Henley Global Masterclass, Munich: Day 1
How will you lead in the 4th industrial revolution? Leading a team, company or industry through a period of such transformation requires not only an unbending enthusiasm for embracing change, but also a completely new set of skills.
This is the question we set out to answer in our latest Henley Global Masterclass, and we have brought a wide range of industry experts, specialists and educators to Munich to help shed light on an uncertain future. At the half-way mark, it seems sound to introduce the fourth industrial revolution, and see where we have got to so far.
"Previous industrial revolutions liberated humankind from animal power, made mass production possible and brought digital capabilities to billions of people. This Fourth Industrial Revolution is, however, fundamentally different. It is characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, impacting all disciplines, economies and industries, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human."
Professor Klaus Schwab on the Fourth Industrial Revolution - (Source: World Economic Forum)
Our first day was packed with surprises and new, deeply applicable skills. From hearing how Vikings pioneered a value-based leadership system that in part hinged around hospitality, to learning that our short attention spans will lead to us becoming slaves to future decision-making machines, to unearthing ancient truths about music & rhythm, and how this can impact high performance teams.
Optimism was provided in spades, through practical lessons and strategies. For example, to cope with our reduced attention span we heard that removing distractions, listening to music, investing in mindfulness, and focusing properly on tasks could re-wire our brain. All sessions ended with discussions and questions from all attendees as we drilled down into the real-world implications for the new world.
Everything came back to the human element in the equation, and our driving objective, that of - #ChampioningHumanity
Standout Quotes
“The boss-like command and control leadership method is dead. Leadership is about giving power to others, about sometimes saying “I don’t have the answer – what do you think?” – Chris Shern
“The ability to flex your emotional capital is vital for the 4th industrial revolution. Leaders are better leaders when they can exhibit emotional control.” – Stewart Monk
“The answer to complexity is learning. The process is a process of learning” – Jon Foster-Pedley
“The brain is not hack-proof and learns from repetition. This means that those with short attention spans will eventually become slaves to the machines, reduced to labelling data for automated processing systems.” – Johann Romefort
“AI is not a product, it is an enabling technology. Did the combustion engine kill jobs? No – the tractor did! So why are people scared of AI? Because we don’t know what the product will be.” – Harry Novic