Turbulence Ahead and It's Going to Get Bumpy

• In Event: Futurecasting the Field of Leadership

Short Description

This engaging presentation will explore the concept of leadership from a futurist’s perspective. The presenters will conduct a quick dive into several emerging megatrends and challenge participants to think more critically about the leadership skills and competencies needed to ensure success in the permanent whitewater of the coming quarter century.

Detailed Abstract

This interactive and engaging presentation explores the concept of leadership from a futurist’s perspective. Our purpose is to explore the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to be an effective leader in the 21st century. We will conduct a quick dive into several emerging megatrends (e.g., climate change, globalization, machine learning, virtual reality, data science, artificial intelligence, the internet of things) that will impact leadership and management. In some cases, the content is controversial, under-developed, hypothetical, from the fringe, and purely theoretical. In other cases, it’s real, under development, and entering the marketplace.

For example, two megatrends, Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI), and 3-D printing are just beginning to “take root” across the globe. The popular press has focused on flashy examples such as a system that can beat the world’s best “Go” player or that ANI wrote a pop song. However, individuals with a more critical eye to these mega-trends see disruption and turbulence on the horizon. Below are some headlines that will help tell the story of our future.

-“Artificial intelligence has created its own movie trailer”
-“Artificial intelligence has solved a 100-year old biology problem”
-“Artificial intelligence achieves near-human performance in diagnosing breast cancer”
-“Artificial intelligence replaces physicists”
-“3D-printed organ-on-a-chip with integrated sensors”
-“Quick meal? 3-D printed dinner”
- Nanomedicine: Gene fueled transporter causes breast cancer cells to self-destruct

Beyond the headlines, there are some fascinating stories of how ANI and other technology is disrupting some well-established industries. For instance:

-A law firm in Ohio, USA has hired a digital attorney named ROSS and “It took about ten months for ROSS to learn bankruptcy law before it commercially rolled out.”
-At Hitachi, artificial intelligence has been placed in charge of the warehouse management system to assign tasks to employees
-Robots are performing surgery on animals with a high level of success
-According to a study out of Oxford University, up to 47% of jobs will disappear in the next 25 years

ANI is but one challenge. The challenges are systemic. For example, the issue of climate change is connected with famine and disease, food and water security. All of these challenges are linked to geo-political tensions which emerge in the refugee crisis that Europe and SE Asia are struggling to cope with. It is currently estimated that 1:120 people on the planet are refugees or displaced people. This is only going to increase. How do we address these aspects? Can this be addressed by current leadership thinking? What then does all of this mean for leadership? Not just leaders across sectors, but the practice of effective leadership? What opportunities exist and what competencies will best serve the men and women of 2030 and beyond? Do the traditional competencies/attributes of: Visioning, goal-setting, building teams, decision-making, managing conflict, navigating change, systems thinking, thinking creatively, delegation, mentoring, process improvement, and securing results still apply? Or are there new emerging competencies that will be needed to thrive in this brave new world?

The primary contribution of this session is to challenge participants to think more critically about the skills and competencies needed to ensure success in the “permanent whitewater” of business over the coming quarter century. After an introduction to the topic we will explore 2 critical questions:

-Are we preparing our students/employees for the coming tidal wave of change?
-What meta-competencies will be needed for the workplace of the future?

We expect a lively discussion and will encourage healthy debate, dialogue, and reflection!

Session Description
-Discuss emerging technologies and mega-trends (10 minutes)
-Explore meta-competencies needed to navigate the emerging business environment (10 minutes)
-Explore the need for new knowledge, skills, abilities vs. re-tooling leadership competencies that already exist (10 minutes)

Participants

• Scott J. Allen, Collegiate Leadership Competition

• Steve Kempster, Lancaster University