X-Days in Shanghai—For a Future with X Possibilities

During my conversations with leaders from China and around the world at X-Days, organized by 德国工商大会大中华区 , I again realized how crucial innovation is and the increasing attention it has received. I was honored to share my view on the importance of innovation with the audience in Shanghai.

After living in China for many years, you might think that I would have gained a deeper understanding of Chinese culture, but somehow Chinese literature is still a mystery. Among the literary works I know, The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin is one of my favorites. While The Three Body Problem indeed reflecting some dark aspects of human nature, it is also a story of perseverance, courage, and the enduring spirit of humanity. It challenges us to think about what it means to be human, what it means to be ethical and moral in dire circumstances, and how we as a species might respond when confronted with the unknown.

Liu Cixin’s imagining of the Constant Era and the Chaotic Era based on the classical physics puzzle of the three-body problem, which involves the prediction of the motion of three bodies interacting through gravitation, is very interesting to me. Therefore, I have also used the term “Chaotic Era” to describe the planet that we live on.

The world is currently confronting a combination of risks that feel both unprecedented and reminiscent of past challenges. The transition to a “new normal” after the COVID-19 pandemic was abruptly interrupted by the conflict in Ukraine, leading to new crises in the realms of food and energy. In order for businesses to thrive and endure, organizations, especially MNCs, must actively explore avenues for increasing innovation.

According to BCG Global Innovation Survey 2023, 79% of companies worldwide see innovation as a top-three priority for this year, and Nearly 90% of ready* companies plan to increase innovation spending. As the connection between innovation, growth, and advantage becomes stronger than ever, more companies are committing to innovation.

In Liu Cixin’s story, the extraterrestrial invaders try to fabricate visual miracles and other hallucinations on a massive scale to make humanity distrust its own scientists. This, to some extent, reflects our world today: in a world of rising disruption and uncertainty, people tend to believe the “hallucination” that there are simple solutions to solve the challenges that humanity faces. And more often than not, just maintaining the status quo and saying “This is how it has always worked” seems to be a simple way to understand this world.

But it is not that simple. Actually, I believe it is the other way around: ?maintaining the status quo can carry greater risks than embracing the challenges ahead. To address new risks, we have to be innovative. Steve Jobs once famously said, “Innovation distinguishes between the leader and the follower.” I believe he was right. Societies and companies alike need to innovate to address the challenges ahead of us. Companies may do this by creating new routes to profitable growth, becoming more adaptable, and rapidly scaling new business models or offerings. Societies also need to innovate, as the challenges are huge—just look at the unsolved problems like the ever-growing debts of governments, the na?ve belief that retirement funds will be sufficiently large to pay for retirement for all people once they are old, and the challenges we face to sustain the environment on this planet.

In the novel by Liu Cixin, the protagonists are split into different “tribes” that follow completely different beliefs about how to deal with the threat toward the earth and humanity. This also reads like a blueprint for today’s world, where many leaders believe a technology like AI could one day be a threat for humanity, even leading to its extinction. While I am personally not that pessimistic, it is certainly important that for a safe AI, global leaders need to find joint solutions and not split into respective groups of trusted friends in their approach to make AI safe. Unlike in Liu Cixin’s novel, where the fight against the Trisolarans is a lost cause in the end because humans cannot agree to a single strategy, we will hopefully be wiser when it comes to AI.

During the X-Days, listening to the speakers from companies like Siemens, Tencent, Microsoft, Alibaba, Cloud, and XPeng—all of which are very successful companies in their fields of business—I saw many striking examples of how innovation has allowed these companies to remain leaders in their fields.

However, there are clearly still a few aspects that companies need to consider. For example, how should they choose a balanced portfolio of short- and long-term innovations? How should companies evolve business models for changing conditions? How deeply should companies embrace new technologies such as AI? Is it advisable to be a first mover on each new technology, or should a company wait until the initial hype has settled? How can companies build a vibrant innovation ecosystem with their partners without losing their own unique selling proposition?

All these aspects will play a major role for companies if they want to stay ahead of the competition for decades—and in some instances of German companies, even for centuries. However, it requires so much more than just a few cool ideas or even a breakthrough prototype.

The whole point of attending events is to meet inspiring people, listen to their ideas, and gain knowledge and insights. Even if you only take one or two new ideas with you that can be used in your own company, such an event has already been worthwhile. I hope that future X-Days will be rewarding for all the attendees, bringing more opportunities for collaboration, and that my and other presentations by so many corporate and institutional leaders will be food for thought.

* “Ready” companies are those that are ready to develop product, process, and business model innovations that can deliver sustainable impacts.

?#innovation #AI #sciencefiction

(Disclaimer: The ideas, views, and opinions expressed in my LinkedIn posts, articles, and profiles represent my own views and not those of any of my current or previous employers or organizations with which I am associated. Additionally, any and all comments on my posts from respondents/commenters to my postings belong to, and only to, the responder posting the comment.)