great business speakers

A few years ago, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world conducted their annual employee engagement surveys, eager to gauge the pulse of their workforce. The results revealed something odd: while employees ranked "Being an Innovative Company" as one of the highest aspects, there was a glaring contradiction. They also ranked "Ability to Get Things Done" as one of the lowest. How could a company be considered innovative while simultaneously lacking the ability to execute?

Have you ever heard a song while you’re in a bar, at a restaurant, out shopping, or watching tv and wondered, “What is the name of that song!” That happened to Chris Barton all the time. As a huge music fan, he was determined to find a way to identify songs in the world around him. And so, he created Shazam, the revolutionary app that uses technology to bring the magic of music discovery to your fingertips.

THE COMPETITIVE ORDER IS RESET IN TIMES LIKE THESE YOU CAN COUNT ON IT: The big lesson from past downturns is that the competitive order within industries is rearranged far more than will ever happen in prosperous times. It’s already happening -- the pandemic has spurred surprising innovation from companies across a wide range of industries, building a new competitive advantage for those bold enough to take action.

For every leader unsettled by rampant disruption, unbounded competition, relentless commodification, and the specter of automation, there is a powerful antidote already inside the organization: the untapped audacity, imagination, energy, resourcefulness, curiosity, eccentricity, and passion of its people. Those fundamental human qualities are the engine of the creative economy—the source of all value. And yet, too few organizations are designed to unleash, mobilize, and amplify that human edge.

MIKE ABRASHOFF'S "NO-LIMITS MANAGEMENT" CREATES A CULTURE OF INNOVATION What organization isn’t searching for a path to inspire breakthrough performance by engaging the employees differently? If you’re among them, this story will inspire some fresh thinking on the subject.

The natural reaction to the Wells Fargo debacle, perhaps within that company and by leaders at other companies looking to prevent similar behavior, is to clamp down and exert more rules and regulations; tighten organizational control. But Management Lab partner POLLY LaBARRE cautions that approach runs the risk of stifling the very innovation and employee engagement that organizations covet. Polly has been a top innovation speaker since her early days at Fast Company magazine; someone whose approach to organizational control was centered around the idea of unleashing the full power and creativity of the people within it by demolishing bureaucracy. Polly's strategies look to make organizations as human as the people who comprise them. I asked Polly to write about the tug between controlling, regulating, and making rules vs. the ideal of setting workers free to find new ways to drive innovation. I hope you enjoy her thoughts here on a fresh approach to organizational control. --------------------------------------------------------- Control by Other Means - The Benefits of Bureaucracy Without All the Costs by Polly LaBarre It was one of the most breathtakingly egregious cases of institutional overreach in recent memory: the widespread fraud uncovered at Wells Fargo last fall. Under bruising pressure to meet wildly aggressive sales targets, thousands of bankers created as many as 2 million accounts for customers without their consent—and kept the racket alive for years with a web of shady practices and tacit executive support.

INTRODUCTION: Consultant and author Polly LaBarre has a brilliant way of creating actionable steps to address complex challenges leaders in organizations face. In this commentary, Polly offers strategies leaders can use to ramp up experimentation that leads to breakthrough innovations. To learn more about Polly LaBarre and watch videos from past speeches, click here.

Smart technology has drastically altered how we operate in everyday life, and the workplace is no exception. These technological advancements have contributed significantly to how businesses operate both in the big picture and in day-to-day activities. With smart technology evolving at such a fast pace, what’s in store for the workplace of the future?

Talking about business disruption is almost becoming a cliché. Upheaval is so prevalent that it’s become the norm. The bigger issue is how to find solid expertise to help you and your organization successfully navigate the different forms of disruption.

Polly LaBarre - a new innovation model helps Lego innovate like an insurgent