June 23, 2026

How to Lead Through Uncertainty Without Pretending You Have All the Answers

How to Lead Through Uncertainty Without Pretending You Have All the Answers
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Confidence isn't about having all the answers—it's about thinking clearly when the path is uncertain. In this episode, Divya Parekh talks with sustainability and innovation strategist Vanessa Thompson about systems thinking, authentic leadership, innovation, and leading through change with clarity and resilience. Discover how to build trust, make better decisions, and lead with confidence rooted in purpose—not perfection.

Beyond Confidence is broadcast live Tuesdays at 10AM ET on W4WN Radio - Women 4 Women Network (www.w4wn.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Beyond Confidence TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

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The topics and opinions expressed on the following show are

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solely those of the hosts and their guests and not

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be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing

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W four WN Radio.

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This is Beyond Confidence with your host d W Park.

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Do you want to live a more fulfilling life? Do

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you want to live your legacy and achieve your personal, professional,

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and financial goals? Well? Coming up on Dvparks Beyond Confidence,

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you will hear real stories of leaders, entrepreneurs, and achievers

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who have stepped into discomfort, shattered their satus quo, and

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are living the life they want. You will learn how

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relationships are the key to achieving your aspirations and financial goals.

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Moving your career business forward does not have to happen

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at the expense of your personal or family life, or

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vice versa. Learn more at www dot gwpark dot com

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and you can connect with vants contact dantsdvpark dot com.

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This is beyond confidence and now here's your host w Park.

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Hello.

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Hello, Hello, It's Tuesday morning, and I'm thrilled to be

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here with you because I look forward to this.

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Day because you are giving us your time.

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So I want to thank you to every one of

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you who have got our books, specially Expert to Influencer

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and the AI Agency, because it's going to help you

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build the influence and from those meaningful connections with people

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as well as develop that agency in this era of AI,

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because it's not what you think, it's how you think. Well,

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let's bring in our guest.

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Welcome, Vanessa.

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Thank you so much for having me.

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So, Vanessa, tell us if there's a moment that you

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recall from your youth or from your childhood where someone

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or an experience left to post and.

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Mark on you.

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Oh, yeah, absolutely, There's been so many wonderful moments. I

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grew up in Silicon Valley, which is a really wonderful

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experience to grow up in that environment with lots of innovators,

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lots of incredible leaders who are all trying to do

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something completely new in their industry. So being surrounded by

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that has certainly shaped my perspective in the work that

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I do today as well now too. But I think

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that there was one really, really great perspective that I

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got and it was from doctor Beth Stevens, and she

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used to be the former chief of Sustainability for Disney.

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And what was interesting about her role is that she

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had to do very very innovative work across a very

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very large organization that has many, many different types of businesses.

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And she said the role of an innovator is actually

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the role of a diplomat. And what she meant by

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that is that if you're trying to do something new

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in your life or new in your business, you have

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to really think about each and every one of your stakeholders,

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really really deeply listen to them, understand what is their objective,

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what are their incentives, what is driving them, and then

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connect that with your mission. And I thought that was

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something that really stayed with me for a very long

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time because I feel that when you're trying to change anything,

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whether it's something you want to change in your own

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personal life or you want to change something in your

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organization or business, you really have to be thinking about

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how am I going to be a diplomat to get

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this done? How am I going to really think about

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everyone else's agenda, objectives and incentives, and then how can

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I be creative in finding ways that my objectives overlap

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with theirs. And that's how the real kind of change

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and transformation happens. So that's something that's really stayed with

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me as a kid, and it's certainly true in my

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work today as well.

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Yeah. No, that's such a beautiful way to take a

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look at it, because when you talk about the diplomacy,

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it is you are thinking about the other party that's concerned,

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and then you're also thinking about your shelf, finding that

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common ground and then everybody's aligned.

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That's where the magic happens.

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So, as you continued your growth in Silicon Valley, tell

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us what did your life take you.

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Yeah? Absolutely, So. I actually started out my career in biofuels.

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So I went to UC Berkeley as my undergraduate degree

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and soon went into biofuels, which was a very interesting

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field looking at algae based biofuels that would be these

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carbon neutral biofuels that we'd be able to actually ferment

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algae and then turn that into car diesel that could

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go in your car and it would be completely carbon

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neutral and sustainable. And so that's something that really motivated me,

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and I helped them raise a few rounds as well too,

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And then I actually got involved with some bigger institutions

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like the UN Foundation and the World Bank and the

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Nature Conserva and see all kind of within analyst roles,

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and then into some venture capital groups as well as

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startups like you know, Jobe Aviation, which is an incredible

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startup which is ebuchall if you're familiar with it, or

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it's similar to kind of electric aviation or things like

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that as well too. So looking at various different ways

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that we can be innovative in transportation and also real

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estate as well too. How can we kind of redefine

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our current infrastructure and create something that's more innovative and

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again takes in all of those stakeholders in mind.

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Absolutely, So you have had a very rich and very background,

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So tell us and not all of our listeners may

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be familiar with the transportation that you're talking about, but

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don't educate us.

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Yeah. Absolutely, I think that there's a lot of different

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wonderful ways that we can start to reimagine transportation, and

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today we're very you know, fixated on a few particular opportunities,

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but there's actually so much out there for us. Of course,

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electrification I think is a huge element that a lot

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of people are talking about, which is fantastic, and I

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think it's certainly a huge element of the solution. I

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also am still a huge proponent of biofuels. I think

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that they're fantastic, mainly because they also work with our

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existing infrastructure. All of our cars today, all of our

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transport systems, they run off of some form of petroleum product,

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and because of that, it makes sense to use our

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exhibiting infrastructure. The investment needed to transition everything is going

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to just be too high given the timeline that we're

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thinking about for some of these transitions needed, and so

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it's really really important that we think about what works

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with our existing infrastructure and how can we be innovative

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with what we already have. And that's something that's always

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really guided my philosophy is thinking about what is it

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that we have? Can we take inventory of everything that

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we have and then utilize that in a better way

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than we've been using it before, And so that's actually

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something that led me to a lot of the work

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that I've done, and I actually call it the waste

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to value formula, And what I mean by that is

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thinking about what you might be disregarding and actually thinking

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about how can we create a sense of value from that.

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And this is something that I wrote in my book

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and it's all in my speeches and keynotes as well too.

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Is this one particular case study, and I'll share this

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with you because I think it's interesting. Barry Calibo is

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one of the world's largest chocolate producers, and they were

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actually throwing out seventy percent of their cacao, or the

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bean itself that grows chocolate. They were only taking out

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the seeds for chocolate, and they were throwing away this

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delicious fruit that was around all the seeds and the

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shell and everything like that. They were paying to produce it,

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but they were throwing away seventy percent of the produce itself.

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And they actually found out by talking to the local

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farmers that you can actually use this as a juice.

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There's a cocw juice. There's all sorts of different things

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you can make out of it. There's medical equipment that

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you know, medicines that you can make out of it.

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There's different liqueurs that you can make out of it.

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There's so many different things that you can use with

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something they were just originally throwing away. And I think

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this is a really great philosophy for all of us

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in our own lives and our own businesses as well too.

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If we take inventory of everything we're wasting or everything

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that we're disregarding, there actually might be some value in it.

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And this is one of the innovation strategies that I

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share with a lot of my clients as well too.

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Can we take inventory of everything we have and can

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we generate a new stream of income from something we're

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throwing away or disregarding. Can we take inventory of everything

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that we're overlooking and find a new source of value

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creation from it. So that's just one kind of case

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study that I've added in the book and everything like that,

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but I think it's very relevant when we think about

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any kind of change or transformation or innovation. Can we

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use something that we're completely disregarding.

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Absolutely what a powerful story because I really like the

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concept of ways to value and that's where the.

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Biofield comes in.

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Yeah, And coming from a biochem background myself, it is

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so powerful because then you are creating that ecosystem of recycling,

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like proper recycling mile disrupting the industry. So you talk

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about systems approach, So tell us a bit more about that.

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Yeah.

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Absolutely, I think that a huge part of when we're

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talking about innovation is thinking about really two core things.

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Is we're talking about either lowering costs and being more

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efficient or improving quality, and we kind of think about

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this as guiding a philosophy for how we want to

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change something. So innovation is more important than ever. I

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don't think I have to tell our listeners that it's

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definitely important, especially when we're dealing with highly competitive markets

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like we're dealing with right now. I mean, a Fortune

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five hundred company will jump off of that list every

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few weeks to quarter. So the turnover that's happening with

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successful companies today is much much higher than it was

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in the past. So we have to continually be thinking

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about how are we going to innovate, how are we

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going to generate new streams of income that we weren't

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originally thinking about before, And then we continue to transition

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and transform so that we're not the ones that are disrupted,

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but that we're disrupting ourselves first, and so thinking about

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a system's approach is a great way to actually start

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to approach that innovation. And the system's approach that I

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like to take is actually focusing on constraints. This is

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kind of something that's counterintuitive, considering that constraints are not

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necessarily always associated with what we think of as innovation.

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But constraining ourselves sometimes can help us focus on the

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right type of innovation at the right time. And sometimes

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when you say, okay, you need to come up with

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a new revenue stream, it's so open ended that we're

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not actually able to create a structure and innovate. And

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creating structure and constraints actually helps guide us towards the

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necessary ip development and innovation that we need. And so

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I'll give one particular example of a doctor. His name

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is doctor Christie, and he was working in a hospital

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that was very, very low income and he had the

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problem of not being able to provide respirators, specifically infant

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respirators to kids who had pneumonia. And this is a

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leading cause of death for a lot of infants around

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the world, that they're not able to get the necessary

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respirators that they need to help them breathe in the

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case that they get pneumonia. And this is heartbreaking for him,

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and he was so incredibly motivated to change something. Now,

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infant respirators cost anywhere between twenty thousand US dollars and upwards. Oh,

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you're looking at you know, particular hospitals that may be

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low on resources, They may not be able to particularly

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afford those types of respirators. And so he said, you know,

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I have to change this. I can't see another infant die.

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This is too much. And so he worked together with

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a small team and came up with a new way

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to create a respirator that only cost three dollars. And

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this is allowed is truly incredible innovation because when you

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think about it, this is a multi billion dollar industry

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of respirator and there's plenty of brilliant doctors. But why

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was he the one who was able to create that innovation?

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Why was he so special? And breaking that down answers

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the question for a lot of great innovators thinking about

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how they're going to approach their next patent and their

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next invention, we have to think about what are the constraints.

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So for him, his constraint was cost. He had to

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constrain himself on the basis of cost. That forced him

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to throw out the old way of thinking entirely because

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he couldn't do it the same way that everyone else

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who was innovating in that industry was doing it. He

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had to throw out the old way of doing it

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and go back to the core basics. What works, what

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is a respirator actually doing, What are the core mechanisms

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that do save a child's life and help them breathe?

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What kind of pressure do I need? And completely reinvented

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it from the core principles level and was able to

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create a breakthrough innovation in that regard. So, constraints can

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help us in a lot of ways to innovate. Whether

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that constraint might be cost, it might be time. There

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are so many different constraints that we can think. Even

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when we're thinking about do we want to use less resources?

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When we're thinking about a sustainability perspective, all of those

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things actually can be tools to help us innovate. And

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so when we're thinking about a systems approach like you mentioned,

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the way that I really like to approach it is

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actually thinking about constraints as an opportunity. And there's so

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much research around this as well too, thinking about actually

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providing a structure to innovation that constrains us and focuses

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us in the right direction.

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So powerful when Essa and I love it because it

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just heartbreaking to think about that infant dying because that

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ispirature is not available to them and that innovation. So

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I'm also hearing that passion and purpose because along with constraints,

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then you have that purpose.

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You are going to.

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Climb high even when you're low because that why is

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driving you towards it. And I really like that approach

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because when we talk about the constraints any product development,

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anytime we are talking, it's important to have that structure

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because those constraints create the guardrails. Otherwise we can be

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in the Lalla land of what's possible and not be

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able to create pilots and create those disruptions. So let's

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talk about as we are talking about disruptions, there's so

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many different ideas, so as so many of gen z's

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and millennials they're thinking of starting up new companies, what

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are some of those key elements that they can have

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to have that Silicon Valley startup mindset?

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Yeah, absolutely, well, I will reinforce the constraints in that

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system might as well too, because when when you don't

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have that, the alternative is complacency. When things are too comfortable,

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when you don't have those guardrails, you'll do things the

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same way that everyone else is doing things. And so

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sometimes those constraints actually give you a competitive advantage in

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the market. So for anyone who's listening, who's thinking about

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what is a business that I want to start, you

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need to start thinking about what is your competitive advantage

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and are the constraints that are in my life already?

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Maybe you have a cost constraint, maybe you have a

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time constraint, Maybe you have other difficulties or challenges in

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your life that are preventing you from creating that business.

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What if those are actually opportunities to think of a

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completely new, unique way approaching the business model. And so

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that's where I want to start to help people start

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to think about all of those challenges as opportunities. And

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when you look at any great innovator, you'll see that

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they had a huge amount of challenges in their life.

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And it's those challenges and those mistakes that sometimes were

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the spark that created that innovation, and so I open

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it up to you to think about. Let me list

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out actually all the challenges that I'm facing in my life.

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Can they be a new way of thinking about the problem.

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Does that give me a unique perspective on the problem.

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Maybe other people are challenged in terms of cost, maybe

301
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other people are challenged in terms of time, whatever the

302
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constraint is, you might actually be understanding your customer more

303
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than your competitors in that regard by actually channeling this

304
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challenge as an opportunity. So something that I will really

305
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emphasize to anyone who's listening today. And of course I

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think this goes without saying, but you mentioned as as

307
00:16:36.679 --> 00:16:40.799
well too is passion and passion and purpose and things

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like this, they really drive us to push past the obstacle.

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So when we talk about all these challenges, the way

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that we're actually over able to overcome it and to

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provide a solution is through a huge amount of passion

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and determination. That's the only way that we're going to

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be able to climb that mountain. If we don't have

314
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that passion or we're not going to be able to

315
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overcome that. When we look back at the doctor Chise example,

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he was hugely motivated to change things. He had the constraint,

317
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but he also had that ingredient of passion or purpose

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because he was so struck by those child's deaths that

319
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he wanted to change this. So there was a huge

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amount of motivation for him to continually design and fail

321
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and design and fail. And there's going to be so

322
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many failures along the process to you finding that wonderful spark.

323
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We love to look at all these innovators and look

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back on their work and say, oh wow, they're just

325
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so brilliant. You know, they just came up with it.

326
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But when you actually look back at the history of

327
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that particular innovator, you'll see that they failed so much

328
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before they were able to find that success, and all

329
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of those failures were learnings for them to go forward.

330
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And if you don't have that purpose, you won't be

331
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able to recover from those failures as well too. So

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failure is an important process, and passion and purpose is

333
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what's going to be able to help you overcome each

334
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of those challenges and failures while you're getting to that solution.

335
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Came on that, I'd love to explore your passion or

336
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if there was a story behind you, getting behind the sustainability.

337
00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:10.759
Yeah.

338
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Absolutely so. Of course, sustainability has been a huge passion

339
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for me and I read you know, Marketer Sex book

340
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when I was in high school that really changed the

341
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course of my life. And he was a former partner

342
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at Goldman Sachs who went on to be CEO of

343
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the Nature Conservancy and the way that he was able

344
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to conserve land actually came from a lot of the

345
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principles that he used at Goldman Sachs and that provide

346
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him a very unique perspective. And so that's what actually

347
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motivated me to go into finance as well as to

348
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have that purpose and passion behind it of sustainability, thinking

349
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about all the externalities of a business, not just when

350
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we're thinking about the internal structures, but thinking about all

351
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the external stakeholders, including sustainability as being one of those

352
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factors as we're thinking about long term revenue growth for

353
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a business. And so that's what really motivated me. But

354
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I think what's so interesting and what kind of helped

355
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me develop my book as well too, is I looked

356
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at all these startups, all these clean tech startups that

357
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are sustainable that are doing well for themselves, and I

358
00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:14.039
noticed something about each and every one of these clean

359
00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:16.240
tech startups as I was working in metro capital groups

360
00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:19.880
or working in those ventures themselves, that all of these

361
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clean tech startups were actually much more innovative than their competitors.

362
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Something about having that strong sustainability purpose was actually helping

363
00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:31.319
them develop ip quicker, retain talent better, and go to

364
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market faster. And I thought that was so interesting. Why

365
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is it that these organizations that have a very strong

366
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purpose are actually much more innovative or able to operate

367
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much leaner, are able to be more dynamic in the market.

368
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And so I started to try to break this down.

369
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What is it about a clean tech startup that's able

370
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to do better than their competitors? And what I found

371
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was a lot of these things. Sustainability provides necessary constraints

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that you need to be more innovative, so it creates

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a dynamic culture in the organization of innovation and adaptability.

374
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It also retains really really brilliant talent because you'll see

375
00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:09.920
people who are right out of college staying with the

376
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organization much longer than their competitors because they believe in

377
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the purpose of the organization. It's not just a paycheck

378
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for them. They're willing to fight for that cause, they're

379
00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:22.920
willing to stay with that organization even when times get tough,

380
00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:25.759
because they believe in the vision and the purpose of it.

381
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And you'll see this with a lot of research as

382
00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:31.880
well too, that you know, higher ESG organizations are able

383
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to survive recessions much better than their counterparts who rank

384
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lower in terms of ESG, so that purpose actually is

385
00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:43.440
able to retain more talent. And we see this with Interface,

386
00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:46.200
which is a key example of a very sustainable business.

387
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They're considered to be the most sustainable business in the

388
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US and also one of the most innovative, and they

389
00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:55.160
started out not that way at all. They were a

390
00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:58.559
carpet manufacturing company in the south of the United States,

391
00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:01.400
which is not as necessarily considered to be a very

392
00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:05.640
innovative business model that seems fairly traditional. So it's interesting

393
00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.559
that they were able to get so much recognition for

394
00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:12.079
their innovation work considering their business model. They were actually

395
00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:14.400
a very dirty business when they started out. Their carpets

396
00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:16.720
were made out of plastic, all of their factories were

397
00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:18.880
run on fossil fuels, and all of the transportation of

398
00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:21.039
their products was also run on fossil fuel, so every

399
00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:24.119
part of their business was dirty, and they in fact

400
00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:27.640
had actually lobbied individuals in government to say that they

401
00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:30.599
should not have any environmental regulations on them because that's

402
00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:33.079
just the way they had to operate their business. And

403
00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:35.720
so they went from what you would think of as

404
00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:39.279
a very traditional business model, not sustainable at all. And

405
00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:42.279
suddenly the CEO decides that he wants to change all

406
00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:46.119
of that. He wants to become a regenerative business, meaning

407
00:21:46.119 --> 00:21:48.200
that he gives back to the planet more than he takes.

408
00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:51.000
And this was in the nineteen nineties when this kind

409
00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:54.720
of thing wasn't as popular. There were as many activist investors,

410
00:21:54.920 --> 00:21:57.880
there weren't as many impact investors to motivate this kind

411
00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:02.000
of change in transformation in the organization. And he said, no,

412
00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:04.839
we're actually going to do better by thinking about the

413
00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:08.559
long term stakeholder engagement when we're thinking about ten and

414
00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:12.599
twenty years out. And they were able to create IP

415
00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:18.519
that's now in Gucci, Adidas and all these big luxury brands.

416
00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:21.359
They were able to create fabric IP and what we

417
00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:23.400
mean by that is that they actually were able to

418
00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:26.359
take plastic out of the ocean, recycle it, and turn

419
00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:28.599
it into their carpeting that they used today, and this

420
00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:32.519
particular technology they developed with their supplier and is now

421
00:22:32.599 --> 00:22:36.319
used by almost the entire fashion world. And this became hugely,

422
00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:39.000
hugely innovative. At the time, it was not considered to

423
00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:42.759
be possible. It was considered to be scientifically possible, but

424
00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:46.319
not in practice, not economically possible to be able to

425
00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:49.799
do this, and so they actually changed their suppliers. They

426
00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:52.839
found a much smaller, leaner supplier that was willing to

427
00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:56.359
take a risk and they developed this ip completely from

428
00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:59.480
scratch with them. And today you'll see people staying at

429
00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:02.359
that organize for more than forty years, which is unheard

430
00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:05.119
of in today's you know, workforce culture. You see people

431
00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:08.400
switching jobs every two years. Not at interface. They stay

432
00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:11.119
for a very very long time, and they're really willing

433
00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:14.160
to fight for that corporate mission. You'll see people dedicating

434
00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:17.359
their full lives to really creating something that they truly

435
00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:19.920
believe in at this organization. I think this is such

436
00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:22.119
a great example for all of our listeners who are

437
00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:24.880
thinking about whether they're, you know, wanting to do a

438
00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:27.559
startup or whether they're just a mid level manager who's

439
00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:30.640
wanting to change their particular team. When you think about

440
00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:33.880
having that driving purpose, you'll find that you actually bring

441
00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:36.400
more people along with you. More people will be motivated

442
00:23:36.440 --> 00:23:38.960
to come onto your side and fight for your mission

443
00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:41.680
when you have that truly authentic mission to change things,

444
00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:45.039
and you'll actually be much more innovative in the long run.

445
00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:49.000
Plenty of interfaces competitors did not survive a few of

446
00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:51.720
the last recessions, and they did. And I don't think

447
00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:54.799
that's any accident that that happened. When you develop new IP,

448
00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:58.519
when you continually innovate and you think about the purpose

449
00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:01.960
behind that innovation, you're able to survive through all of

450
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.440
these market dynamics. So as we're thinking about all these

451
00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:07.160
challenges that we're facing in the market today, all of

452
00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:10.160
these disruptions that are happening in the market today, if

453
00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:13.400
you can think about a guiding purpose that really motivates

454
00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:16.240
each and every one of your team members behind that innovation,

455
00:24:16.680 --> 00:24:18.960
you're going to see your organization survive much longer.

456
00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:24.240
Yeah, now, it's such a valid point. So now that

457
00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:29.160
brings me to the question. Let's say you have the disruption,

458
00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:33.759
you have that purpose, you have had that innovation, but

459
00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:37.759
sometimes that innovation can only get you through maybe five years,

460
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:42.160
ten years now to make the growth sustainable for that company,

461
00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:46.519
How can you have that consistent innovation culture.

462
00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:50.400
Yeah, absolutely, it's so important to continually be thinking about

463
00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:52.200
how are you going to disrupt yourself? And of course

464
00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:54.839
there's really great metrics as well too, Just to be

465
00:24:54.920 --> 00:24:57.640
thinking about that. If you're wanting to implement that kind

466
00:24:57.680 --> 00:24:59.920
of change in transformation in your organization, you should dea

467
00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:03.759
only have key workflows surrounding KPIs that really align with that.

468
00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:06.799
Meaning one example of this is we want to have

469
00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:09.880
twenty percent of our overall revenue from new sources by

470
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:12.759
next year, so new revenue streams by next year. So

471
00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:15.519
continually thinking about how are we going to change our

472
00:25:15.559 --> 00:25:18.359
revenue streams year after year? That should be a conversation

473
00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:20.920
that not just the board or the executive team is happening,

474
00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:24.680
but all throughout the organization. This conversation should be going on,

475
00:25:24.759 --> 00:25:27.559
how are we going to change our revenue streams year

476
00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:29.799
after year? How are we going to diversify those? That

477
00:25:29.799 --> 00:25:32.920
should be something that's a given. So thinking about internal

478
00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:36.559
structures like that, thinking about KPIs like that is really

479
00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:40.160
really important. That's the first step when you're thinking about

480
00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:43.759
creating that innovation culture. Another step is then thinking past

481
00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:46.880
those metrics, how are you going to create structures that

482
00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:50.359
provide support for those innovations. So what I mean by

483
00:25:50.359 --> 00:25:52.480
that is Disney, again is a great example of this

484
00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:56.039
in the sense that they actually create different structures around

485
00:25:56.079 --> 00:26:00.400
their offices for innovation and different types of innovation. So

486
00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:02.920
I'll give one example is that during a Disney office,

487
00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:07.599
if you want a brainstorm, there's three different designated brainstorming rooms,

488
00:26:07.960 --> 00:26:09.880
and you have to book a specific room for the

489
00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:12.880
type of innovation conversation that you're going to be having.

490
00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:17.119
The first room is off the wall ideas, crazy wild,

491
00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:21.039
just the super innovative ideas that are very very challenging

492
00:26:21.079 --> 00:26:25.559
to the existing business model, super super disruptive. The other

493
00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:29.079
ones are the second one is culling that down, so

494
00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:30.880
thinking about, okay, which ones of those are we going

495
00:26:30.920 --> 00:26:33.720
to prioritize those crazy wild ideas, which ones are we

496
00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:37.319
actually going to execute? And the third meeting room is

497
00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:40.839
thinking about just execution. Okay, we've decided on the idea,

498
00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:43.000
how are you going to bring this to market? How

499
00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:46.240
are we going to develop this out? And what's great

500
00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:48.640
about this is it creates a culture of innovation and

501
00:26:48.680 --> 00:26:51.839
a structure around it. Meaning if you have a crazy idea,

502
00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:55.240
everyone who goes into the first meeting room is ready

503
00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:57.240
to hear your crazy idea. They're not going to shut

504
00:26:57.240 --> 00:26:59.839
you down immediately. They're going to say, Okay, that's a

505
00:27:00.039 --> 00:27:01.880
wild and crazy idea. Let me think about that for

506
00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:05.559
a second, instead of just completely saying no, that's just crazy.

507
00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:07.359
We just need to get this meeting done. We just

508
00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:10.799
need to finish the next quarter, right. So, if you

509
00:27:10.839 --> 00:27:13.359
want to create a structure of innovation, you have to

510
00:27:13.400 --> 00:27:17.160
create different systems that allow people to be creative and

511
00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:20.759
innovative and channel that creativity in the right direction and

512
00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:23.799
the right workflows as well too. So I think this

513
00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:26.160
is a perfect example. You don't want to have people

514
00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:29.480
shut down and not want to share those crazy ideas.

515
00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:31.640
You want to have a structure for that. But then

516
00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:34.039
there's other meetings where you just have to prioritize getting

517
00:27:34.039 --> 00:27:36.599
the work done and actually just executing that idea as

518
00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:40.039
well too. So what that does is it enables everyone

519
00:27:40.039 --> 00:27:41.920
who comes into each of those rooms to have the

520
00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:44.599
right mindset to hear the content.

521
00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:45.039
That's being shared.

522
00:27:45.160 --> 00:27:47.079
And so I love that as a perfect example of that.

523
00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:51.839
Absolutely. It definitely makes sense because when you're creating that culture,

524
00:27:51.880 --> 00:27:54.599
and so many times it's done and lean sig sigma

525
00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:57.440
culture is also that as part of their yellow belt

526
00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:02.000
or green belt, they are looking to optimize processes, they're

527
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:04.720
looking for efficiency, you know, where they could disrupt.

528
00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:07.200
So this is such a wonderful.

529
00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:12.680
Example because when people know that their ideas will be welcomed,

530
00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:16.559
they will share. Otherwise, as you talked about, so many

531
00:28:16.920 --> 00:28:21.160
organizations get caught up in feasibility and ideas are just

532
00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:26.480
even shut down, like literally crushed even before they've had

533
00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:31.400
a chance to take root or even germany. So that's

534
00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:34.720
very very powerful. Now we have talked about like okay,

535
00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:38.680
let's have that innovation culture that's helping employees step up

536
00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:44.079
and be creative, come with curiosity. Now you may have

537
00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:47.559
let's say thirty forty ideas. What are some of the

538
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:52.200
prioritization criteria that they can use to ensure that they're

539
00:28:52.200 --> 00:28:53.559
going with the right idea forward.

540
00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:57.480
Yeah. Absolutely, I think this is where stakeholder engagement becomes

541
00:28:57.559 --> 00:28:59.759
really really relevant. When you're thinking about how do you

542
00:28:59.799 --> 00:29:03.599
pray oritize different ideas and think about how does that

543
00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:06.400
connect with the business model. The first that you have

544
00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:10.240
to think of is your stakeholders and who this impacts.

545
00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:13.359
And this might not necessarily be a current customer. It

546
00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:15.319
might be a new customer, but it needs to be

547
00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:20.200
clearly identified. And I'll use one example of Red Sea Global.

548
00:29:20.519 --> 00:29:24.240
They're a hotel development company. They come into particular areas

549
00:29:24.279 --> 00:29:27.960
and they develop beautiful hotels. And what was interesting about

550
00:29:27.960 --> 00:29:31.799
what they did and how they prioritized certain ideas is

551
00:29:31.799 --> 00:29:34.920
they thought about, Okay, we're going to go into this area.

552
00:29:35.160 --> 00:29:38.039
The locals, you know, are a key stakeholder, but they

553
00:29:38.200 --> 00:29:41.200
might not like us moving into this area, but we're

554
00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:42.839
going to listen to them. We're going to listen to

555
00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:45.799
what they want, and we're actually going to genuinely care

556
00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:49.440
and think about structures that support them. And so they

557
00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:52.119
went and they listened to the particular village that they

558
00:29:52.119 --> 00:29:54.759
were going into, and they listened to all of the

559
00:29:54.759 --> 00:29:57.480
people who were living there and what they wanted, and

560
00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:00.440
they gave two crazy ideas that bost companies would just

561
00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.519
throw out immediately. They said, we want a banana farm,

562
00:30:04.039 --> 00:30:08.519
and we want sailboats, our traditional sailboats that are unique

563
00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:12.240
to our culture. Now, any other hotel development company that

564
00:30:12.279 --> 00:30:14.759
comes in said that's great, but that's not really what

565
00:30:14.839 --> 00:30:18.640
we do. We're a hotel company. But they decided to

566
00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:21.880
go for it, and they actually did invest in agricultural

567
00:30:21.960 --> 00:30:25.640
land and they created a very unique farm tabled experience

568
00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:29.039
that's very unique to their hotels, giving the locals that

569
00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:32.160
banana farm, but also giving their customers a very very

570
00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:36.440
unique culinary experience. They also did invest in those sailboats

571
00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:39.640
and taught the locals how to showcase that to tourists,

572
00:30:40.680 --> 00:30:43.720
and now they have a very unique sailing experience that

573
00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:45.920
people travel all around the world to go to their

574
00:30:45.960 --> 00:30:50.519
specific hotels to have this very unique sailing experience. And

575
00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:52.279
so what I think is interesting is when you take

576
00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:56.759
these crazy ideas and you think about prioritizing them, sometimes

577
00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:58.960
the best way to do that is by thinking about

578
00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:02.960
your stakeholders and genuinely listening to them. Then taking each

579
00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:06.039
of those ideas and saying, how does that overlap with

580
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:09.400
our business model. Where is the win win between this

581
00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:14.640
wild and crazy idea and us delivering value to our stakeholders.

582
00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:16.720
And when you're able to find the bridge between the

583
00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:19.680
two of them, that creates a very unique competitive advantage

584
00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:22.240
in the market. Just like we see with red Sea Global.

585
00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:25.759
Yeah, and red Sea Global is such a powerful example

586
00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:30.720
because you're not only coming up with new ideas, you

587
00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:34.000
have that alignment with your stakeholders. But at the same time,

588
00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:38.160
what I'm hearing is that you're taking an existing ecosystem

589
00:31:38.279 --> 00:31:41.279
and expanding it, which is so much easier to build

590
00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:41.799
upon it.

591
00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:45.160
Because if you're building your hotels.

592
00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:47.599
If if the locals are not in alignment, they will

593
00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:51.400
they may be part of your workforce.

594
00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:52.920
And yet not be fully engaged.

595
00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:57.880
Yeah, So what you're doing is you're creating that expansion

596
00:31:57.880 --> 00:32:02.599
of ecosystem, that evolution that's in alignment. And when that's

597
00:32:02.599 --> 00:32:07.839
in alignment, like the whole system is a win win

598
00:32:07.960 --> 00:32:10.400
for both the sides. And that is so rare to

599
00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:11.400
hear nowadays.

600
00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:15.359
Yes, no, definitely, it's very rare. But when it does happen,

601
00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:17.920
I think that companies really do see that benefit of

602
00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:20.279
being very unique and standing out in the market.

603
00:32:21.720 --> 00:32:23.880
So the message here that I'm hearing is that it

604
00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:26.759
can be done. We have seen several examples that you

605
00:32:26.839 --> 00:32:30.960
have shared. We can bring in sustainability because scaling is

606
00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:34.240
just not enough. Once you have scaled, it's important to

607
00:32:34.359 --> 00:32:39.039
sustain your progress and have that continuous improvement. Do you

608
00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:40.960
have any tips around that?

609
00:32:41.720 --> 00:32:44.640
Yes, I will definitely say that it's both possible and

610
00:32:44.680 --> 00:32:47.720
to add on top of that, it creates a competitive advantage,

611
00:32:48.119 --> 00:32:51.480
meaning if you're thinking of, you know, changing your existing

612
00:32:51.519 --> 00:32:54.599
business model or starting a new business, all of these

613
00:32:54.640 --> 00:32:57.559
things enable you to be more dynamic. When you think

614
00:32:57.559 --> 00:33:00.000
about red Sea Global, they're able to be much more

615
00:33:00.200 --> 00:33:03.079
dynamic because they're able to be very creative and innovative

616
00:33:03.119 --> 00:33:06.319
and create new ideas that are unique value propositions to

617
00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:09.519
their specific customers. When we think about Interface, they were

618
00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:12.880
able to survive different recessions because of the unique ip

619
00:33:13.079 --> 00:33:16.079
that they developed. When we think about you know, Disney,

620
00:33:16.119 --> 00:33:18.559
they're a very creative and innovative company, and the structure

621
00:33:18.599 --> 00:33:20.960
around that innovation has helped them be more dynamic and

622
00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:24.079
changing as well too. So with each of these examples,

623
00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:27.599
I will say that, yes, of course it's possible to

624
00:33:27.640 --> 00:33:30.200
think about that purpose and connecting it with the core

625
00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:33.200
business model, but not just that it will actually help

626
00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:38.000
you survive when times are toughest. So my tip for

627
00:33:38.119 --> 00:33:41.279
everyone who's listening to this is to think about what

628
00:33:41.400 --> 00:33:44.599
truly speaks to you in terms of that purpose and

629
00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:47.759
thinking about your stakeholders and how all of that aligns

630
00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:50.839
with the core business model. If you continually think about

631
00:33:50.839 --> 00:33:54.279
that and also listen to each of those stakeholders, they're

632
00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:56.960
going to be telling you ways to innovate if you're

633
00:33:57.000 --> 00:33:59.359
truly and deeply listening to it. Just like with red

634
00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:02.759
Sea Global, you're going to get the cues on how

635
00:34:02.759 --> 00:34:06.200
to develop, how to transform, how to disrupt yourself by

636
00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:09.800
listening to all of those stakeholders and continually trying to

637
00:34:09.880 --> 00:34:13.039
adapt that to the business model. So I wouldn't just

638
00:34:13.079 --> 00:34:16.079
say that it's possible. I would say that that's your

639
00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:19.519
unique competitive advantage to survive the worst storm as a

640
00:34:19.559 --> 00:34:22.400
business by thinking about how am I going to deeply

641
00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:25.199
listen to each and every one of those stakeholders and

642
00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:27.599
be very creative about how I'm going to overlap that

643
00:34:27.719 --> 00:34:29.039
with new streams of revenue.

644
00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:35.840
Definitely, I'm sure a lot of people in our audience

645
00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:38.719
would love to connect with you. Where can they find you?

646
00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:41.239
Do you have anything else that you'd like to share

647
00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:41.599
with us?

648
00:34:42.519 --> 00:34:46.000
Yeah? Absolutely, So of course they can look at my

649
00:34:46.039 --> 00:34:49.519
speeches or keynotes or book. That's all on my website

650
00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:53.559
Vanessa Thompson dot com. You can also look at the

651
00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:56.039
podcast that we have as well too, we bring on

652
00:34:56.320 --> 00:35:00.559
C suite level executives every episode talking about a different

653
00:35:00.599 --> 00:35:05.480
aspect of practical business advice surrounding sustainability. We've had Olympian

654
00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:09.199
Venus Williams on who's talked about her incredible three environmental

655
00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:12.559
startups that she's run. We've also had CEOs and CEOs

656
00:35:12.840 --> 00:35:15.559
come onto the podcast and talk about just really practical

657
00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:17.920
business advice. So if you want to hear that podcast,

658
00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:21.639
you can go to the Dash Sustainability dash experts dot

659
00:35:21.679 --> 00:35:24.480
com and of course you can find me Vanessa Thompson

660
00:35:24.559 --> 00:35:27.639
or the Sustainability Experts on LinkedIn. Always happy to connect

661
00:35:27.639 --> 00:35:30.960
with anyone who wants to collaborate anything else you'd like

662
00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:34.639
to share. I would say that for anyone who's listening

663
00:35:34.719 --> 00:35:37.199
to this and you're looking at all these great innovators,

664
00:35:37.239 --> 00:35:39.400
these great entrepreneurs that you might be looking up to,

665
00:35:39.480 --> 00:35:43.119
and might feel a little bit overwhelmed that everyone who

666
00:35:43.199 --> 00:35:46.800
started out in this journey, including Ray Anderson from Interface

667
00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:50.039
who was completely transforming his business after already being a

668
00:35:50.039 --> 00:35:53.519
public company, all of them didn't know where they were

669
00:35:53.519 --> 00:35:55.039
going to go or how they were going to get

670
00:35:55.079 --> 00:35:57.519
to their goal. Initially, And I want to use this

671
00:35:57.559 --> 00:35:59.880
as kind of a point of inspiration for anyone who's

672
00:35:59.880 --> 00:36:02.280
just feeling a little bit lost when you think about

673
00:36:02.280 --> 00:36:07.559
that big, wild, crazy, ambitious goal that you're thinking about.

674
00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:10.920
The first initial steps, none of them knew. Each of

675
00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:13.639
these great innovators did not know how they were going

676
00:36:13.719 --> 00:36:16.159
to get there. But what they did do is they

677
00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:19.320
thought about what was going to be a small, achievable step,

678
00:36:19.599 --> 00:36:23.079
small project that they could win at. When you create

679
00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:25.599
that small little project that you can win at, you

680
00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:27.960
develop your first five people who are going to be

681
00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:31.320
your supporters in that transformation. You're able to win at

682
00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:35.280
something small, achievable, build confidence, build motivation in the organization,

683
00:36:35.880 --> 00:36:39.280
and that's the first key step to creating a transformation

684
00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:42.960
and true innovative culture in the organization itself. So if

685
00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:45.360
you're feeling overwhelmed, not sure, we're to start, think about

686
00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:48.280
something really small and achievable that can help win over

687
00:36:48.280 --> 00:36:50.320
those first five people, and that's.

688
00:36:50.119 --> 00:36:56.079
How you're going to get there. Absolutely well. Thank you

689
00:36:56.119 --> 00:37:01.320
when Essa for the wonderful sites that you have given

690
00:37:01.559 --> 00:37:04.360
along with practical strategies. Thank you for joining us. We

691
00:37:04.519 --> 00:37:07.800
issue the best as you continue on your systainability Johnny.

692
00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:11.239
Thank you wonderful audience for joining us and being part

693
00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:14.039
of her family. Reach out to us like you always

694
00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:16.239
do and let us know how we can serve and

695
00:37:16.280 --> 00:37:20.159
support you to live the best life you can. And

696
00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:23.880
thank you on for being a tech genius. Be well

697
00:37:23.920 --> 00:37:25.280
and take care until next time.

698
00:37:26.760 --> 00:37:29.159
Thank you for being part of Beyond Confidence. With your

699
00:37:29.159 --> 00:37:31.800
host Divva Park, we hope you have learned more about

700
00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:34.440
how to start living the life you want. Each week

701
00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:37.559
on Beyond Confidence, you hear stories of real people who've

702
00:37:37.559 --> 00:37:41.760
experienced growth by overcoming their fears and building meaningful relationships.

703
00:37:42.119 --> 00:37:45.480
During Beyond Confidence, Vpark shares what happened to her when

704
00:37:45.519 --> 00:37:47.920
she stepped out of her comfort zone to work directly

705
00:37:47.960 --> 00:37:51.039
with people across the globe. She not only coaches people

706
00:37:51.079 --> 00:37:54.559
how to form hard connections, but also transform relationships to

707
00:37:54.639 --> 00:37:58.039
mutually beneficial partnerships as they strive to live the life

708
00:37:58.039 --> 00:38:00.400
they want. If you are ready to live the life

709
00:38:00.440 --> 00:38:04.159
you want and leverage your strengths, learn more at www

710
00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:07.960
dot wpark dot com and you can connect with wats

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contact at wpark dot com. We look forward to you

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joining us next week,