The New Abnormal

Series FourThis episode of The New Abnormal features Julian Boulding, Owner of The Network One. They provide “open source creativity” and communications services from around 1200 independent agencies in 109 countries, worldwide. His annual review of the Cannes Lions Festival is always eagerly sought after, and the actual version will be sent out after this podcast goes live. In it, Julian discusses the latest industry trends and issues as discussed at this years event. So, if you want to hear whether Cannes has changed (and if so, for better or worse) along with his views on agencies that are on the way up and those on the way down, the next big thing in client/agency relationships, which international markets are the ones to watch, and whether an average day involved a five hour lunch when Julian joined the industry, then please listen in. 

Series FourThis episode of The New Abnormal features Catherine Roy, Foresight & Design Leader at Thales. She sets their foresight and design strategy, and helps to drive futures thinking & business growth. Overall, she aligns futures, business, product and service strategy with the needs of users / consumers in order to achieve goals. In this podcast, she explains her approach to the above, by illuminating some dynamic case histories regarding projects covering foresight, risk and innovation. Along the way, we discuss issues including social acceptability, soft power, storytelling, co-creation and destruction, hype cycles, future consciousness, shapeshifting, meaningful disruption, and dynamic leadership. Oh, and why it's important for futurists to 'find your tribe' within an organisation...

Series FourThis episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Chloe Markowicz, Editor at Contagious, which helps agencies and brands supercharge their marketing by learning from the world's most creative and effective companies and campaigns.  They do that via their IQ intelligence platform, consulting services, training and events. We discuss a range of issues including the latest 'Contagious Pioneers' report, which highlights agencies that set the standard for creative excellence in advertising and marketing - and where the likes of BETC (Paris) / Colenso BBDO (Auckland) / Gut (Buenos Aires) / Howatson+Company (Sydney) / Lucky Generals (London) / Ogilvy India (Mumbai) / Rethink (Toronto) / Uncommon Creative Studio (London) were the winners.Chloe also discusses industry trends, big thinkers / dreamers / doers, and the imminent Cannes Lions Festival, where the Contagious team will be making a valiant attempt at working, in between partying at the 'Contagious Villa'. She also discusses how to break into the industry, and the experiences that led her to editing everyone's favourite industry title, which exists to inspire and enable contagious creativity.

Paolo Gallo discusses his books on leadership and personal development, emphasizing authenticity, ethics, trust, and reputation. He shares personal stories, navigates the jungle of organizational behavior, and highlights the importance of building trust in leadership. The chapter also explores his plans for book promotions and connecting with readers worldwide.

Series FourThis episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Ari Wallach, who is a futurist and social systems strategist. He's also the author of 'Longpath: becoming the great ancestors our future needs' and host of 'A Brief History of the Future' (which premiers on PBS in April 2024) c/o Futurific Studios, a new production studio focused on shifting the narrative and the way society approaches current problems for a positive future.  Ari is also a Columbia University adjunct professor, and over the past 20 years has advised some of the world's biggest companies and organisations, from CNN to the White House to the UN, on how to plan for better futures. He's a really dynamic guest, so enjoy the episode!

Series Four This episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast features the renowned Philippa Wagner, a creative thinker who connects people, places & spaces across a range of lifestyle industries with a particular focus on F&B, hospitality, wellness & retail. She's a highly creative, commercially-driven strategist with extensive big-brand experience, having worked with some of the industry's best and brightest, including Birch, Ennismore, Sessions and Locke.  Philippa's specialist focus on consumer behaviours, strategic forecasting & brand storytelling puts her in a unique position to deliver insightful, forward-thinking outputs that help brands carve out a space for themselves in the world. In our conversation, she explains her viewpoints on companies from wellness startups to heavyweight hospitality brands, and how she works to put experience at the heart of their business.

Series Four This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Jonas Gissel Mikkelsen, Futurist and Director at The Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, where he heads up business development. Jonas is responsible for creating new initiatives, collaborations and joint-ventures, as well as overseeing publications and managing the Institute's brand & identity.  His primary competencies lie within an abstract ability to create prototypal ideas and an understanding of the larger perspective of initiatives re: the externalities and long-term effects. So, we discuss all of the above, with a particular focus on strategic transformation, Non-Profits and Civic Society. But before all that, we discuss his first job after leaving University...

Series FourThis episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Colin Strong, who is Head of Behavioural Science at Ipsos, and a Professor at Nottingham University Business School. He works with a wide range of organisations (both private and public sector) to design and deliver behavioural change through the use of behavioural science. His new book 'Out of Time: the revolution underway in beliefs about being human' is out now. In it, he seeks to make sense of our current state of liminality, and questions what we wish humans to become from this state. So, we discuss all of the above and along the way, Nietzsche, Descartes, the CIA and the late, great Daniel Kahneman all get a mention, along with many others. I hope you'll enjoy listening to Colin as much as I did!

Series FourThis episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Hilary Sutcliffe, Director of SocietyInside, who bring together people and ideas to help tech and its governance earn the trust of society. The name #SocietyInside is a riff off the famous brand ‘IntelInside’ and aims to encapsulate their aspiration that we reverse-engineer innovation from the needs of society rather than just create technologies which are in an eternal search for a home.Hilary explores the purpose, risks, ethics, stakeholder involvement and governance of these technologies through research, writing and stakeholder involvement as well as acting as a sounding board & critical friend. She also believes that 'innovation is society in the making'. We therefore discuss all of the above, and in particular, the issues of inclusion, respect, openness and integrity in policy, regulation and organisational culture. She also explains why "trust is not an outcome - not a message, not a slogan. It's the result of someone's belief in your trustworthiness. Focus then on being trustworthy and providing evidence of your trustworthiness". 

Series FourThis episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast features the Leadership Advisor & Speaker, Diego Gilardoni, who helps leaders navigate uncertainty by achieving clarity through a future-proofed vision. In the interview, we discuss issues such as cross-cultural management theory, strategic foresight, geopolitical depression (with a focus on the polycrisis), along with cognitive diversity, and the dynamic approach to strategic thinking for which he's renowned. With a background as a journalist in Europe and the US, and as a business consultant in China, Diego provides fascinating perspectives from the intersection of international affairs, communication, business, culture and strategy.