Microsoft Envision is a global digital event series co-produced by Accenture, Avanade, and Microsoft. It is a place of meeting for thought leaders and industry executives, where they can share their knowledge and experience on digital transformation and technology-based solutions in business.
The final episode of 2nd season of Microsoft Envision took its place last week, on an online platform and could be accessed for free. Many top business leaders participated and a lot of interesting topics were discussed. It was a truly valuable and inspiring experience.
In case you have missed it, here is our quick overview!
Your way to innovation
Being innovative can be expressed in many different ways and different areas of your business. It is important to recognize what are your main points of focus and in what parts is your organization lacking. Due to that reason, the participants were asked the following question:
In what way do you believe your organization is most innovative?
As you can see, the answers vary. Our Foundation’s focus is fixed on employee experience and culture, because we value our teamwork and want to empower each one of team members as professionals and as individuals. This is, however, just one aspect of many that are important when it comes to innovative business practices.
According to Natalia Oropereza from Siemens Company, we need to be in constant motion. The world is changing rapidly, and so is technology. It is in our best interest to try and keep up with these changes.
Never trust, always protect
One of such technological innovations is a Zero Trust approach.
Zero Trust approach is a strategy focused on cybersecurity. It consists of strong authentication methods used on every step of digital interaction.
What is the “golden rule” of a Zero Trust approach?
The main premise and a golden rule of Zero Trust approach is to always assume that your system might get attacked, and thus do everything possible to prevent such a situation.
Learn more about Zero Trust here.
The culture of innovation
In order to improve your business and to scale, you need to adopt a certain mindset and be always open to new ideas and new ways of thinking.
Nikitha Singh, a Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Artificial, describes how important role brainstorming is playing in the process of fostering innovation. Welcoming different points of view allows you to grow and to broaden your horizon. And innovation is all about a wide field of vision that makes you see new possibilities. It requires you to leave your ego behind the closed door and ask opinions from people with different backgrounds, even if they do not always agree with you.
But how to keep your team focused? How to make everyone stay present and actively involved? The first and most important thing is communication. Engaging everyone in conversation and making them feel heard, strengthens bonds and trust between team members. Furthermore, engaging everyone in contacting clients makes them feel always up-to-date and a part of decision-making. Bringing team members closer to cases and always taking their opinions into consideration is a great way to keep everyone focused and open to new methods and ideas.
Innovative leadership
Stephanie Ferguson, a Corporate Vice President of Global Demand Center at Microsoft Corporation spoke about the evolution of a leader’s role in modern business. In the past, leaders were the people who created new brands. Nowadays, their main task is a little different – to gather people that will be supporting these brands. To succeed in this mission, leaders need to be innovative and forward-thinking. Ferguson’s advice is to develop young people’s talents, instead of employing top marketing leaders.
Being on the same page, Bob Iger, The Walt Disney Company Chairman, and former CEO, stressed the importance of investing your effort and resources into employee development. He has created a program that enables employees to improve their skills, learn new things and focus on self-growth. The initiative was met with a surprising amount of support and interest. This way Iger has created a highly-qualified team of people who are dedicated to their company.
This example shows how important it is to not only make people enter the company, but also make them want to stay for a long time.
Technology-driven innovation
Bob Iger spoke about how technology shaped the history of Disney, and how it inspired him to incorporate IT solutions also in modern innovation processes.
Walt Disney has created his cartoons thanks to technology. Technology is also a crucial part of Disneyland’s success. Even back in the time technology was driving humanity towards innovation. Nowadays, it influences almost every aspect of our lives. And as forward-thinking leaders we must flow along. Standing in the way of technology will only undermine your business’ opportunities to grow. Utilizing technology is the key to effectiveness.
Technology goes especially well with the younger generation. They are driven by what is new. Their attitude and openness are often a breath of fresh air in a company. It is important to let them speak. Combining technology with this fresh creativity can take you far beyond what you could have imagined. Because there is always something new to discover and make use of. Metaverse still has countless possibilities to explore.
According to the survey most of the participants predict tremendous growth of global metaverse market size by 2030:
What is the global metaverse market size predicted to reach by 2030?
The importance of balance
It must be extremely difficult to always strive for new solutions, when some of them might be risky or even turn out to be flawed. Having such a big responsibility on one’s shoulders, how to maintain balance as an innovative leader?
According to Iger the key to success lies in a positive mindset. Even in the most challenging times, thinking optimistically will give you more profit, than making dark predictions. Hope is what makes innovation possible.
Moreover, you should never forget about your team and keep on fostering the bonds inside of it throughout the good and the bad times. Leadership is based on a give-take relationship. You give your ideas to others, and they give you theirs. You dedicate your time to team members, and your team members dedicate their time to you. It has to be mutual. Only then can you build a truly powerful team based on trust and respect.
And with such a team you can change the world.
Read more about how technology drives innovation:
Atlassian Team ’22: The Key To Success Mindset
Atlassian Team ’22: Modern Solutions For Service Management
Atlassian Team ’22: New Tools And Features For Remote Teams
