Leadership and Notions of the Metaverse : Opportunity or Threat to the "Status Quo" ?

Keeping up with the latest developments in today's volatile business environment may be difficult for leaders when the business climate is demanding. Given the complexity of pandemic-related or (for UK ) Brexit related supply, labour, and energy concerns and on top of as a byproduct of the pandemic, the ever more technological acceleration now confronting many industries, it may be challenging for leaders to cope with present difficulties while also anticipating the changes that will occur in the future. However, hard this may sound, in my experience, it is most important to pay attention to what is happening around the corner first while and then deal with the present volatility.

Our digital lives and work settings were accelerated in various ways as a result of COVID-19, a terrible worldwide disruption. While this was going on, the "metaverse", a futuristic-sounding notion (for some) is now rapidly moving closer to fulfilling its "Web 3.0" or "3DWeb" billing.

The Pandemic, Technological Acceleration, and Leadership Crisis.

Leaders who are used to fast technological hype cycles may be forgiven for being suspicious about the metaverse, and they may be tempted to dismiss the notion while dealing with the ongoing upheaval in front of their eyes. However, I think that executives at businesses with a strong innovation mindset and infrastructure should pay close attention to this since it has the potential to significantly alter the way we work, live or learn both physically and online.

When faced with adversity, a company's capacity to identify and execute innovative ideas is the most important factor in ensuring that the business remains resilient. Investing in resilience will allow these businesses to become leaders and take advantage of opportunities in the future. These investments and corresponding opportunities made as a result, will also help them stay competitive and profitable in the long-term. It is difficult to predict how the metaverse will look in the future. But one thing is for sure - it will be a space where we can create anything we can imagine. To succeed in this new world, business leaders must start investing in their resilience now. Those who have invested in developing this competence will be in the greatest position to take advantage of the possibilities presented by the metaverse.

What is the Metaverse??

The metaverse is a term often used to describe the possibilities of virtual worlds and augmented reality. It is a concept that is becoming more and more relevant as technology continues to advance.

The term metaverse is coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash . The Metaverse is a virtual reality, networked computer-generated 3D environment. Some people refer to the Metaverse as a collective virtual, shared space created by the convergence of virtually enhanced reality. It is an immersive environment of user-generated data, that can be accessed with VR headsets, AR glasses, or smartphone apps. Users are able to interact with each other, explore new environments, and create content within the virtual world. With the use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, users will be able to monetise their creations and transactions in this virtual world.

There is the widespread view that in future we may do anything from work to shopping to trading to socialising to being amused. The idea of a 'metaverse' would merge the physical and digital worlds ( some call this Digital Singularity ) . This would be made possible through 5G and upcoming 6G , as well as cooperation from other industries on interoperability. | It helps us live a more complete and linked digital existence across a variety of virtual platforms. As an added bonus, it transitions us away from our smartphones, which we use for everything from 2D web-based services to connecting with others to working on, and toward comfortable daily eyewear that overlays digital information on the actual environment.

The metaverse's fusion of the virtual and physical worlds is already taking place, and it is being expedited by changes in consumer behaviour brought about by the epidemic. It is important to note that the metaverse was always here, the pandemic brought it to the centre stage. There are various concepts within the notion of metaverse, these are:

Virtual Spaces:

Decentraland is a virtual reality environment where players may buy, trade, and construct structures on virtual plots of land that they can purchase using the game's Ethereum blockchain-based coinage, which is equivalent to real money. And we're seeing real-world companies get on board as well. This summer, the internationally renowned auction firm Sotheby's created a digital twin of its New Bond Street Gallery in London in Decentraland's art area. Digital plots of land in Decentraland are selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrency

Virtual Events:

Metaverse events are causing quite a stir in the music industry. Following the success of Marshmello's live virtual performance in the online video game Fortnite, which garnered 10.7 million people in 2019, interest in similar events has only risen. Travis Scott, a fellow singer, performed a live-streamed Fortnite performance in April of this year, which garnered 27 million views and helped his track launch at the top of the real-world music charts.

VR & Social Gaming:

The gaming industry, as well as technological corporations seeking to establish a foothold in the metaverse, is mainly responsible for the current state of affairs. The research firm L'Atelier BNP Paribas predicts that in-game expenditure on things such as digital apparel and character improvements would climb to $129 billion in 2021, an increase from the current level of $109 billion. Users are already purchasing digital items from real-world firms , with luxury retail brands being among the first to see the potential of the digital marketplace. Meanwhile, values imply that investors are getting in on the action as well, with online gaming platform Roblox being valued at $41.9 billion in a direct listing (10/03/2021). On the technological front, social media behemoths are pouring billions of dollars into the sector, with other technology corporations jumping in as early investors .

?

DEVELOPING AN EARLY ADOPTER LEADERSHIP STYLE

It's evident that the metaverse is still in its early stages, but already many corporations start to take note.

Innovative organisations are more likely to invest in infrastructure, people, and a mentality that allows them to evaluate technology. Therefore, they are more likely to uncover compelling use cases as well as important company digital evolutions or digital transformations and to take them into consideration when making strategic decisions. Waiting for assurance or safety might be a perilous proposition, given how lengthy and difficult the process of change is.

While I am a great supporter of innovation teams, I believe that if they are isolated from the rest of the organisation, they will be unable to effectively identify the particular challenges or opportunities that technology can bring. Engaging with domain experts in the metaverse will be just as crucial as engaging with experts in any other technology in the future. A diverse set of talents and expertise is essential for innovation teams in order to push and pull technologies in the most effective way to comprehend their enterprise-wide potential. We will need game developers, cryptanalysts, blockchain experts, management experts, AI specialists and so on. We know innovation teams need to be diverse and mixed in terms of talents and expertise to create more innovative outcomes. But what happens when we think about innovation beyond the traditional business model??

At times, leadership sees a threat to innovation teams, to them many times "Innovators are a threat to the status quo". They may see innovators as someone who bring changes which may not be in their best interests. And that often leads to frictions and with how this "change" will affect their own interests than what is best for the business.

?Centralised bureaucracies always protect the status quo. They don’t innovate. And it’s innovation that’s the real threat. “

Bruce Sterling, book Islands in the Net Source: Islands in the Net (1988), Chapter 2 (p. 47)

Technological acceleration is part of the solution not the problem

The metaverse provides the opportunity to develop business resilience through technology acceleration (digital transformation) that a company needs, and it is a solution to problems, not a threat to leadership. By ensuring that they have a plan for disruptions of all kinds - natural disasters, fires, floods pandemics- they can keep their business going no matter what happens in the outside world.?

A diverse set of talents and expertise is necessary for innovation teams to be successful. With such an eclectic mix of skills, they can better tackle problems and generate new ideas. This also helps them create more innovative products as they bring more perspectives to the table

It is not about keeping the “status quo” but working on the basis that the “status quo” will be disrupted and change as often as it is possible.

Failure is part of the plan when it comes to innovation.

There have been a number of false beginnings along the way, and the same will be true in the metaverse. Even those with the greatest talent to innovate must accept that failure is a part of the process. In the setting of a big or risk-averse organisation, maintaining a "fail to win" mentality may be tough to maintain.

In my own experience dealing with CEOs, MDs in various company settings ,private to public, large to SME or talking to other top-level executives across a variety of industries, I've seen personally how important leadership attitude is. The acceptance of failure and the allocation of resources to developing technologies are more common among executives who are devoted to innovation investment, even in complicated intra-organisational economic conditions or times of volatility.

Given that the metaverse is only the latest in a long series of overhyped consumer-driven innovations, it isn't surprising that it isn't on the radar of every leader. Despite the fact that there are obstacles to overcome, I think that the metaverse will provide enormous opportunity across a wide range of industries and at the same time it will be one of the reasons many industries may vanish from the marketplace. It is undoubtedly a collective evolutionary step driven by consumer adoption. When the time comes, organisations that are consistently addressing their innovation potential, irrespective of market challenges and strains, will be in a strong position to respond when the opportunity arises.

?

?

?