Keynote & Workshop Topics:
|
Management
|
Inventing Our Way Around the Coming Staff Shortages
|
Every organization in the country that relies on skilled people is experiencing a shortage of workers in almost every discipline, and every group is trying to deal with this shortage in more or less the same ways. Obviously, most of them will fail. What, then, can a forward-thinking organization do that is different?
Richard Worzel, one of North America’s leading futurists, a strategic planner, and experienced at working with HR groups. Instead of just reviewing why this shortage is happening, in this workshop he will help organizations devise ways of dealing with it. To start, he’ll lay out the challenges ahead from demographics, technology, economics, and geopolitics, and then work with participants in inventing new approaches in an area where demand will exceed supply for some years to come. Along the way, he’ll give participants a toolbox of future-oriented planning tools that will help them repeat and continue the work on their own.
|
|
The Hard Edge of Fuzzy Subjects: The True Responsibilities of Corporations in the Future
|
Everywhere a CEO looks these days, there are people demanding non-traditional responses in areas like social responsibility, reducing carbon emissions, or the needs of community stakeholders. To whom is a CEO responsible, and how do you juggle these fuzzy demands on time and treasure? Richard Worzel is a strategic planner, a Chartered Financial Analyst, best-selling author, and one of North America’s leading futurist. In this hard look at these fuzzy subjects, he deals with:- The importance of Primary Purpose, and how to identify it;
- What is the justice of the claims of social responsibility, and how do you satisafy them?
- What is a corporation’s responsibility for dealing with climate change and related environmental issues? and
- The future of privacy, and its implications for corporate management.
Whether in America, or anywhere else in the world, the role of CEO, and the responsibilities of the corporation are changing. In order to do your job successfully, you need to know the hard edge of fuzzy subjects.
|
|
The Transformation Century: Understanding and
Managing the Forces of Change in the 21st Century
|
An unprecedented convergence of scientific knowledge and development is going to radically change life on Earth in the decades ahead. Life for all of the world's citizens will get better, but also more challenging, so that it is fair to call the 21st Century the 'Transformation Century.' Join Richard Worzel as he explores the changes that will forever alter our lives, and the lives of our children and grandchildren:
Biotechnology: how developments in genetic engineering, pharmaceuticals, and medical technology will alter the nature of human and animal life, and the way we diagnose and manage disease, illness, and aging.
Environmental technology: how we are beginning to apply important scientific advances to environmental problems.
Information technology: how the next wave of the technological revolution will transform our homes and our workplaces.
As managers, investors, and citizens, we need to understand what these changes mean, and how we can respond to them effectively. In this fast-paced and memorable presentation Richard Worzel will give you the tools you need to navigate the exciting, but challenging times ahead.
|
|
Hidden Tomorrows: Managing the Unforeseen Future
|
The future often seems clear or even obvious. However, there are always unexpected, downstream effects of any future development that are not obvious, and are ultimately more important than the changes that cause them. For example, better technology means cheaper communications, better medical treatments, and higher living standards. But it also means an escalating battle over personal privacy, rising costs for health care, and a widening divide between the haves and have-nots in our society. Moreover, even people who have come to embrace change are going to be caught off-guard, because change is going to happen faster than they expect. That means that we're going to be constantly behind the curve.
In this intriguing presentation, tailored to your organization, futurist and strategic planner Richard Worzel helps you see through the obvious trends into the subtler, more important changes coming to your industry, your organization, and your life. Unlocking the hidden meanings of tomorrow and preparing for the unexpected consequences of change can mean the difference between an enjoyable future, and a terrifying one. This entertaining, fast-paced, and provocative presentation will be the highlight of your conference!
|
|
Mastering What Happens Next (Workshop)
|
Should you be pushing for innovation, or managing core competencies? Retrenching for an economic slow-down, or preparing for the next expansion? Cutting payroll, or stock-piling talent? The future has never seemed more uncertain, and the outlook for tomorrow seems to offer both black clouds and hope. How, then, should you manage for the future? Strategic planner and professional futurist Richard Worzel assesses the outlook, and gives you concepts and techniques that will help you capture the uncertainties of today, and prepare for the problems and opportunities of tomorrow. Commencing with a wide-ranging view of the global economy and economic cycle, technology, and consumer behaviour, Richard then gives you a toolbox that you can use to break the uncertainties down into manageable parts, and come up with specific strategies to deal with each one. At the end, you will have concrete planning tools that you can manage rather than wrestling with vague uncertainties. Entertaining as it is immediately useful, this workshop will help you master what comes next.
|
|
Managing Change as a Strategic Weapon
|
Many of us feel that the pace of change is accelerating. This isn't quite true: the pace of change is accelerating, but the rate of acceleration is also rising, which means we keep being caught off guard by change. This creates a quandary for many organizations, because they already feel that they are working as fast as they can, and as hard as they can, and the prospect of needing to do more fills them with dread. Yet, forcing the rate of change, if properly managed, can be a competitive weapon of immense value. In this far-ranging and upbeat presentation, futurist and strategic planner Richard Worzel talks about the nature of change and where change is coming from. Building on this, he will present you with a range of strategies, both for coping with change on your own behalf, and how you can turn change into an ally rather than a threat. Among the topics covered are the crucial dimensions of HR; emerging technologies and their effects; the changing nature, composition, and behavior of consumers; how globalization is shifting gears and altering playbooks; and the sometimes paranoid and irrational behavior of governments.
|
|
Unboxed Thinking (Workshop)
|
Changes are happening so fast, and the consequences of being left behind are so extreme, that companies believe - correctly - that thinking outside the box is the only way to thrive. Yet most people believe that creativity is only open to the creative few, an artistic elite. Yet, like art, everyone is creative to a greater or lesser extent, but few ever learn how to exercise their creativity, and fewer practice it on a regular basis, so that they get flabby results when they try.
There are specific techniques, just as there are in art, that can help those who are not practiced in innovating, and can help the already creative individual become even more so. In this workshop, futurist and strategic planner Richard Worzel will walk you through creative techniques tailored to the needs of organizations and business today, and show you how you can create new ideas, new products, and new results. These techniques will include scenario planning focused on product development, backcasting to invent detailed business plans leading towards hoped-for goals, and developing an opportunity matrix to identify new needs and ideas. You will leave this workshop not only with new ideas you can use immediately in your business, but with a toolbox of techniques that you can use over and over again.
|
|
The Threat from Communications
|
In the late 1990's the evidence showed that telecommunications companies were being threatened by new technology breakthroughs. Unfortunately for such companies and their investors, few people accepted the implications of such facts, and billions of dollars invested in telecom companies has evaporated. Today there is clear evidence that companies outside the communications industry are being threatened by the one-two punch of dramatically cheaper and expanded communications, and dramatically faster and cheaper computer-related technologies, yet, once again planners and investors alike are unwilling to believe the clear and present danger that looms ahead of them. Futurist and strategic planner Richard Worzel outlines what dangers await organizations because of the communications revolution, and how they can surf the changes coming, and not be swamped by them. This keynote presentation offers an overview of the changes coming, along with specific tactics and techniques companies can use to turn change into a competitive advantage in a world that won't wait.
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
