Situation Normal, Everything Must Change

We live in a competitive world. That competition forces change. It has always forced change. Change is normal. The question is not whether our organizations will change, that’s a given, but can we see this change before it hits us or are we simply rudderless boats being battered by wave after wave? It certainly feels that way sometimes.

To answer the question we need to understand our landscape, the economic forces at play, the context we operate within and our situational awareness of this. Can we navigate the waters, can we see the storm coming or are we being battered because we refuse to look? During this talk we will examine the level of situational awareness within business, why it matters and whether we can anticipate and exploit change before it hits us.

Speaker Biography

Simon Wardley is a Researcher for the Leading Edge Forum, a global research and thought leadership community dedicated to helping large organizations become more successful by identifying and adopting Next Practices at the growing intersection between business and information technology.

Simon’s focus is on the intersection of IT strategy and new technologies. His most recent published research (January 2016) is entitled Clash of the Titans: Can China Dethrone Silicon Valley? where he examines the impact of strategic competition at a national and global level, gauging the progress China has made and the likely developments going forward.

His previous research covers topics including Of Wonders and Disruption, The Future is More Predictable Than You Think: A Workbook for Value Chain Mapping. Simon has also covered topics including Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts: Strategies for an Increasingly Open Economy, Learning from Web 2.0 and A Lifecycle Approach to Cloud Computing Simon has spent the last 15 years defining future IT strategies for companies in the FMCG, Retail and IT industries. From Canon’s early leadership in the cloud computing space in 2005, to Ubuntu’s recent dominance as the No 1 Cloud operating system.

As a geneticist with a love of mathematics and a fascination in economics, Simon has always found himself dealing with complex systems, whether it’s in behavioural patterns, environmental risks of chemical pollution, developing novel computer systems or managing companies. He is a passionate advocate and researcher in the fields of open source, commoditization, innovation, organizational structure and cybernetics.

Simon is a regular presenter at conferences worldwide, and was voted as one of the UK's top 50 most influential people in IT in ComputerWeekly’s 2012 and 2011 polls.