Kevin Novak

Humans and AI setting boundaries and guardrails

The Case for AI Guardrails Issue 119, July 27, 2023 Whatever you think about the U.S. government or our elected officials, it does have guardrails in place to protect its citizens. For pharma and food products, it’s the FDA. For workplace safety there’s OSHA. For mobility safety, it’s the Department of Transportation. For safe investments, there’s the SEC. For consumer protection, there’s the Federal Trade Commission. For AI and emerging tech, there’s nothing. Setting Boundaries By human nature, we set…

Kevin Novak

July 27, 2023

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Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Change Is a Team Sport: We All Play a Role 2040’s Ideas + Innovations

Change Is a Team Sport: We All Play a Role Issue 118, July 20, 2023 Last week we gave you a case study to demonstrate how critical the human factor (and personalities and our own blind spots) becomes in seeking to innovate, make change and transform. Change is ever-present in daily life. It is also a constant in response to an organization’s market, system, and the needs and wants of customers and workforce. Resistance to innovation, change, and transformation is…

Kevin Novak

July 18, 2023

2040's A Tale of Two Cities Case Study Image

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Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Case Study: A Tale of Two Cities – Ideas + Innovations from 2040

Case Study: A Tale of Two Cities Issue 117: July 13, 2023 We now present a true story, a tale as old as time, of what happens when you unknowingly create resistance to change. We’ll share the saga and let you draw your own conclusions about the outcome. Succession The founder of a digital media platform specializing in the strategy and operations of the design industry for a C-level audience needs a succession plan. She is in her early eighties…

Kevin Novak

July 12, 2023

Leadership in Contentious Times: How to Navigate with Courage

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Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Leadership in Contentious Times: How to Navigate with Courage

Leadership in Contentious Times: How to Navigate with Courage Issue 115, July 6, 2023 If you’re a leader of a public (or private) organization today, you may feel you wake up to a firing squad every morning. Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock has abandoned references to ESG because he feels that it was becoming politicized. Brian Cornell, CEO of Target made no public statements in response to several of his stores attacked by protesters during Gay Pride Month. And we…

Kevin Novak

July 6, 2023

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Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Hubris – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

Hubris Issue 115, June 29, 2023 Every day we assess the potential rewards along with the real and perceived risks of the situations, desires, tasks, and ideas we confront. We may not be consciously aware of these assessments, but they are happening all the time. Our ever-expanding technical prowess has resulted in new tools, more efficient production, opportunities to transform ideas into reality, and new platforms to engage and connect. We also have access to expanding our knowledge and deferring…

Kevin Novak

June 28, 2023

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Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Social Proof – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

Social Proof Issue 114, June 22, 2023 How often when you are choosing a new restaurant do you refer to Yelp or your local food critic’s review? Or when deciding on a weekend movie, you check out the film reviews, leaning toward the ones with star rankings. How do you find a hotel in another city? And when you are buying apparel online, do you go for the recommendations for how to accessorize it, or in Amazon’s case, “We think…

Kevin Novak

June 21, 2023

As the World Turns: Why Population Trends Matter to You

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Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

As the World Turns – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

As the World Turns Issue 113, June 15, 2023 We’re taking a pause to share several trends that we believe are bellwethers for a sustainable future. And we’re not including climate change, although it clearly ranks high on anyone’s list as a cause for concern. We’re talking about two trends that don’t get much attention: population shifts and life expectancy. Here’s the big picture from the UN: The world’s population is expected to increase by two billion people, from 7.7…

Kevin Novak

June 14, 2023

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Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Are You Ready? – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

Are You Ready? Issue 112, June 8, 2023 Wrong question. Are your customers ready? Is the market ready? Actually, the real question is a fusion of both. Is the customer base in your market ready to adopt what you have considered building and offering as you seek to stabilize, grow, and expand your organization? Put another way, is what you are contemplating developing something nice to have or necessary? Then add a layer of complexity to that: if the customer…

Kevin Novak

June 7, 2023

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Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

The Case for Slow Work – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

The Case for Slow Work Issue 111, May 31, 2023 How do we anticipate what’s next before the breakthroughs are even made that will ultimately shape the future? History is written in the eye of the beholder. False assumptions are the roots of history, only to be reversed/updated/revised when new information is revealed to correct the false narrative. One way to look at it is how Piet Hut, astrophysicist at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, describes scientific…

Kevin Novak

May 31, 2023

Spring Awakening – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

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Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Spring Awakening – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

Spring Awakening Issue 110, May 25, 2023 It’s Spring and we are coming up on a major holiday weekend where we hope for good weather and time outdoors with family and friends. At 2040 we’re feeling optimistic and seeking opportunities for renewal (even escape) as we see the landscape around us come to life once again. In fact, we recently came to the realization that organizations seeking to change, and transform could easily be compared to a natural landscape and…

Kevin Novak

May 25, 2023

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