Fit For the Future

There's been a lot of news recently about leaders of large organisations in Australia forcing their teams to return to the traditional office full-time. But that's a sure-fire way to limit both your talent pool and your competitive advantage. The future of work is no longer confined by geography or the traditional nine-to-five model.https://swiy.co/go-teams-without-boundariesIf you're a leader, what do you think your future team will look like?I've seen a lot of headlines recently - and you might have seen them as well - from CEOs of large organisations around Australia insisting that all their people who were previously office-based must now come back to the office full-time.They acknowledge that during the pandemic, office workers had to work from home, and now many organisations have hybrid work or other flexible arrangements. But for these leaders, the message is clear: Their best and only way to collaborate and build their team culture is to have everybody working full-time in the office, five days a week - the way it used to be.This narrow way of thinking limits your future.If you think the team of the future is going to look just like the team of the past, where the best employees happen to live within commuting distance of your office, you're wrong! You're limiting your talent pool, you're less attractive to the best employees, and more progressive competitors will have a competitive edge.Compare this to libraries. In the past, libraries were known for being quiet spaces - in fact, that was one of their key characteristics. And that made sense, because they were one of the few places where you had access to information, knowledge, and reference material. So it made sense to provide an environment to help people absorb that information.But we now have many, many other ways to find, access, and absorb information. And, to their credit, libraries have evolved. My local library is now more of a community hub, catering for people talking on the phone, students working in groups, noisy community activities, and even loud young children. And if you still want that quiet space, they even provide free earplugs!As a library member, I don’t even have to visit the library anymore. My membership gives me access to a large collection of e-books, streaming movie services, and more.If you're a leader, take a leaf out of their, err ... book.Two hundred years ago, the office WAS the best workplace for knowledge workers. But we no longer need offices to access files, use secretarial services, connect with others, and even use computers.The team of the future is very different from the team of the past. And this applies to all workplaces, not just knowledge workers and offices.This idea is one of the four pillars of the future of work. I’m running a free public online presentation soon about this, where I'll share these four pillars and give you practical steps to take right now to support your team and your leadership journey. It’s free to register, and you're welcome to invite other leaders in your team and network, too.Register for the virtual masterclass:https://swiy.co/go-teams-without-boundaries

To be a future-ready leader, it’s useful to foresee coming trends, changes, and challenges. But it’s just as important to bring your team along on the change journey. It’s not enough to predict the future; you also need to create an environment where your people are open, willing, and excited to innovate and adapt.https://swiy.co/go-leadership-2025I do a lot of work with leaders, teams, and organisations across many sectors – recently with primary school principals, people in the mining industry, healthcare leaders looking to embrace digital innovations, and people in the public sector.Everybody, of course, has their own journey, but they also share many common challenges and opportunities.As a futurist, I help them in two areas.First, as a leader, it’s useful to understand what’s coming up in the future – to see over the horizon and around the corner – so you can make better, more well-informed, decisions now.Second, and equally important, you need to bring your team along on that change journey. It’s one thing to know what’s coming, up but if your team can’t – or won’t – change, that knowledge is useless.We live in a time of constant change, and we need teams who are not just open to change but also willing to embrace and lead the change. That means actively building that culture, not just hoping it will happen by itself.You take for granted that you get instant hot water in your home when you turn on the tap. But that happens only because of the pipes, plumbing, and other infrastructure behind the scenes.So, should you prioritise knowing what’s coming up in the future, or should you prioritise bringing your team along on the journey?The answer is Yes! Both are equally important. And when I work with leaders to help them be future-ready leaders, we talk about both aspects. Whatever you do in thinking and planning for the future, make sure you also invest time in bringing your people on that change journey.And that means building that culture of change before you need it. So, when you do need to make a big change, people are ready.I’m running a free public online presentation soon about the future of work. I’ll share the four key elements of the future of work for 2025 and beyond.I’ll give you some strategic ideas in each area, and I’ll also share some practical, specific, tactical things you can do right now to help bring your people along on that journey. Join me for this presentation, and please invite others in your team and network.Register for the virtual masterclass:https://swiy.co/go-leadership-2025

Imagine being able to turn your documents into engaging, podcast-like discussions. You can upload any text, from company reports to study notes, and in just a few clicks, it creates a realistic conversation between two AI personas discussing the content. It’s like having an instant expert breakdown of complex information, making it easier to digest.Let's talk about an amazing AI tool with a wide range of applications at work, home, in a classroom, and elsewhere.The idea starts with digital notebooks, which you might be using already for collecting information. We're talking about things like Evernote, Notion, the Notes app on iPhones, and OneNote in Microsoft products. These have been available for years, and recently most have enhanced it with AI - such as being able to summarise documents and even "chat" with them.Google's offering in this area, Google NotebookLM, is similar. As with the other tools, you upload documents into collections for easy organisation, searching, and those basic AI tools like chatting and summarising.But NotebookLM has a new jaw-dropping feature: creating podcast-like interviews from your material.You upload a collection of documents into a notebook, press a button, and it automatically creates a two-person conversation about the documents.These are not just robotic, AI-sounding voices either. It’s an incredibly realistic and conversational experience, and if you didn't know it was AI, you wouldn't guess it.How could you use this? Here are some examples:📊 You could upload a company's annual report to find out more about it.🧐 For understanding a complex report, you upload it and listen to a conversation about it.🗳️ For a complex and nuanced political issue like last year's Voice referendum, you could upload the Australian Constitution and various arguments for and against the proposal.📚 Students could upload information about a topic they are studying.📝 I uploaded all my blog posts about AI over the last two years, and the AI-generated conversation was impressively well-structured and organised.It’s fascinating and opens up so many possibilities, whether you need to summarise complex documents for work, help your kids with their schoolwork, or just want a new way to consume information.As an example for you, I uploaded my book "Disruption by Design" and - within minutes - had a full 15-minute podcast conversation about it. Listen to it here.

As a leader, you’re responsible not only for managing now but also planning for the future. But it’s not always easy to find the time to look ahead. Scenario planning helps you navigate the uncertainties of the future with clarity and confidence. Youj can’t have certainty, but knowing what’s over the horizon helps you make better-informed decisions now.https://swiy.co/go-over-the-horizonOver the last few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of running my Future Scenarios program for two groups of leaders in large organisations. In the program, we spent time exploring the future so they can gain a better understanding of what’s around the corner and over the horizon. This allows them to take that insight back to their teams, integrating it into their planning and helping them navigate through that fast-changing and uncertain future.Now, obviously, they won’t have certainty about the future – nobody does! But they can act with more clarity and confidence, which helps them make better decisions now.I love facilitating these programs, because the leaders who attend don’t often have the time to do this kind of thinking. They should, but it’s not easy.If you’re a leader, part of your role is to be able to see into the future. In fact, the more senior you are, the more you’re expected to understand and plan for the future. But there are so many other demands on your time, with operational responsibilities, putting out fires, managing people, and everything else that fills up your day!It’s not easy to carve out time for future planning. But it’s essential!Here are some of the questions you should consider:Do you know what your future customer will look like?Do you understand the customer journey they will take?Do you understand the external pressures and trends that will affect your organisation?Do you understand the external pressures and trends that will affect your entire industry or sector?Do you have a way to monitor those trends and pressures?Are you tapping into the skills and diverse thinking of everybody in ytour team?Do you involve them all in this kind of scenario planning?Is this a regular practice, or something that gets pushed aside and forgotten because of other priorities?These are the questions leaders need to ask if they want to be able to see into the future.To assess your current capability, complete this free online assessment. It only takes five minutes, and it’s worth doing – both for yourself and your team. It will give you a clearer idea of how well you’re planning for the future.Do the self-assessment quiz:https://swiy.co/go-over-the-horizon

When building AI capability in your workplace, you can find many ways for it to help you personally as a leader – in improving your decision-making, boosting productivity, and helping you lead more effectively. It’s equally important to help your team leverage AI – by sharing your knowledge, providing resources, and empowering them to harness it in their professional (and even personal) lives.https://swiy.co/go-ai-selfish-generousShould you be selfish or generous when it comes to using AI in your workplace? My answer might surprise you.I recently conducted my two-day Future Scenarios program for a group of 25 leaders from various departments in a large organisation. The goal was for them to build their strategic foresight, so they can anticipate changes, plan for them, and build a culture of change agents.At the start of all my programs, I say to the participants:“In this program, I want you to be selfish and generous.”I say selfish because I want them to focus on outcomes that will make a difference for them walk out at the end of the program. It’s important they get as much value as they can in those two days so they can make meaningful change in their workplace.At the same time, I also encourage them to be generous towards others during the two days. I create many opportunities for them to share, collaborate, network, and ask and answer questions during the program. By being generous with their time and expertise, everybody benefits more.The same applies to AI in your workplace: Be selfish and generous.Be selfish in learning as much as you can about AI – for your own use. Use it to improve your productivity, make better decisions, and be a more effective leader. AI is here to stay, so make the most of it for yourself, both at work and in your personal life.And when it comes to your team, be generous in helping them get value from it, too. Give them the resources, support, and opportunities to build their own AI capability. This is not only for their benefit, but for yours, too.So, should you be selfish or generous with AI? The answer is both. Be selfish to advance yourself, and be generous to your team.For more, join my online presentation soon about bringing your people along on the AI journey. It’s free, public, and open to all.Register for the virtual masterclass:https://swiy.co/go-ai-selfish-generous

Unfortunately, most of the media stories about AI are negative, and if that’s all somebody sees, it's not surprising they might be hesitant, reluctant, or even scared of using AI at work. And that's a problem for you if you're a leader who wants to use AI effectively in your teams. There's one key thing you can do to overcome this fear - and it doesn't take much.https://swiy.co/go-overcoming-fear-of-aiI’ve noticed a change in the last year in the attitude of leaders to AI. A year ago, many leaders were yet to be convinced about the value of AI. They were saying things like:“I’ll wait and see.”“I’m not quite sure what value it brings.”“I’ve got too many other things on my plate now.”It wasn’t true of everyone, of course. Many leaders and managers saw its potential and were keen to use it - but many didn’t. In fact, some of their team members were more excited and enthusiastic about it, and were trying to drag the rest of the team, including their boss, along into this AI future.But now I’ve noticed most leaders are convinced of the value of AI. Now it’s about using AI effectively so it generates value - in improving productivity, enhancing the customer experience, and helping you and your team make better decisions.But are there still people on your team who are dragging their feet? They’re not yet convinced, they don’t see its value, and they might even be scared by it.If everything they hear about AI is what they hear through the media, unfortunately, most of that is negative. They hear stories about how AI will destroy jobs, how it will disrupt whole industries, and how it will slash wages because people aren’t going to be as valuable in the future. And if that’s all they hear, it’s not surprising they’re scared!Unless you engage their minds - and hearts - your AI efforts will fail.So how do you get them on board?There’s one key thing that will help you bring people on the AI journey. I’ll explain ...You might be convinced of its value. But some people are fearful. To bridge that gap, a simple thing you can do is to help people actually use AI themselves.Many people have still never actually used AI, even though ChatGPT has been available (free!) for almost two years. So they have no practical experience with using it to create real value.Fortunately, this is easy to fix: Give them the basic skills to start using AI themselves - to get quick wins.Even if this is only in their personal life - like writing a wedding speech, planning a holiday to Italy, or generating ideas for a child’s birthday party - it doesn’t take much for people to start seeing AI in a more positive light.The more they see examples of AI creating value - for them - the less they’re likely to be influenced by all the negative stories.So, if you want to create value from AI and bring your people on the journey, educate them - by showing them how to get value from it themselves.For more, join my coming presentation about people-powered AI. It’s free and open to all, so register and share it with other leaders in your team and network.Register for the virtual masterclass:https://swiy.co/go-overcoming-fear-of-ai

What decisions are you making with AI? It's a powerful tool for enhancing your decision-making process, leading to more informed, accurate, and effective outcomes. It’s not about AI replacing your human judgment but augmenting and informing it, so you can make better choices to shape your future.https://swiy.co/go-ai-better-decisionsWhat decisions are you making with AI? I don’t mean decisions about whether or not to use AI. Instead, think about how you’re using AI to improve and enhance your decision-making process.This is one of the three big areas where almost everyone can use AI to elevate their work:1. Boosting productivity2. Enhancing the customer or client experience3. Making better decisions, fasterI spoke recently at a conference for OpenText in Melbourne, where they invited many of their customers and wider network to share some important conversations about AI.OpenText is an IT company, highly tech-oriented, and they do a lot of work in AI. But I was so pleased to hear everybody talking about putting people first and AI second. My keynote presentation emphasised this, the senior leaders at OpenText discussed it, the panelists echoed it, and even the customer representatives touched on it.This is especially important with decision-making. You don’t want AI to make decisions for you, but AI can help, augment, and inform your decisions.Of course, there are some areas where AI will make all the decisions – such as fully self-driving cars, where eventually these cars will have no steering wheel or brakes! But for most of what we’re using AI for – especially now – use it to augment and assist your decision-making process.The technology is there to support the people. And it’s about people and AI working better together.If you’d like to explore this further, I’m running an online presentation soon about people-powered AI, especially in the workplace. Please register, and feel free to share it with others in your team and network.Register for the virtual masterclass:https://swiy.co/go-ai-better-decisions

How much should you integrate AI into your workplace? One company went too far, and faced a backlash from employees - and everybody else who heard the story. It's important to treat as a tool to help people. It must be about people first, technology second.https://swiy.co/go-human-or-machineHow much should you integrate AI into your workplace? AI is a powerful tool, but one company went too far with it.The company – a sofware company called Lattice – decided to embrace AI (good!) in their work. But they went too far and announced they were creating “digital employees” (bad!). These AI-based “employees” would have managers, performance metrics, a place in the organisational chart, and so on.You might see where this is heading ... !Predictably, there was a backlash from employees. They were upset, not because AI was being elevated to the same level as humans, but because people might end up being treated like AI – just a “resource” to be plugged in, pushed around, and valued only for their productivity output.Faced with this backlash, the company backed down and said they are putting the idea of digital employees on the back burner. Personally, I think they’re setting fire to it and never touching it again!This story has an important lesson for all leaders.Most leaders aren’t elevating AI to the level of people, but they don’t always know exactly how AI will fit into their team. The answer will be different for everybody, but start with this principle:People first, technology second.This has always been true with any technology integration or digital transformation – AI just happens to be the big hot topic now.Many leaders and organisations are thinking about AI now, and in my opinion they are focussing too much on the technology and not enough on the people.If you want this to work, you must bring your people on that journey. And that means treating AI as a tool to serve people.If you get it right, it makes the journey so much better – for you, for everybody in your team, and for your organisation. But if you get it wrong, it can go very badly wrong – as it did with Lattice.For more about bringing your people on the AI journey, join my online presentation soon about people-powered AI. It’s free, public, and open to everybody.Register for the virtual masterclass:https://swiy.co/go-human-or-machine