The Pulse - July Edition

Your monthly dose of digital and business innovation

In this edition of The Pulse, we?share our latest Orange Paper, 'Unlocking Value through Mission-Based Working'. The paper discusses the need for a modern, agile approach to delivering value and outlines the five foundational pillars necessary for successful implementation.

We also share an exciting episode of The Disruptive CEO Nation Podcast, where our Founder Pat Lynes discusses his entrepreneurial journey, how managers today should nurture teams differently, and why he believes that senior leaders need to better position themselves for a future where they control their options related to work.

Enjoy!

Unlocking Value Through Mission-Based WorkingUnlocking Value Through Mission-Based Working

Our Orange Paper, "Unlocking value through mission-based working: A fresh approach to implementing a Product Operating Model," explores the challenges organisations face in today's fast-paced business environment and presents the Product Operating Model as a game-changing solution. The paper discusses the need for a modern, agile approach to delivering value and outlines the five foundational pillars necessary for successful implementation.

Key Takeaways:

?? Traditional project-based approaches and siloed strategies are failing to deliver consistent value in today's rapidly changing business landscape.

?? The Product Operating Model ensures strategic alignment, fosters high-performance teams, focuses on the customer, encourages innovation, and lowers risk.

?? Implementing a Product Operating Model requires strengthening five foundational pillars: strategic agility and insight-based execution, customer centricity, value delivery, people empowerment, and technology enablement.

?? Targeted coaching and capability support are essential for leaders to successfully navigate the new way of working emphasised by the Product Operating Model.

?? Technology plays a critical role in enabling teams to deliver value at pace, requiring a mindset shift towards creating enabling technology that empowers teams.

?? Adopting a Product Operating Model is an ongoing journey that requires commitment, persistence, and a willingness to learn and adapt.

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Executive Expansion in the Gig Economy and Other Ways Entrepreneurial Thought is Changing Business with Pat Lynes

Our Founder, Pat Lynes , was recently interviewed by Allison K Summers, CAE , an executive coach and business leader on her?Disruptive CEO Nation?Podcast. Allison has worked in corporate offices around the world and helps people grow their influence. Here are some of the highlights of their conversation:

?? Executives are encouraged to explore freelance roles, step out of their comfort zones and embrace opportunities in the freelance world

?? Writing?'The Disruptive Executive'?book, which offers a practical roadmap for executives to transition to a plural portfolio executive arrangement

?? Practicing gratitude can significantly impact one's outlook on life, leading to a more fulfilling and balanced life

?? Implement programmes focused on health and wellness, as well as strategies to position employees for success citing that this is crucial for team development and collective growth

?? Entrepreneurship is a team effort that requires prioritising employee development and wellbeing for enhanced engagement and performance

You can listen to the podcast here.?

The Mission is Everything: Key Insights from our Future of Work Event?

In today’s fast-paced business landscape, adapting to change is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. We recently hosted an event titled "The Mission is Everything," where industry leaders explored the strategic shift towards mission-based working, effective leadership and product operating models.

Our latest blog unpacks the valuable insights shared during this session, offering actionable takeaways for senior business leaders navigating change within their organisations. Key highlights include:

?? The importance of shifting to evidence-based, inside-out operating models

?? Overcoming resistance to change with mission-based working

?? Strategies for effective team management

?? Leadership insights from Brigadier Nicky Moffat CBE on fostering trust, clarity and empowerment

?? Embracing diversity and inclusion for organisational success.

Read the full blog here.?

Navigating the Complexities of Product Operating Models: Insights from Industry Leaders

Our recent Leaders in Transformation (LiT) community event brought together a diverse group of industry experts to delve into the intricacies of Product Operating Models (POMs). This session, filled with rich insights and practical experiences, highlighted the multifaceted nature of implementing POMs across different organisations.

Key Takeaways:

?? Adaptability is key: Tailor POMs to fit your unique organisational context

?? Self-sufficient teams: Aim for independence in resources and capabilities

?? Balancing act: Manage new features while addressing technical debt

?? Effective governance: Establish clear structures and roles

Explore the full blog here.?

CEO Community: Leading Through Chaos Series

What’s it really like to be a CEO in today’s business landscape? Over the past 12 months, we’ve been hosting intimate dinners entitled ‘Leading through Chaos’ for senior business leaders to explore that question, and more. This month, we brought together participants from these cohorts and asked whether the level of ‘chaos’ has abated since we last met? The resounding response was that it hasn’t, and the ensuing lively discussion revealed how it has actually grown and continues to grow:

?? Maintaining purpose:?The journey from inception to maturity often risks losing a sense of purpose. How do CEOs ensure their businesses retain their core mission and values throughout growth?

?? Prioritisation:?Benchmarking priorities against what’s within control helps in focusing on what truly matters. Keeping ‘the main thing the main thing’ is crucial for effective leadership.

?? Loneliness and pressure:?Combating isolation in leadership roles is essential. Mechanisms to cope with pressure include fostering connections and seeking support to navigate challenges.

?? Evolving CEO role:?It’s not just about knowledge anymore. Storytelling, emotional intelligence and personal reflection are now critical skills for effective leadership and building organisational trust.

?? Driving change:?Significant change occurs when the pain of the current reality surpasses the discomfort of change, emphasising the need for resilience and adaptability.

?You can find out more information on our CEO Community here.?

Tech Talk & Business Buzz: The Headlines ??

In this section of The Pulse, we bring you some of the month’s biggest headlines and must-read stories from the worlds of technology and business.?

OpenAI Enters the Search Arena with SearchGPT: A New Era of AI-Powered Web Queries

OpenAI has unveiled SearchGPT, a new search feature aimed at providing "timely answers" to queries by drawing from web sources. SearchGPT’s interface resembles OpenAI’s ChatGPT, displaying information, photos, and relevant links from the web. It can also tailor results based on the user's location. Powered by advanced OpenAI models like GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and GPT-4o, SearchGPT is currently available to a select group of users and publishers, with plans for future integration into ChatGPT. OpenAI aims to make web searching faster and more efficient, emphasising responsible usage by prominently citing sources and collaborating with publishers. Despite past controversies, OpenAI is positioning SearchGPT as a more ethical AI-powered search tool.

Nvidia Launches AI Foundry to Empower Businesses with Customisable AI Solutions

Nvidia has introduced AI Foundry, a new service designed to help businesses create and deploy custom large language models tailored to their specific needs. Combining Nvidia's hardware, software tools, and expertise, AI Foundry allows companies to customise open-source models like Meta's Llama 3.1, enhancing accuracy and performance. The service includes access to pre-trained models, high-performance computing resources via DGX Cloud, and the NeMo toolkit for customisation. Alongside AI Foundry, Nvidia launched NIM (Nvidia Inference Microservices), facilitating easy deployment of customised models. This strategic expansion aims to position Nvidia as a comprehensive AI solutions provider, catering to enterprises seeking advanced AI capabilities while maintaining control over their data and applications.

The Bates Foundation?

We are delighted to announce our new partnership with The Bates Foundation as their Platinum Sponsor. Founded by Sebastian Bates , a close friend of our founder Pat Lynes , The Bates Foundation is dedicated to transforming the lives of underprivileged children.

As part of our commitment to giving back, we will sponsor 1,000 children every week, primarily orphans and homeless children in developing countries, guiding them on a transformative three to five-year journey.

At Sullivan & Stanley, we believe that to be good, you need to do good. This partnership aligns perfectly with our mission to inspire a future of work for the next generation. We are excited about this new chapter and look forward to making a lasting impact together with The Bates Foundation.

Thanks for reading. Until next time!

S&S ??