Revolutionizing Leadership and Workplaces: Unearthing Wisdom in a World of Change
— Peter Drucker
Over the past year, most of my attention has focused on evolving SpaceB and LeaderONE, while Forward Thinking Workplaces hasn't gotten as much attention.
I published the fewest new interviews and newsletters this past year than in the last six years. The thought had even occurred to me that maybe it was time to let it go. However, I had an intuitive hunch Forward Thinking Workplaces would eventually be part of LeaderONE, even though I wasn't sure how to bring all the parts together.
However, that all changed over the past month. Perhaps most influential was a recent podcast I did with Gwen Kinsey. In The Wellspring of a Discovery Mindset episode, Gwen reminded us of the importance of discovery and inquiry, especially in today's turbulent world.
"We become so fixated on information and expertise, and I’m not downplaying either. They both have their role that we’ve forgotten how just to ask questions, be curious, be attentive to what else we’re observing and what else is maybe something that’s just out of the bounds of what our experience is and get curious about it."
The infamous management guru and author Peter Drucker alerted us to the challenge forty years ago. "The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday's logic." A deliberate strategy of discovery and inquiry is more important than ever in today's world.
The whole experience led me to take a fresh look at what we do and what I've learned at Forward Thinking Workplaces, SpaceB, and LeaderONE. The time away was beneficial and allowed me to step back and get a new perspective. The result was new energy, commitment, and a vision that resulted in a reframing, updating, and retitling the books in the Be a Workplace of the Future Now Series.
The Be a Workplace of the Future Series Now is a six-volume set of books where we curate the most intriguing insights and questions from the six core questions asked in every interview. This approach allows us to extract diverse perspectives on common themes, providing readers with a range of insights from different professionals across various industries.
By asking the same questions, we create an opportunity to explore a variety of perspectives. Rather than simply reading for advice, what new possibilities does it trigger for you? What patterns do you observe? Where are you experiencing something similar? Can you create an opportunity to test these insights?
Our questions are designed to dig deep into our guests' experiences, beliefs, and strategies. These aren't superficial inquiries. Instead, we aim to get to the heart of what makes effective, forward-thinking workplaces.
And each interview is not just a standalone conversation; it becomes part of a rich dataset. Our analysis after each interview allows us to identify the most intriguing and beneficial insights, tease out common threads, and make connections across interviews. This isn't just a simple Q&A – it's an ongoing research project, and our readers benefit from our findings.
Our findings are not locked away in a vault but shared with readers in many ways. We publish an Insight13 presentation following every interview, and those insights become part of the Be a Workplace of the Future Now series. We also publish our findings in professional journals like the Cutter Amplify journal.
We believe in the power of shared wisdom, and our published insights are a testament to the value that this open knowledge exchange can bring. The insights we gain from our interviews are not just interesting but actionable. We aim to provide food for thought that can help spark new ideas, innovations, and improvements in the workplace and each other.
We appreciate our clients and readers for embarking on this journey of discovery with us. The value of this approach lies not just in the interviews themselves but in the connections we make, the insights we share, and the progress we inspire in workplaces around the world.
“Thank you for pushing the critical thinking and the practical actions that lead to human-centered workplaces that inspire all of us to be in the constant pursuit of finding better ways!” — Jim Haudan, Chairman & Co-founder, Root, Inc.
Embark on a journey
We hope you continue to find value and inspiration in our shared exploration of what it means to be a forward-thinking leader and workplace.
We believe that wisdom is not a monopoly. We understand that great insights can come from anywhere, and we're on a mission to unlock these insights.
I invite you to participate in this game-changing exploration, and together, let's reshape how we live and work together in the modern world.
Let the journey begin.
— Bill
Bill Fox, Founder @ LeaderONE, SpaceB, and Forward Thinking Workplaces