What We Do

What don’t we do? This page opens windows into a whole suite of headlines and activities covering the Innovation Categories listed below. And more… events, blogs, news, thought leader perspectives, pod- and web-casts both from and about Forum members.

Engage with us – our editorial team, our events, our program managers and our leadership team – to be seen and heard on this page. AND be talked about!

The latest news in business innovation.

Kazakhtelecom JSC, the largest telecommunications operator in Kazakhstan, has been innovating with cloud technology to help grow its base o…
Traditional banking institutions must work harder to innovate with the latest cloud-native platforms and move on from their reliance on lega…
Innovative wireless technology has been adopted by several leading American sporting stadiums to help improve the customer experience. Dis…

If you have an interesting story on business innovation please contact our Editor-in-Chief, Guy Matthews:

    guy.m@BusinessInnovationLeaders.org

Guy is the Editor-in-Chief of the Forum’s publication “Innovate!”, encouraging  regular interaction and on-going communications with Forum members, business leaders and technologists involved in accelerating innovation throughout all corners of business. In addition, Guy is Editor of NetReporter, an information service which provides the international media community with updates  on the hottest trends in networking and IT. He monitors developments in areas such as cloud-native connectivity, data centre and network automation, AI, IoT, 5G, edge compute and cybersecurity. In a long career in tech journalism he has written extensively for titles such as Capacity, European Communications, Vanilla Plus, Computing and Computer Reseller News.

Upcoming & Featured Events

Podcasts

Innovations in technology to improve customer experience

The Hybrid Workplace of the Future

Enterprise Migration to the Cloud: Getting the network right

Webcasts

Innovations in Technology to Improve Customer Experience

Analyst Chair: Sudhir Rajagopal, Research Director, Future of Customer Experience, IDC

Eduarda Camacho, Senior Vice President, Customer Success and Chief Customer Officer, BMC Software
Jason Purvor, Data Centre Transformation and Mass Migration Lead, Google
Nick Parmar, global Vice President of Collaboration Services & business Unit Head, TATA Communications
Watch on:

The Hybrid Workplace of the Future

Analyst Chair: Amy Loomis, Research Vice President, Future of Work, IDC

Prakash Mana, Co-founder & CEO, Cloudbrink
Kate Eberle Walker, CEO, Presence
Professor Martin Curley, of Maynooth University and Chair of the Science Summit at UNGA Digital Health Symposium
Sriram Sampath, Vice President – CX Management & Collaboration Platforms, Tata Communications
Watch on:

Enterprise Migration to the Cloud: Getting the network right

Analyst Chair: Brandon Butler

Tommy Gardner, HP
Thiagaraja Manikandan, Olam
Parag Thakore, Netskope
TATA Communications
Watch on:

Cyber Security – Meeting CISO Demands

Analyst Chair: Mauricio Sanchez, Research Director, Network Security & Data Center Appliance, SASE Market Research Dell’Oro Group

Ryan Hammer, Chief Information Security Officer, Ciena
John Kindervag, SVP, Cybersecurity Strategy, ON2IT
Dr. Ronald Layton, Vice President, Converged Security Operations, Sallie Mae Bank
Ben de Bont, Chief Information Security Officer, ServiceNow
Srinivasan CR, Executive Vice President – Cloud and Security Business
Watch on:

INNOVATIVE NETWORKING STRATEGIES TO ACCELERATE YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE

Play Video

The Branch of One and the New Enterprise Edge

Play Video

Global Enterprise Customer Insights: An Analysis of 2021 IT Investment Priorities

Play Video

Migrating MPLS Networks to the New Era of Cloud Networking

Play Video

CIO Round Table on Predicting and Preparing for the New Normal

Founding Corporate Sponsor:

Media & Analyst Partnerships:

Contact

Membership & administration

forum co-founder

International Events Manager

© Copyright 2021. Business Innovation Leaders Forum. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN THE BUSINESS INNOVATION LEADERS FORUM

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR FREE TRIAL MEMBERSHIP THROUGH TO 30th september 2023

We would like to send you more information about membership so please fill in your details below, and we will get in touch shortly. Meanwhile you can click the link below to explore the forum further.

BE INSPIRED TO INNOVATE!

RECEIVE OUR

Book of the Month*

The Serendipity Mindset: The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck

By Dr Christian Busch
Serendipity is an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. To other people it looks like “good luck”, but it is more the ability to recognise and seize an opportunity, rather than have good fortune thrust upon one. Finding a wallet stuffed with money on the conference room floor is good luck, whereas holding it up and asking if anyone has lost their wallet might be the beginning of a valuable friendship – that would be serendipity.

Chance encounters, or strokes of fortune, feature in countless stories of business success. This book looks beneath the surface, reveals and teaches the mindset that can transform pure chance into opportunity. The author is director of the Global Economy Program at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs, and a lecturer at the London School of Economics.

Serendipity is an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. To other people it looks like “good luck”, but it is more the ability to recognise and seize an opportunity, rather than have good fortune thrust upon one. Finding a wallet stuffed with money on the conference room floor is good luck, whereas holding it up and asking if anyone has lost their wallet might be the beginning of a valuable friendship – that would be serendipity.

The author says “This is a book about the interactions of coincidence, human ambition and imagination”. In the above example: finding the wallet is the coincidence; ambition is the desire to make something of the discovery; add imagination and you open up a whole menu of possibilities: from spending spree to earning a reputation for honesty – or even making a wealthy friend.

Business is typically forged on human ambition and imagination, but early success often feeds an appetite for control – and “control freaks” can be blind to the opportunities thrown up by the unexpected. They only see chance events as distractions. If plans go awry, they may blame the failure on “bad luck” rather than admit their own inflexible attitude.

The author himself admits to being “a German who is used to planning” and prone to feel anxious when something unexpected happens. That makes him an ideal teacher, because he has worked hard to discover and analyse the mindset that enables one to “connect the dots” and cultivate serendipity. He presents a goldmine of examples from science, business and life where an apparent mishap or failure lead to a breakthrough.

Indeed, studies suggest that around 50% of major scientific breakthroughs emerge as the result of accidents or coincidences. A well-known example is Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, launching the whole field of antibiotics. Other examples include X-rays, nylon, microwave ovens, rubber, Velcro, Viagra and Post-it Notes – where would we be without these!

The book goes beyond the ability to recognise and respond to opportunities in chaos, but the subtitle – The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck – is actually a bit misleading. True, he does show ways to develop better fortune, but it would be better to call it “inviting” or “encouraging” good luck. For example, he suggests better ways to start a conversation with a stranger – ways that will make it more likely to lead to chance connections or shared interests.

The publishers may have chosen the word “creating” to make the book appeal to the human desire to control – for control freaks are exactly the readership that would benefit the most from this book’s wisdom and practical advice.

For the rest of us, it offers a great way to rediscover the sense of play that is so important in life – and too often lost in business.

 

“Following the success of The Serendipity Mindset hardback, a paperback edition has also now been launched under the title “Connect the Dots”.

How to upload a file

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website More info.