolution has the magnitude of the agricultural and industrial revolutions but the speed of the digital revolution.” – Al Gore [i] In…
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Better Business
It is time for Better Business
Early on in my career (late 1990s) I was responsible for one of the first commercially successful sustainability brands in Sweden (Grumme). It already back…
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Leadership
Growing vertically as a leader enables Better Business
Have you heard about Vertical Leadership Development? It goes beyond traditional executive coaching methods and traditional leadership education – and focuses on expanding your…
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Leadership
To lead in a VUCA world
“Companies operate in an increasingly complex world. Business environments are more diverse, dynamic, and interconnected than ever – and far less predictable.” The quote…
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Better Business
Learning is lifelong!
Every year over the past decade I have challenged myself with executive education from leading global business schools, including Harvard, Oxford, IMD, INSEAD, and…
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At an inflection point?
In my last blog post, I wrote about wicked problems and tipping points. In business lingo, wicked problems, such as climate change and the…
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Better Business
Wicked problems offer opportunities
Better Business needs to be recognized as not only a necessity for the future of our humanity but also for the huge business opportunity…
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Better Business
12 keys to unlock Better Business
I have over the past blog posts discussed the urgent need for better business, based on the Better Business Playbook that I recently published with…
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Better Business
Doing well by doing good
We live in a world of accelerating change where industrialization and globalization has helped us leap forward and transform the world in ways that…
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The Better Business Opportunity
As business leaders, we have a unique opportunity to make a difference. Not only for our companies and teams, but for the larger picture:…
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Better Business
The Better Business Playbook
The Better Business Playbook is designed to inspire you, as a business leader, to go beyond business as usual, and navigate the opportunities and…
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Strategy
Navigating a world of accelerating change
The world around us is often described as increasingly volatile, complex, and ambiguous. We see signs of accelerating change and exponential growth in a…
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Strategy: What it is, and why you should be doing it
It’s the beginning of 2007 – 13 years ago, just before the global financial crisis hit – and I just got back from the…
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The importance of having a long-term view
“Every company requires a long-term view.” – Jeff Bezos Short-termism seems to be everywhere today. Companies with a long-term perspective have however finally been…
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Vi behöver tänka lite längre än näsan räcker
Rubrikerna i media är just nu stentuffa. ”Nedgången i svensk ekonomi blir både bredare och snabbare än under finanskrisen”, säger exempelvis Swedbank i sin…
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Trends
Top Remote Working Software Tools to Innovate & Collaborate
Working remotely is almost a must today. Considering the current situation, I’m sharing an article (in full) with some of the top remote working software…
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Vad innebär den cirkulära ekonomin för er affärsmodell?
På EU-nivå pågår sedan länge en mängd olika typer av hållbarhetsorienterade initiativ och man ser sig med rätta som en viktig aktör i…
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Better Business
Ökat fokus på hållbarhet
I augusti 2018 började Greta Thunberg strejka för klimatet. Det har idag växt till rörelsen Fridays for the Future och bidragit till att skapa…
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Strategy
Why strategy is not dead
Strategy is no longer necessary, according to some – but without it, business would not utilize our full human potential. A few years back,…
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Leadership
How to create clarity in 15 minutes
Many of our clients just have too much going on. Ultimately, this overwhelms the mind, makes thinking cluttered, and creates difficulties in prioritization.
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Strategy
Time to focus on the long-term
Getting management teams to look beyond the horizon is sometimes a challenge since everyday business is so engulfing.
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Innovation
50 examples of companies that failed to innovate
Valuer recently published an interesting selection of companies that failed to innovate.
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Future
Exponential Innovation at Singularity University in Silicon Valley
The world is experiencing accelerating change, which has made us even more convinced in our belief in lifelong learning. Knowledge is getting outdated faster than ever before.
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Strategy
Long-term focus outperforms short-termism
”Corporate short-termism” has been the subject of ongoing debate – among leaders in business, government, and academia – for decades.
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Strategy
Are you relevant?
Customers do not primarily buy a product or a service, they buy a solution to a perceived problem. Consequently, a company’s competitive edge is…
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Future
Next stop: the Royal Danish Opera
It’s time for two days of inspiration at the first Singularity University Copenhagen Summit on the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. Over two epic…
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Strategy
European Business Forum on Innovation and Growth
Without reflection, no learning happens. A lot of our own personal learning today happens online in parallel to our everyday commitment to support executives…
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Strategy
Thinkers50 European Business Forum
Without reflection, no learning happens. A lot of my own personal learning today happens online in parallel to my everyday commitment to support executives…
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Strategy
The power of you having first hand customer experiences
In B2B, market and customer data is not always easy to gather or access. Still, it’s key to innovation, growth and renewal. Let’s take…
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Innovation
Bring your team on a Customer Safari
Did you know that first hand experiences are generally more valuable than second hand knowledge? Actually, the strongest insights come from what you have…
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Innovation
Creative people must be stopped
Creating growth through innovation has become an increasingly important challenge to many companies. To develop a new product however means a constant compromise. A compromise…
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Innovation
Test prototyping a silly idea
In parallell to Strategic Thinking, I often use Design Thinking methodology to approach relevant business problems and challenges. Design Thinking originates in design, but has developed into…
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Time for ideation?
Hungry for some inspiration on ideation? Check out these resources presented by the IDEO team at IDEO U From ideas to Action: The Reinvention of Normal:…
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Innovation
Back from the Strategyzer Bootcamp for Business Model Innovation Coaches
The world we live in is experiencing accelerating change. Hence, what took us here may not be what is taking us into the future. With…
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Reading
Time for some summer reading?
Summer is definitely here and you are hopefully taking time to just relax, and maybe even finding some time to read a few useful books….
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Innovation
Crash Course in Design Thinking
As part of my mission to inspire organizations to embrace an outside-in approach to business, we just finished a crash course in Design Thinking…
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Future
The future of energy workshop at Royal Society in London
I felt truly humbled to be able to contribute as a speaker and group facilitator with a customer and end-user perspective in a future…
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Innovation
How do you place your future innovation bets?
The WHY of innovation today isn’t just about avoiding that your product range turns into commodity. Instead it is becoming brutally clear that change is…
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Trends
Why the Digital Society empowered the Sharing Economy
Guest blog by Linda Malmgren. With the evolution of Internet came a transformation of society. The internet allowed us to create a world where…
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Strategy
Why Strategy Is Not Dead
Strategy is no longer necessary, according to some – but without it, business would not utilise our full human potential. This article was first…
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Strategy
Why strategy is not dead
Strategy is no longer necessary, according to some – but without it, business would not utilise our full human potential. Article first published on…
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Trends
Big data and Thick data – both are needed
Reblogged from Harvard Business Review. For marketers, truly valuable customer data comes in two forms: thick data and big data. Thick data is…
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Strategy
Business Strategy: Are You Inside-Out or Outside-In?
An ideological gulf has opened in today’s business world, between companies that look outward for long-term value and those relying on internal resources. “Look…
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Strategy
Why Your Strategy Could Need a Futurist
Being far-sighted about your strategy can help you prepare for the big global changes already unfolding. I’ve spent quite some time trying to understand…
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Looking into the future is always a challenge
Strategy is about defining your current state, future position and direction. Understanding your environment – both current and future – is an important part…
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Strategy
My Favorite Strategy Books
Summer is a great time to read, and there is still some time to read until it’s over, even here in the Nordics. Our last…
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Reading
A summer reading list
Finding inspiration and seeds for good ideas is something we can all make a daily habit, 365 days per year. Now that summer is here,…
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Strategy
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is something you have probably heard about. And it still seem to be discussed as the salvation to every…
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Innovation
Value Proposition Design
We really like Alexander Osterwalder’s (et al’s) updated approach on designing value propositions. In his latest book, called ”Value Proposition Design”, he shows a…
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Innovation
Go Idea Hunting
Have you ever admired geniuses like Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, or even Steve Jobs? A genius is often thought of as a person who displays exceptional…
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Strategy
The Business Model Canvas
”Great products are becoming a commodity. It’s the combination between great products and a great business model that is going to keep you ahead…
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What’s your approach to business? Inside-Out or Outside-In?
An ideological gulf has opened in today’s business world, between companies that look outward for long-term value and those relying on internal resources….
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What’s a great, differentiated customer experience really worth?
What’s a great, differentiated customer experience really worth for your company? A study conducted by Watermark Consulting has shown that it’s worth a lot. They…
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Innovation
How to create a Value Proposition
In business, it doesn’t make sense to focus on doing the same thing as everybody else. Especially since research show it pays off to…
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Only 14% of employees understand their company’s strategy and direction
We recently stumbled on an interesting article by David Witt on the Leaderchat, claiming that only 14% of employees understand their company’s strategy and…
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The one number you need to grow
Two years of research and several thousand interviews with customers in different industries have shown that one simple question – in most industries –…
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How to cope in an increasingly complex world
We live in an increasingly complex world. Most scientists would even agree that we are living in one of the greatest times of change…
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Is your company ready for Big Data?
There is a lot of data around these days and rumor says that the typical company doubles the amount of data it stores…
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Up for the challenge of growth?
According to a recent survey made by Bain & Company, the number one challenge for most business leaders of today is generating growth, next in…
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What else can you do for your customers?
Product focused and production oriented companies tend to believe their competitive advantages lie in sourcing, production, logistics and product feature innovation. However, these activities…
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Key trends driving the development over the next 50 years
We live in an increasingly complex world. Most scientists would even agree that we are living in one of the greatest times of change…
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Without change – no progress, no development…
Growth is a team effort. Change is too. However, as someone insightfully said…”Change has a bad reputation in our society. But that isn’t…
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Dreaming about innovation?
”The world’s most innovative companies enjoy a premium on their share price”, as to evidence recently shared by Hal Gregersen and Jeff Dyer…
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Innovation
Why 80% of innovations fail
Creating growth through innovation has become an increasingly important challenge to many companies. To develop a new product however means a constant compromise….
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