Innovation Sessions: What does the current state of change mean for the innovation consulting industry?
3 exceptional panelists // 143 attendees // 5 questions
*Panel*
Natasha Chetiyawardana // Founder & Creative Partner, Bow & Arrow // Bow & Arrow - WHITE SPACE DIGITAL INNOVATION - identifying and creating new digital products, services and ventures that fulfil unmet customer needs and deliver diversified revenue streams
Sal Pajwani // Group CEO, ?What If! Innovation // ?What If! Innovation - GLOBAL INNOVATION FIRM WITH OFFICES IN LONDON, NEW YORK, SHANGHAI, AMSTERDAM, SINGAPORE & CHICAGO - using an experimentation-driven approach to help clients incubate
Chloe Williams // Founder, 8TH Day & London Chapter Lead, Women In Innovation // 8th Day - STRATEGIC INSIGHT AND INNOVATION AGENCY - helping global brands adapt and reinvent themselves – in what they create, what they do and what they say
facilitated by Drew Welton // Co-Founder, Bamboo Crowd // Bamboo Crowd - EXPERT INNOVATION RECRUITER WITH OFFICES IN LONDON & NEW YORK - bringing innovation to life by hiring world-class talent - the people that develop game-changing products, services, experiences and cultures
*Setting the scene* The world is in flux. Business and consumer behaviours and habits are shifting rapidly. Our personal and professional lives are changing. The world is a different place.
*Session purpose* What does the current state of change mean for the innovation consulting industry?
*Insight and Inspiration* Q&A with our panel.
Question 1.
What are the different challenges industries are facing? Who will be the winners and losers looking at the shift from crisis mode to new normal?
Sal - Almost all industries are going to have to rethink how they work and, now more than ever, they will need people who have innovation skills. The people that take leaps…the people who can think differently…and the people who won’t anchor to business as usual. There will be huge demand.
I see a very very positive view for the innovation industry over the next 2 or 3 years.
Chloe - We’re seeing an uptick in urgency. Industries that were slow to change are now seeing that supercharged. Take home fitness…Peloton and Tempo have been supercharged overnight. But there are also things in reverse. Take sustainability. We’ve had a real push away from single use plastics, but if you walk around London now there is single use plastic everywhere, whether that’s PPE or plastic glasses that pubs have started using in mass. So some of the things we’ve started to move forwards on are now going backwards…people were shifting to natural cleaning solutions but are now moving back to heavy use chemical products because people want to make sure they’ve got that disinfectant benefit coming through.
I think it’s important to remember there will be multiple versions of normal and people are going to go back as much as they will forwards and in new directions.
Natasha - We also need to look internally when we think about winners and losers. A tight, strong internal culture will be more important than ever. Organisations that haven’t invested in their internal cultures are now going to suffer. The concept of work, and invariably an increase in remote and flexible working, will make employees question where they work more and more.
People need a compelling reason to stay with you. All bets are off.
The winners will be the ones that are doing something meaningful, both for their customers but also for their employees.
---
Stay tuned for our panels response to question 2... New sectors and businesses are created in times of change. During the 2008 recession there were a number of huge successes. From WhatsApp and Slack evolving the way we message each other, to Uber kick starting the gig economy. What new sectors do you see on the horizon?
If you can't wait...check out the full piece here.