Steven Morris is a Brand and Culture Advisor and Speaker and the author of The Beautiful Business. He partners with business leaders to mine, articulate and activate the unique belief systems to create organizational integrity, connected cultures and evolved brands. Today, Aviv and Steven embark on a rich exploration on purpose, and the creativity of people. Steven speaks to the inspiration that guided and continues to guide his work. They dissect Steven’s long held mantra, ‘There is nothing more powerful than a united group of souls ignited in a common cause with love at the core.’ Finally, Aviv and Steven expound on the examination of life and reflect on Mary Oliver’s query, ‘What is it you intend to do with this one wild and precious life?’
FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf115
Colin Hunter is the Chief Executive Officer of Potential Squared, an organization whose purpose is to create a global playground that disrupts the way people collaborate and lead. They teach organizations how to build a workplace culture that is less like a classroom and is more like a playground, a place filled with opportunities to take risks and test boundaries. Colin is the author of Be More Wrong: How Failure Makes You an Outstanding Leader, which uncovers the habits and practices of the Hero’s Journey together with design thinking and the blended skills of coaching and mentoring.
In this episode, Colin and Aviv engage in a rich discussion of finding your purpose, stretching for growth, and having fun along the way. Colin breaks down the Three ‘C’s from his book and explains the Hero’s Journey. Aviv and Colin also touch on the concept of building deep layers of self-insight and the personal journey that can follow. Finally, Colin speaks to the importance of discovering the playground that surrounds your purpose and allows you to have fun in your life.
FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf114
Tom Chiarella is the CEO and Founder of Resonance AI, an organization that identifies the building blocks of their clients’ content and tells them, simply, what worked. Tom has had a lifelong passion for technology, great product design and for building innovative businesses. Tom was also the co-founder and Chief Executive of Questra. He has since been involved with eight venture-backed startups as investor, advisor and/or board member. Before that, he led projects at companies like General Electric and Xerox.
In this episode, Tom and Aviv engage in a rich discussion on Tom’s entrepreneurial journey, artificial intelligence and lessons in leadership. Tom speaks to the incredible work he’s doing at Resonance AI and the mentors who have been critical along the way. They talk about the complex functionalities that AI is attempting and close to solving. Tom lists some of the critical insights he has gleaned as a leader, provides advice for his younger self and details the insights he values above all else.
FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf113
Aaron Hurst is the CEO and co-founder of Imperative, a peer-coaching platform that unlocks the power of peers to support and help each other become increasingly more effective and fulfilled. Aaron is an expert on the science of purpose at work and the author of The Purpose Economy. As the founder of the Taproot Foundation, Aaron catalyzed the $15 billion pro bono service market. He has written for or been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg TV, Fast Company and was named a LinkedIn Influencer
In this episode, Aaron and Aviv engage in a dialogue on the inquiry of purpose. Aaron breaks down the different distinctions between purpose, meaning and fulfillment and shares best practices for cultivating a purpose mindset. Aviv and Aaron examine the idea that learning and thriving at work is contingent on engaging in meaningful dialogue and fostering robust relationships. Finally, Aaron speculates on the future of work and how it will change in the coming decades to give workers more autonomy and more connection opportunities.
FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf112
Strategic planning is an oxymoronic term. While vision and strategy are back from the future inquiry, planning is the endeavor to move from today to the future. Though we need both approaches, they are not the same activity and they each require a different mindset. In many companies, strategic effort is not strategic at all. Rather, it is a financial-led, bottom-up planning exercise. In this episode, Aviv analyzes eight inquiries to evaluate your strategic innovation opportunities. Such inquiries explore a range of factors, including differentiated value, sustainability, exciting the imagination of your workforce and aligning with values and brand experience. Finally, Aviv provides actionable advice on how listeners can reflect on their strategic growth opportunities holistically to create the future of their business and unlock the future to which they aspire.
FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf111
Adam Wray is the founder and CEO of AstrumU, a Seattle-based data science startup that translates educational experiences into economic opportunity. Adam held a variety of senior leadership and founding roles at data analytics, cybersecurity, cloud, and machine learning-focused companies. He was one of the founders and the CEO of Tier 3, a public sector cloud services provider acquired by CenturyLink, one of the largest U.S. enterprise telecommunications companies.
In this episode, Adam and Aviv dive deep, explore the power of building an exceptional culture and, specifically, insights that emerged out of Adam’s experience as CEO. Adam describes his entrepreneurial journey and what inspired him to focus on education. He then reflects on the most impactful lessons he’s learned throughout his career. Finally, Adam outlines what he values above all other ideas and insights and provides sage advice to the audience on leadership and starting a business.
FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf110
Jon Herlocker is the Founder and CEO of Tignis, a company that provides a physics-driven software solution for managing industrial assets, processes, and operations. Jon is a technology entrepreneur, an experienced executive with a long leadership history in big data analytics and artificial intelligence. Before building his company, he was CTO of VMware’s Cloud Management, and CTO of EMC’s Cloud Services division. Jon is a former tenured professor of Computer Science at Oregon State University.
In this episode, Jon and Aviv engage in a deep conversation about entrepreneurship, the power of setting big, hairy, audacious goals and the future of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Jon speaks to his unique ability to enable others to achieve extraordinary breakthroughs and how this trait has been a critical tool for him as a leader and CEO. Finally, Jon shares the importance of being a lifelong learner and the one insight he values above all else.
FULL SHOW NOTES: https://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf109
What are the insights that propel the Create New Futures methodology? This was the framing question Aviv recently asked a Silicon Valley leadership team. Today, Aviv shares and reflects on two great insights that shaped his approach to creating new futures. Aviv dives deep into organizational potential energy and expounds on the concept of currency of leadership. Finally, Aviv provides the actionable advice he shared with the leadership team he worked with. He stresses that in order to unlock the greatest creativity and inspiration, it is critical to engage people in creating and shaping their own future. And to apply the currency of leadership, you must initiate a series of inquiry-based conversations designed to mobilize actions that produce results.
Full show notes: http://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf108
Have you been as provocative in your future explorations as you can? Today, Aviv reflects on this question and recalls the story of a three-day virtual workshop that inspired this discussion on creating slow, fast, deep work. In this episode, Aviv expounds on the Zone of Deep Work and outlines best practices that can be applied to create slow, fast, deep work. He provides examples of how the teams he worked with throughout this workshop produced three new compelling prototypes of the future and describes why this was such a game-changer. Finally, Aviv provides advice on how to imagine and bring to life a daringly novel future.
Full show notes: http://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf107
Meditative practices have helped guide Aviv through challenging events in his life. By developing these practices, Aviv hopes that listeners can discover the profound impact of these techniques and experience the many blessings and new doors of possibilities that can open for them as a result.
In this Part Three, Aviv addresses the fourth and fifth meditative practices that have helped him navigate both his personal and professional experiences. Aviv expounds on the power of prayer, repetition of affirmations and contemplative inquiries and showcases how he’s integrated these techniques in his everyday life.
Full show notes: http://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf106
Last month, Aviv dove into the Window of Opportunity concept and explained that how you respond to those windows determines your capacity to lead and shape outcomes. Today, this episode brings into focus a complementary idea that has helped some of Aviv’s clients unlock the awesome potential of their opportunities. Aviv poses the reflection question, ‘What is the most difficult feat in the world,’ and provides three key elements that must be present in order to accomplish these feats. By adapting and applying this idea, you will bring an advantageous urgency to your efforts.
Full show notes: http://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf105
Historians likely will look at 2020 as the year that initiated a multi-decade long transformation. As the effects of the global pandemic continue to be felt, many wonder when life will return to pre-pandemic ‘normal.’ However, most people recognize that there is no ‘back-to-normal’ path. Instead, there are opportunities to shape and create a new and thriving normalcy. In this episode, Aviv revisits the Window of Opportunity concept and urges listeners to consider the opportunities that are in front of them. Aviv expounds on the three components of the Opportunity Window Arc and speaks to what capabilities must be cultivated to respond in full when a window of opportunity opens.
Full show notes: http://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf104
Consider three ‘edge of the envelope’ scenarios: A Black Swan, A Perfect Storm and A Lethal Jackpot. A Black Swan is an unpredictable event that unleashes severe consequences. A Perfect Storm occurs when a rare combination of circumstances drastically and negatively aggravates an event. What is a Lethal Jackpot? It’s a convergence pattern of several conditions and irregularities that together develop into an inescapable, devastating consequence. In this episode, Aviv opens up about this surprising discovery and how it became a game-changer that saved his life on several occasions. Aviv provides best practices for identifying these Lethal Jackpot scenarios, both in life and business, in order to actively step in to stop these patterns of irregularities and risk.
Full show notes: http://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf103
Personal and organizational resilience and anti-fragile readiness have been a feature of many of Aviv’s senior leadership strategy workshops over the last decade. In this episode, Aviv outlines the five elements and capacities of resilient self-authorship. Aviv reflects on the concept of personal sovereignty as well as the reasons that organizations encourage and, in some cases, even require their members to have high levels of personal resilience. Finally, Aviv provides an evaluation tool you can utilize to reflect on your own personal resilient self-authorship.
Full show notes: http://www.avivconsulting.com/cnf102