Great insights from my discussion today with Austin R. Bryan, #CLP and Fred Ngan #Bowtie in the #HKGCC forum on “Thriving in a Post-Covid Era Thru Innovation”. Thanks Victor Lam, Chairman of the Industry & Technology Committee of HKGCC, to host us & moderate the panel discussion. Austin & Fred were on Zoom and Victor & I were in HKGCC.
My key takeaways are:
1. Living with #Ambiguity becomes a new normal. We need to keep innovating in an uncomfortable environment.
2. Sense of #Urgency & lean startup thinking are crucial for innovation but most corporates do not have that.
3. Forget about innovation if we don’t have a clear #StrategicIntent. It could be for customer experience, market share or others.
4. #Culture & #Purpose are the keys to drive innovation instead of revenue & profit.
5. >90% of #Startups fail so always making #Survival as a sense of urgency & doing different things from existing players are very important. Same for #Intrapreneurship.
6. #Diversity of teammates with no domain experience is critical as it will bring out blind spots that are unseen by industry experts.
Thanks HKGCC Simon Ngan & teammates to organize the forum. Find out more about the “HKGCC Hong Kong Awards for Industries: #Innovation & #Creativity” here.
https://lnkd.in/gchTvhv
Thanks to Joe Wan, CEO of #Tricor, for his experience sharing on talents cultivation in the digital era. Also, appreciate Teddy Liu for delivering the workshop on Leadership and Workforce Transformation in the Digital Era Programme. It was a part of our Digital Leadership Series for Executives initiated and designed by me and a number of industry experts and professors for #CUHK.
https://lnkd.in/gZBZmjp
Here are a few key takeaways from Joe’s sharing.
1. How important is “#WHY” and “#PURPOSE“.
We have to help our colleagues know why he or she is here and how important and relevant their contribution is to the company and themselves. If that alignment works well, people will not just stay but also do their best in their jobs.
2. Listen to all levels of employees
Willing to listen to different levels of staff and answer all kinds of questions directly from staff from levels down will earn trust and pick up ideas that senior management can never think of.
3. Transform every employee to be a #startup
Encouraging #intrapreneurship and innovation from the bottom also encourage talents to join you and stay and grow with the company. Joe has supported their teammates to open a cafe which is now in their building and other places.
4. Take exit interview seriously
Not only finding out more about why a colleague leaves, but also offering staff, who are leaving, a final chance to stay. Joe said in the Exit Interview, “If you stay, I can waive the advanced notice for your next resignation if any.” That sincerity is really building another level of trust even the staff finally left. Alumni groups can be very powerful these days as ecosystem collaboration is the key to success in the digital era.
5. Respect each other
Joe asked and enforced every manager to treat their staff with respect. For instance, it is fine for a manager to shout at their staff but never one stands up and the other sits down. A simple gesture means a lot.
All these tips applied well in particular to the young generation. I learned a lot from Joe and Teddy. To thank Joe, I also shared a copy of my book #數碼力大提升 to him.
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