Culture beats strategy

The most inspiring talk at the innovation conference Grow2013 was from René Carayol. He is a leading Business Guru and author of Corporate Voodoo. He has worked with Bill Clinton, Kofi Annan and Sir Richard Branson. In his TED talk, he tells the story of being mistaken for a "butler" at a Leadership conference in Barcelona. His point being that:

"Sometimes wrong assumptions are our greatest learning opportunities"

He told us the story of how someone took the time to believe in him, before he believed in himself. He was headhunted to the board of Pepsi.

His main messages is:

"The world is changing fast and we are never going back to the old times, we need to reconsider our assumptions" - times are volatile, uncertain and complex - its the times of the entrepreneurs.



We have  seen now was the first ever inflation lead recession and it was digital, it happened simultaneously. Every CEO have restructure and and cutting cost as pro one

"Old Europe is suffering from groupthink".

"Leadership is how to energize people to your vision"

"Culture is what happens when the CEO leaves the room"

He told us how Marks & Spencer and Cadbury changed the game 100 years ago, by providing their workers with free meals.