Keynote & Workshop Topics:
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Surviving & Thriving in Perilous Times
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Now What? The Threats and Possibilities of the Next 10 Years
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While we have all experienced a measure of future shock over the past decade, to borrow a phrase, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! The changes ahead will make the past 10 years look tame, and that’s both good and bad. Richard Worzel is a strategic planner, a Chartered Financial Analyst, and one of today’s leading futurists. In this survey of the next decade, he explores:
• How the domestic economy will fare, how it will be affected by the global economy, and what are the potential pitfalls and possibilities ahead;
• The outlook for oil and energy prices, as well as the potential for renewed inflation;
• What’s coming from technology, including smarter, dramatically more powerful computers, and more sophisticated software that will change the way industries operate, from railroads to pharmaceuticals to retailing, and everything in between;
• How social trends and attitudes will change, and how they will interact with shifting demographics, leading to both new ways of thinking, and new tools, such as those arising out of social software like Facebook and Twitter.
Coping with change driven by these and other major forces in our economy will be a major issue for corporate leaders, and any one of them could become a stumbling block – or a stepping stone – to a corporation that wants to lead its industry into the 2010’s. Richard will close by offering a range of planning and action tools that can not only help cope with the uncertainties to come, but to actively harness them to your advantage.
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Strange, Wonderful, and Terrifying: The Next 20 Years of Our Lives
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Many of us wake up in a world we find remarkable, with the changes we’ve experienced in communications, technology, health care, travel, culture, and social trends, among others. Some have been very positive, such as the dramatic increase in health and life expectancy through the 20th Century. Others have been less desirable, such as the increase in terrorist activity, the decline in general politeness, and the financial crash of 2008. Yet, the changes behind us are as nothing in comparison to the challenges and opportunities ahead of us, and from so many different sources. With emphasis on the future of technology and global finance, Richard Worzel, a Chartered Financial Analyst, and one of today’s leading professional futurists, will provide a roadmap of the next 20 years, including:
• How technology will change the way we live, with whom we will work and communicate, and even how our bodies function;
• How the global economy will reshape the geopolitics of the world, and produce more wealth in the next two decades than humanity has accumulated in any previous century, providing both greater opportunities, and greater risks than ever before;
• How demographics will shift the balance of power, with consequences for young people, retirees, governments, plus the rich and poor alike;
• How discussions of life expectancy will transform into discussions of life span, with the potential for dramatic expansions in human longevity, even indefinite life spans, becoming tantalizingly real; and
• A discussion of Wild Cards – low probability events which, if they occur, will have dramatic consequences – including significant climate change, bio-terrorism, food crises, and more.
The future is a broad topic, and the next 20 years will be amazing and alarming. This presentation will heighten your awareness of what’s to come, and help you plan and prepare for the unknowns ahead.
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What to Do When the Future Looks Grim
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Maybe that light at the end of the tunnel is the end of the recession, or maybe it's a freight train coming your way. Either way, standing frozen in one spot by indecision won't help, and may be devastating. Yet, many organizations find themselves paralyzed by the threats of the worst recession we've experienced since, well, 1991 - which really isn't all that long ago. Richard Worzel is a Chartered Financial Analyst, strategic planner, best-selling author, and one of today's leading futurists. In this presentation, specifically tailored to address the problems of this economy and this time, he talks about how to take advantage of the problems ahead:
- Times like these are times when market share is up for grabs.
Right now, most organizations have gone into catatonic shock, and are looking for ways to retreat. This makes it an ideal time to look for ways of going forward as there's less competition.
- Substitute brains for money.
In an economy like this, when money is in short supply, you can substitute innovation and creativity for cash. Using structured brainstorming techniques, you can come up with new ways of dealing with problems.
- Don't run back into a burning barn.
Retreating into old habits, just because you're comfortable with them, is not going to lead you out of your problems, but back into them.
- Look for new opportunities.
Using Richard's own Opportunity Matrix techniques, come up with 2-300 new ideas for generating business, then pick the 10 you like best. Repeat until you have re-engineered your future to be what you want.
- Decide!
When you make a decision in this environment, you might be right, or you might be wrong, but if you don't decide, you will automatically be wrong. That can be catastrophic right now. Decide - and then do course corrections as needed.
There are many things you can do to deal with a future that looks grim - and facing it dead on is the first of these things.
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Surviving the Crash for Fun and Profit:
A Futurist's Guide to the Hard Times Ahead
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'If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs - you ducked at the right time.' - Groucho Marx
We are in a period of financial and economic crisis for which managers have no experience. Navigating through the tough times ahead will take foresight, and careful thought and planning, not just the routine belt-tightening that comes with a typical recession. Richard Worzel, one of today's leading futurists, offers a presentation that will help organizations survive the crunch times, and pick up market share, by exploring:
• What's ahead? - There are some similarities to world events that are almost 80 years old, but they can't be applied simplistically because today's world is very different from the world of 1930. Which precedents are valuable, and which misleading?
• Where are the risks? - There are pitfalls ahead, financial, economic, and geopolitical. Where are they, and how should you prepare if they occur? What signs do you watch for, and what contingency plans will be most valuable?
• Where's the money? - There is still a lot of money around, but it's gone into hiding. Where should you look for it, and how do you attract it to your offerings?
• What tools do you need? - Exercising foresight is a skill that improves with practice, and through the use of the proper tools. Richard can provide a toolbox of techniques that makes foresight more valuable, and easier to practice.
Turbulent times are times when market share is up for grabs. This is not only a period of unprecedented challenge, but one of unparalleled opportunity. Learn how to grab it while it's here!
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Innovate or Evaporate!
How to Invent Your Way Out of Tomorrow's Tough Times
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The world has changed from two years ago - or even six months ago. We are experiencing events and circumstances for which we have no precedents and no guides, and this means that the old, tried and true methods for keeping sales up and operations safe are no longer as effective. Instead, think about ways to re-invent your organization to take advantage of today's novel situation. This presentation by Richard Worzel, a strategic planner, and one of today's leading futurists, outlines how to do this by:
• Assessing the differences from what we had before compared with the way things are now. What's different, and what do you need to do about it?
• Identify the stumbling blocks that make it hard for your organization to change and innovate. Innovation is neither easy nor comfortable, but in today's environment, it's the difference between survival and disaster.
• Use proven techniques to come up with novel ways of doing business, and test them out for their effectiveness.
• Overcome the inertia of past successes with new possibilities, and assessing their potential before committing to a course of action.
Richard will help you put your organization on the road to change geared to today's problems, and help you bring your group safely into the next decade.
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