Agile Businesses: Dr Kaihan Krippendorff Of Outthinker On How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant In The Face Of Disruptive Technologies
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Dissect your business model. Think about 8P’s: Positioning, Product, Price, Placement, Promotion, Physical Experience, Processes, People and focus on uncommon areas. For example, for years Apple found success by focusing on physical experience while its PC competitors were focused on hardware product performance.
As a part of my series about the “How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant in The Face of Disruptive Technologies”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Kaihan Krippendorff.
Dr. Kaihan Krippendorff is the founder of Outthinker, a former McKinsey & Co. consultant and author of five business strategy books, most recently Driving Innovation from Within. A sought-after keynote speaker, recognized expert and popular blogger on the topics of business strategy, innovation, growth, and transformation, Kaihan is helping a growing cadre of leading companies and corporations such as Microsoft, Oracle, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg’s, TIAA-CREF and BNY Mellon prepare themselves to compete in a digital, agile, purpose-driven future. Kaihan can be found online at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaihankrippendorff/ and Kaihan.net.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Raised a mother from Bangladesh and a father from Germany, I grew up ready to embrace new ideas and alternative thinking that living in a cross-cultural household required. I worked as a consultant for McKinsey up until 2003 when I wrote my first book, “The Art of the Advantage.” Since then, I’ve been drawn deeper into my passion for strategy and innovation. I started Outthinker in 2004 as a growth strategy consulting company. Today, I’m five books in, and my excitement about writing and speaking grows every day.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
When I was just getting started in keynote speaking, I was set to deliver a three-hour, half-day workshop in front of an audience of 300 people. I had arranged a camera crew, crafted my pitch deck, practiced my presentation, and felt fully prepared. The catch? I forgot to tell the venue that I wanted to project my computer, so I delivered all three hours without any visuals. It was nerve-wracking, but it actually turned out to be one of my best speeches. Of course, I learned the lesson to clarify A/V requirements in advance, but more importantly, I learned that you can’t rely on graphics and visuals. Being able to tell stories that evoke their own imagery leads to better learning for your audience.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
There was one professor, Kathryn Harrigan, who teaches strategic management at Columbia, who changed the path of my career. I shared with her this big word document, full of ideas that I had been working on. She said, “Oh, you’re writing a book.” Before that, I never considered myself an author or believed that the idea that I could write a book was possible. Suddenly, because I respected her input, it became something I thought maybe I could do. That changed the trajectory of my life.
Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. When your company started, what was its vision, what was its purpose?
To be completely honest, when we first started, it was without a true purpose. It was very self-centered. We wanted to be considered a big and important firm or brand. It was all about us. But then, years later, we realized exactly that: Purpose-driven businesses are most successful. My personal purpose in founding a company is: “People loving what they do.” I’ve known that for a long time.
As a company, we realized that our purpose is to spread new thinking, which creates new possibilities in people’s minds. We help organizations consciously create new futures that work for society and the world.
Can you tell our readers a bit about what your business does? How do you help people?
Our company, Outthinker, operates in a few key areas that help to contribute to that overall purpose of helping people love what they do and inspiring new thinking and possibilities. We still deliver growth strategy consulting through a unique model of keynote speaking, training, workshops, and peer communities. We help organizations avoid the trap of defaulting to repetitive, predictable strategies and instead design vibrant approaches to thrive in a fast-changing, purpose-driven future.
We offer training and certification programs to help coaches, leaders, and their teams improve their ability to think innovatively and strategically, so that they can unlock a portfolio of breakthrough growth ideas.
We also run the Outthinker Strategy Network, an invitation-only global network of heads of strategy from large enterprises and mid-market companies who are committed to staying ahead of the pace of disruption.
Which technological innovation has encroached or disrupted your industry? Can you explain why this has been disruptive?
The pandemic was a huge disruptor to our business. We made the decision to go completely virtual almost overnight. Another factor that has affected our ability to grow our business is the rising number of gig workers and independent consultants who have helped us to expand rapidly.
Technologies that our chief strategy officer network members say are disrupting their industries include blockchain/distributed ledger, platform business models, changes in the nature of work, and general digital transformation.
What did you do to pivot as a result of this disruption?
When the pandemic hit, we immediately moved from in-person to virtual. The market for in-person speaking events completely dried up, so we pivoted and launched two virtual conferences with some of the top business thinkers like Scott Anthony, Tiffani Bova, Amy Edmondson, and Daniel Pink, among others. As a result, we ended up raising over $150,000 for COVID-19 charities. We also built a virtual studio and learned new tools to effectively deliver speeches, workshops, and training online. Those unexpected skills would of course come in handy over the next two years.
Was there a specific “Aha moment” that gave you the idea to start this new path? If yes, we’d love to hear the story.
I remember I was in the office with one of my colleagues, Zach Ness. We had just gotten word that ANOTHER speech had been canceled. Before COVID, my calendar had been full, flying every week, delivering two or three speeches a week. All of a sudden it was completely empty.
I was pacing near the door of the office. Zach was spinning in his seat, thinking. I think he said, “How can we keep growing the speaking business virtually? What if we hosted an online event ourselves and sold tickets?” I said, “It will be tough to organize and market an event. Usually, I’m the keynote speaker, not the organizer. It’s a lot of work, and if we charge a fee, that is going to be even harder.” Then we thought, “What if we don’t make this a money-making effort, but rather, we raise money for charities?” Plus, we knew other top speakers were also likely to suddenly have this availability, and they might participate if it was for charity.
The event, called “Reimagine the Future,” became pretty huge and attracted thousands and thousands of people. I think it was so successful because we were one of the first out of the gates before there was much going on online yet.
So, how are things going with this new direction?
Very well. Outthinker Strategy Network membership has really grown since we went virtual. We realized we can reach more people and still build powerful connections between members. We now have members from all over the country and are even starting to get new members in Europe.
In-person speaking has come back, but I am still doing a lot of virtual talks. I love doing these because they can in many ways be even MORE effective. Online, organizations can invite more people to attend and contribute ideas to their portfolio of strategic options. And on top of that, I can go home and cook dinner for my kids at the end of the day.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this pivot?
There was one event that really made me understand the power of working virtually. We had over 700 accountants, all on one virtual whiteboard, simultaneously brainstorming creative business innovations. They looked like little ants swarming around different virtual rooms, and the ideas they came up with as a combined unit were really incredible.
What would you say is the most critical role of a leader during a disruptive period?
Often a leader’s role is considered to include showing clear direction and confidence about the future. But during major disruption, when no one can really know what is going happen, it’s important for the leader not to pretend to know when we will emerge and what the future state will be. Instead, effective CEOs that I’ve seen focus on empathy — the idea that we are all in this together — and purpose — that even if your strategy and vision become uncertain, your purpose does not change.
When the future seems so uncertain, what is the best way to boost morale? What can a leader do to inspire, motivate and engage their team?
Focusing on empathy and purpose really makes a difference. In my workshops, I also use the concept of The 4th Option. Most teams, companies, and people, when they go about planning for the future, come up with three options and stop there, then choose the most viable one. Forcing yourself to think further, to come up with a fourth option generates a sense of possibility. The future is never certain. You’re always imagining either a positive or negative future. Change can either be scary or exciting. We can make change exciting by seeing it as a moment to think differently and to imagine new options for the future. These are what I call “4th Options.”
Is there a “number one principle” that can help guide a company through the ups and downs of turbulent times?
A good question for a leader to raise is, “What business are we really in?” For example, Brian Chesky, the founder of Airbnb, whose company was about to IPO when the crisis hit, managed the disruption very well. Once core message was that they should stop trying to acquire new customers or focus on growth and instead come back to their core, which was that Airbnb people come for human connection.
Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should do to pivot and stay relevant in the face of disruptive technologies? Please share a story or an example for each.
I use a five-step process called the IDEAS framework:
- Imagine: Start from your desired future and work backwards. Look ahead 10 or 20 years, visualize the future of your industry and where you want to be, then create a roadmap of what it will take to get there.
- Dissect: Dissect your business model. Think about 8P’s: Positioning, Product, Price, Placement, Promotion, Physical Experience, Processes, People and focus on uncommon areas. For example, for years Apple found success by focusing on physical experience while its PC competitors were focused on hardware product performance.
- Expand: To come up with a breakthrough idea, you need to generate lots and lots of options. In our methodology, people often come up with 100–200 potential strategic options.
- Analyze: Analyze your options, but do so in a way that you avoid the common trap of killing off what seem like “crazy ideas.” Follow three steps: 1) Sort your ideas on a matrix (high impact vs. low impact and easy to execute vs. difficult). This helps you determine your wastes of time (low impact and difficult to execute), tactics (low impact but easy to execute), winning moves (high impact and easy to execute), and crazy ideas (high impact but difficult to execute). 2) Work on thinking through a crazy idea — that is usually where the 4th options appear, and 3) Select the ideas you will move forward with.
- Sell: You’ll need to build buy-in and support for your idea. Successful innovators view these political challenges as an exciting part of the problem-solving process. Remember that Walt Disney was once fired from a job for lacking imagination. Steve Wozniak was told “no” by Hewlett Packard five times when he proposed the technology that became the Apple computer. Don’t give up.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I learned that how you feel in any given moment is a function not of your current situation or what has happened to you, but it is purely a result of what you think is going to happen next. For example, you purchased a lottery ticket and you are excited about the possibility of winning. You feel happy and energized. Then, let’s say, you win. Now you have the money, but you’re not as happy. You’re worried about the taxes you will have to pay or friends who ask to borrow money. It’s not the money that makes you happy; it’s the future possibility you were thinking about when you bought the ticket.
This is how luck is formed. People who consider themselves unlucky walk out of the door in the morning expecting something bad to happen to them. They subconsciously do little things to make bad things happen without even realizing it. They might walk under a ladder or absent-mindedly cross the street at a dangerous intersection.
People who consider themselves lucky are thinking, “I may meet the love of my life today,” so they look people in the eyes when they walk into a coffee shop. They look around, they smile, and they find the sweetness in life. Your imagined future becomes self-fulfilling.
How can our readers further follow your work?
This past year, we launched the Outthinkers podcast. In each episode, I interview top thought leaders and strategists who are looking ahead and shaping the future of business. Every week, I come away with mind-bending insights and new ways of thinking, all packed into 15–20 minute episodes.
You can also connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn and subscribe to the weekly Outthinker newsletter.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Agile Businesses: Dr Kaihan Krippendorff Of Outthinker On How Businesses Pivot and Stay Relevant In… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
