Looking Outside

We go to philosophical and thoughtful places in Episode 5 of Looking Outside with strategist Philip Ryan, Partner and Head of Innovation & Futures at Ipsos Strategy3. Today we’re looking outside perspectives.Philip shares how his curious mind explores varied and broad topics, which allows him to pull in vast perspectives, that lead directly to more robust strategic thinking. Jo and Philip also discuss the benefit of pushing yourself into uncomfortable spaces and places in challenging your own personal status quo. Whether it’s exploring new cultures, learning about how big ideas shape what we think today, or questioning your own preconceptions with new nuggets of thought provoking knowledge. Yup, it can even be as simple as sitting down and having a conversation with someone who has a vastly different life journey to yours. Fascinated with how big ideas were framed in the past, shape our present, and can influence our future, Philip also speaks on the history of ideas. --To look beyond the familiar, Philip, unsurprisingly, has a broad range of sources to recommend: The Rest is History podcast, https://waitbutwhy.com a blog breaking down surprising factors of big ideas, https://nowiknow.com a daily newsletters educating on something new, https://nextdraft.com a newsletter of fascinating news from Dave Pell, 'the editor of the internet', and Warren Berge’s book A More Beautiful Question. Philip's personal go to is also to literally go outside (a popular choice, I also highly recommend it).--Philip Ryan is a Partner in Ipsos Strategy3, Ipsos’ marketing strategy consultancy, where he leads the innovation and futures advisory business, supporting brands as as they look to envision and create the future. He brings two decades of expertise in both industry and consulting, having been an SVP at Citi and an executive at Accenture. Philip has also worked in Marketing Strategy at LG Electronics and within the Customer Care group at Waterford Crystal. His clients include American Express, The Coca-Cola Company, P&G, Cigna, Conagra, Delta, HP, Mars, Mastercard, Honda and Hilton.​ Philip holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in European Studies from Trinity College Dublin. He grew up primarily in Ireland and currently lives in Brooklyn, but bounced around, living in various cities in Europe, Asia and the US.               Connect with Philip on Linkedin or learn more about Ipsos Strategy3 https://www.ipsosstrategy3.com--Welcome to Looking Outside, a new podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. With each episode we’ll hear from some of the most influential and original thinkers.The show is hosted by Joanna Lepore. Jo has been marketing and innovating inside of the consumer goods space for over a decade. Previously a marketer in Australia she recently moved to the United States to head up strategic foresight for Mars Wrigley North America. Jo follows her curiosity, seeking out fresh perspectives by looking outside her market, industry and field of knowledge. Starting 2022 she’s taking some of her friends alongside some of the most inspiring industry leaders to explore more of this in the Looking Outside podcast.Find out more about Jo & Looking Outside at www.looking-outside.com. Connect with Jo and join the Looking Outside community on LinkedIn.Check out Jo’s foresight podcast Future Imagined (produced for Mars Wrigley).--Looking Outside is created by Joanna Lepore. All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2022. OBOY and Hola Hola music features in Looking Outside Episode 5, via Soundstripe.

In Episode 4 of Looking Outside we’re joined by down-to-earth insights & marketing rockstar, Michelle Gansle, Vice President of Global Strategic Insights at McDonald's. Today we’re looking outside The Human.Together Jo and Michelle discuss what it means to truly be human-led inside and outside of work, both by humanizing the people we work with and ourselves. The Insights industry is in a continual state of transition, no more felt than during the pandemic. Michelle shares her observation of human nature from the past two years, within and outside of the office. In exploring human-centric leadership, Jo and Michelle discuss the skill of finding and cultivating your superhuman power, getting out of your comfort zone by cultivating curiosity, and how vulnerability and facing into emotions at work should be a natural part of leadership.--To look beyond the familiar, Michelle recommends you check out Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath.She says to seek diverse views from people, podcasts and conferences. Or (my favorite) set yourself a challenge every month that will take you actively into new and sometimes uncomfortable places.--Michelle is the Vice President, Global Strategic Insights, and leads the McDonald’s Global Insights organization. Michelle and her team connect human truth with business strategy to drive growth.Michelle recently drove the insights transformation at Mars Wrigley. Here she pushed the boundaries of Martech and Digital Adoption to create a more future focused organization with the development of a dedicated Foresight Team.  Michelle has 28 years of experience in Marketing, Market Research & Business Development, for several global Fortune 500 Companies including Dell Computers, Clorox, Nestle and Mars. Michelle has high integrity and a people-focused leadership style. Her passion for supporting diverse teams in realizing their potential shines through as does her love of the McDonald’s business and brand.Prior to living in Chicago, Michelle had the opportunity to live and work in Europe for four years.  In her free time, Michelle loves music, travelling the world, and checking out new restaurants. She hopes to get to 100+ countries in her lifetime and cannot wait to travel again, stopping off at our restaurants to enjoy a Sausage & Egg McMuffin along the way!--Welcome to Looking Outside, a new podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. With each episode we’ll hear from some of the most influential and original thinkers.The show is hosted by Joanna Lepore. Jo has been marketing and innovating inside of the consumer goods space for over a decade. Previously a marketer in Australia she recently moved to the United States to head up strategic foresight for Mars Wrigley North America. Jo follows her curiosity, seeking out fresh perspectives by looking outside her market, industry and field of knowledge. Starting 2022 she’s taking some of her friends alongside some of the most inspiring industry leaders to explore more of this in the Looking Outside podcast.Find out more about Jo & Looking Outside at www.looking-outside.com. Connect with Jo and join the Looking Outside community on LinkedIn.Check out Jo’s foresight podcast Future Imagined (produced for Mars Wrigley).--Looking Outside is created by Joanna Lepore. All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2022. OBOY and Noah Smith music features in Looking Outside Episode 4, via Soundstripe.

In Episode 3 of Looking Outside we’re joined by the very pragmatic and undoubtedly original Costas Papaikonomou, Co-Founder of Happen Group, a global innovation agency, and author of the Grumpy Innovator book series. Today we’re looking outside Innovation.Together Jo and Costas explore the pitfalls of innovating in a silo, the risk of disrupting your own brands through transformation and the benefits of gaining insight from other categories. With a significantly higher chance of failure than success, and most growth and hope placed on innovation inside a consumer packaged goods company, it’s a challenge from the start that’s often approached with fleeting optimism. Costas discusses his pragmatic, if skeptical (definitely grumpy), approach to creating innovation that lasts, that meet true consumer needs, and that leverage idea generation from across functions, categories and industries.--To look beyond the familiar, Costas recommends you literally go outside! Immerse yourself in the world your consumers are in, and clear your mind of cobwebs by stepping into a place of nature.--Costas Papaikonomou is Co-Founder of Happen Group, one of the leading creative innovation agencies of the 21st century. A career in innovation – studying, dreaming, creating, researching and realizing new products. He is author of the Grumpy Innovator book series which feature musings, aphorisms & polemics about the ugly reality of consumer product innovation, in particular in large corporations. An attempt at understanding why so many innovations fail, why that is often wholly unnecessary and what may help tilt the balance more favorably. Costas  built a life – and co-founded a thriving business – in innovation by combining market insight, manufacturing and commercial rigors into one creative offer. He advises how to win by honoring all three, and avoiding a perpetuating challenge for many people and businesses where functions exist in siloes that hamper cross fertilization as well as multi-disciplinary careers.Grab a copy of Costas’ Grumpy Innovator books on Amazon.You can also download the full series as PDF - use "outside" discount code for 20% off.--Welcome to Looking Outside, a new podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. With each episode we’ll hear from some of the most influential and original thinkers.The show is hosted by Joanna Lepore. Jo has been marketing and innovating inside of the consumer goods space for over a decade. Previously a marketer in Australia she recently moved to the United States to head up strategic foresight for Mars Wrigley North America. Jo follows her curiosity, seeking out fresh perspectives by looking outside her market, industry and field of knowledge. Starting 2022 she’s taking some of her friends alongside some of the most inspiring industry leaders to explore more of this in the Looking Outside podcast.Find out more about Jo & Looking Outside at www.looking-outside.com. Connect with Jo and join the Looking Outside community on LinkedIn.Check out Jo’s foresight podcast Future Imagined (produced for Mars Wrigley).--Looking Outside is created by Joanna Lepore. All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2022. “OBOY” and “Bellodrone” music features in Looking Outside Episode 3: Innovation, via Soundstripe.

In Episode 2 of Looking Outside we’re joined by the super smart behavioral economist, author, speaker and podcast host Melina Palmer, Founder & CEO of The Brainy Business. Today we’re looking outside Brain Science.Together Jo and Melina discuss how better understanding the scientific workings of the human brain can unlock not just a business competitive advantage but help you better understand yourself. They explore how our human brain has a bias for predictability, for what’s comfortable, of following the success path of others (herding) and the skills we should train within ourselves to push beyond the familiar or the socially predictive. We’re still working the human brain out but already there is a lot we can leverage from what brain science has told us. But with 35,000 decisions made every day an essential ingredient to brain science is art and creativity (so you can throw darts where your competitors are throwing noodles). --To look beyond the familiar, Melina recommends you speak with someone you know well, and who knows you well. Someone who can catch when you’re falling into predictable patterns and can offer an alternate route.--Melina Palmer is founder and CEO of The Brainy Business, which provides behavioral economics consulting to businesses of all sizes from around the world. Her podcast, The Brainy Business: Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy, has downloads in over 170 countries and is used as a resource for teaching applied behavioral economics for many universities and businesses. Melina holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration: marketing and master’s in behavioral economics. A proud member of the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists, Melina has contributed research to the Association for Consumer Research, Filene Research Institute, and writes the Behavioral Economics & Business column for Inc Magazine. She teaches applied behavioral economics through the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab and her first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, published in May 2021.Find out more about The Brainy Business at https://www.thebrainybusiness.com or on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.Grab a copy of Melina’s book What your customer wants and can’t tell you.--Welcome to Looking Outside, a new podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. With each episode we’ll hear from some of the most influential and original thinkers.The show is hosted by Joanna Lepore. Jo has been marketing and innovating inside of the consumer goods space for over a decade. Previously a marketer in Australia she recently moved to the United States to head up strategic foresight for Mars Wrigley North America. Jo follows her curiosity, seeking out fresh perspectives by looking outside her market, industry and field of knowledge. Starting 2022 she’s taking some of her friends alongside some of the most inspiring industry leaders to explore more of this in the Looking Outside podcast.Find out more about Jo & Looking Outside at www.looking-outside.com. Connect with Jo and join the Looking Outside community on LinkedIn.Check out Jo’s foresight podcast Future Imagined (produced for Mars Wrigley).--Looking Outside was created by Joanna Lepore. All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2022.“OBOY” music features in Looking Outside Episode 2: Brain Science, via Soundstripe.

Welcome to Looking Outside, a new podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. With each episode we’ll hear from some of the most influential and original thinkers.The show is hosted by Joanna Lepore. Jo has been marketing and innovating inside of the consumer goods space for over a decade. Previously a marketer in Australia she recently moved to the United States to head up strategic foresight for Mars Wrigley North America. Jo follows her curiosity, seeking out fresh perspectives by looking outside her market, industry and field of knowledge. Starting 2022 she’s taking some of her friends alongside some of the most inspiring industry leaders to explore more of this in the Looking Outside podcast.Find out more about Jo & Looking Outside at www.looking-outside.com. Connect with Jo and join the Looking Outside community on LinkedIn.Check out Jo’s foresight podcast Future Imagined (produced for Mars Wrigley).--To kick off Looking Outside we’re joined in Episode 1 by talented and bold marketer Rose Jia, Head of Growth Marketing at Amazon Grocery.  Today we’re looking outside Marketing.Together Jo and Rose explore the tried and true practice of Marketing, and how organizations can stretch beyond familiar predefined pathways (and results) from marketing by employing a new mindset. They discuss what kind of benefits await from embracing your prior roots and knowledge base (banking in Rose’s case) in approaching your current field, the advantage of collaborating with surprising functions, how we should be tapping into our natural curiosity to discipline our minds in multiple fields in order to better accomplish what we need to in our chosen one, why scaring your company with probable future disruptions is necessary to build a culture of risk taking and therein learning.--To look beyond the familiar Rose recommends you go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole, learning about something surprising. Or do the same with podcasts, her favorites for exploring beyond the typical norm: Imaginary Worlds, Reply All & Planet Money.--Rose Jia is an award-winning leader who currently heads up growth marketing for Amazon’s grocery division, including brands like Amazon Fresh. She and her team drive profitable growth through awareness, discovery, conversion, partnerships, and go-to-market initiatives. She is also considered a "Renaissance Marketer" — a multi-disciplined leader who leverages her wide and differing industry knowledge to build patented innovative products and solutions. Find out more about Rose’s passion project, developing the next generation of marketers through www.RenaissanceMarketer.com.Follow Rose on Medium https://medium.com/@rjianetwork--Looking Outside was created by Joanna Lepore. All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2022.Avocado Junkie & OBOY music features in Looking Outside Episode 1, via Soundstripe.

Welcome to Looking Outside, a new podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. With each episode we’ll hear from some of the most influential and original thinkers.The show is hosted by Joanna Lepore. Jo has been marketing and innovating inside of the consumer goods space for over a decade. Previously a marketer in Australia she recently moved to the United States to head up strategic foresight for Mars Wrigley North America. Jo follows her curiosity, seeking out fresh perspectives by looking outside her market, industry and field of knowledge. Starting 2022 she’s taking some of her friends alongside some of the most inspiring industry leaders to explore more of this in the Looking Outside podcast.