Built for Turbulence
Pascal Finette
Uncertainty isn’t going away – so let’s learn to thrive on it. Join Pascal Finette (author of Disrupt Disruption, GYSHIDO, and Built for Turbulence [2026]) in conversations with leaders who’ve built organizations that get stronger under stress. No theory. No consultant-speak. Just practical wisdom from practitioners in the trenches – turning volatility into competitive advantage and building antifragility into everything they do. Each episode: real stories, hard-won insights, and actions you can take Monday morning. The future belongs to those who prepare, not predict.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 1, 2021 • 24min
A Conversation with Christina Nesheva (ViiV Healthcare)
Christina is the former cofounder of the Innovation Lab of ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture between GSK, Pfizer and Shionogi and focused entirely on HIV therapies. Previously she held leadership positions at GSK and has spent her career at the forefront of healthcare innovation.
Learn why it is so important to “be in the game”, how leaders today need to operate in a two-track environment, and why fear is the major inhibitor for disruptive innovation inside a corporation.
May 25, 2021 • 25min
A Conversation with Kyle Nel (Singularity Labs / Lowe's)
Kyle Nel is the President of Singularity Labs and formerly headed up innovation at DIY retail giant Lowe’s. Under his leadership, Lowe’s launched the first 3D printer into space, developed Augmented Reality experiences and in-store robots.
Discover what it takes to turn an incumbent organization into one of the posterchilds of disruptive innovation, why comic books are a great tool to communicate, and why storytelling is so important.
May 18, 2021 • 29min
A Conversation With Maurice Conti (Former Head of Moonshots at Telefonica Alpha)
Maurice is the CEO of Applied Intelligence and formerly led Telefonica’s moonshot factory Alpha as their Head of New Moonshots. Alpha has been described as the only European moonshot factory and the European Google [X].
Learn why disruptive innovation is a lot like owning a pet tiger, what cowboys with plastic guns and no horses have to do with disruption, and what companies have to do to navigate the treacherous waters of change.
May 10, 2021 • 30min
A Conversation With George Constantinescu (Chief Transformation Officer at ATCO)
George is the Chief Transformation Officer at ATCO, a large Canadian manufacturing and utility company. He is looking back onto a long, illustrious career in the sector, both inside of large corporations and his own startups.
Learn about George’s approach to first principles thinking and how to apply it to innovation, why disruption could be considered a negative force and how to structure innovation efforts inside large incumbents operating in regulated industries.
May 4, 2021 • 26min
A Conversation With Wing Pepper (Former COO Factory & Plan44 Labs)
Wing is the former COO at Factory and Pilot44 Labs, two of the most innovative innovation labs in Silicon Valley, where he worked with Fortune 500 companies as well as startups, creating innovative (and often disruptive) new products, services and business models.
Delve into the human aspect of disruptive innovation, and learn why companies, like life in general, move in circular motions. Deconstruct R & D, and learn why the two functions should be treated separately.
Feb 23, 2021 • 39min
A Conversation With Ryan Merkley (Chief of Staff at Wikimedia Foundation)
Ryan is the Chief of Staff at the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind Wikipedia. Before this he held leadership positions at Creative Commons, Mozilla.org and public offices.
Explore why and how open innovation works, why it regularly yields surprising results, and is extremely robust — and dig into the common pitfalls which happen when organizations embrace “open”.
Feb 23, 2021 • 32min
A Conversation With Andy Billings (Head of Profitable Creativity at Electronic Arts)
Andy currently serves as Head of Profitable Creativity at Electronic Arts, having helped the company thrive through two massively disruptive transformations. In addition, Andy hosts an award-winning, global leadership accelerator program with a 20+ year track record.
Dig deep into what makes gaming giant Electronic Arts tick, how the company managed to stay relevant longer than most of its peers, and why it might not be possible to be thoughtful or planful about disruptive change after all.
Feb 23, 2021 • 50min
A Conversation With John O’Duinn (Distributed Work Expert, Author and Law Maker)
John has written code and led systems engineering teams in four person startups, non-profits, multinationals, and the US Government. He is the author of the de-facto standard book on remote working “Distributed Teams”.
Discover the impact (and opportunities) of remote work on innovation practices and culture, and explore the practical tipps & tricks which make remote work work.
Feb 23, 2021 • 31min
A Conversation With Lisa Kay Solomon (Designer In Residence at Stanford’s d. School)
Lisa is a Designer in Residence at the Stanford d. school, where she focuses on bridging the disciplines of futures and design thinking, creating experiences like The Future’s Happening to help students learn and practice the skills they don’t yet know they need.
Delve deep into the world of design thinking and learn how it relates to disruptive innovation, explore the power of an outside/in perspective, and why it is so important to identify the fixed elements in any situation.
Feb 23, 2021 • 32min
A Conversation With Bestselling Author Chris Yeh (Blitzscaling)
Chris is the co-author of the bestselling book ”Blitzscaling: The Lighting-fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies“, which he wrote along with Reid Hoffman. He is a serial entrepreneur and venture capital investor.
Learn why Chris believes that companies are collections of units operating at different stages in their lifecycle, why people typically fit into one specific stage, and why rolling a die is the perfect innovation metaphor.
