{"id":8324,"date":"2019-05-24T17:25:04","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T15:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ie.edu\/exponential-learning\/blog\/?p=8324"},"modified":"2019-06-25T16:24:06","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T14:24:06","slug":"bystander-architect-prepared-deal-age-disruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/innovation\/bystander-architect-prepared-deal-age-disruption\/","title":{"rendered":"Bystander or architect: Are you prepared to deal with the age of disruption?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new Renaissance, a fourth Industrial Revolution\u2026 however you call it, the fragmentation that\u2019s marked the early 21<\/span>st<\/span> century stands in stark contrast to the <\/span>
\n<\/span>20<\/span>th<\/span> century\u2019s globalization. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mark Esposito<\/a>, Professor of Strategy at IE Business School, addressed this contrast\u2014along with its implications and opportunities for future leaders and innovators\u2014at a January 2019 TED Talk in Antwerp.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his talk, \u201c<\/span>The Age of Fragmentation<\/span><\/a>,\u201d Esposito explored this topic. While the world is better connected and more technologically integrated than ever, seismic changes\u2014which Esposito claims started in 2016\u2014have begun to reverse the convergence that has characterized this technological connectivity. <\/span><\/p>\n

On the one hand, what Esposito describes as the Third Industrial Revolution increased productivity, drove down prices and opened the whole world to consumers. <\/span>
\n<\/span>On the other hand, technology increasingly replaced people in the production <\/span>
\n<\/span>chain, leading to feelings of disenfranchisement and disillusionment. Digitalization that is neither scaled to the mainstream nor accessible to all, became a force for fragmentation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology is not the enemy\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

However, it\u2019s important to remember that these massive changes don\u2019t only represent a challenge. Esposito shows that they also offer a huge opportunity in what he calls \u201ca concurrent Fourth Industrial Revolution.\u201d In this era of change, technology affords us the chance to leverage what makes us special: creativity, innovation and communication. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s technology that will enable us to change the paradigm, to bring about a new Renaissance where performance is no longer defined by simple productivity\/cost vectors, and where the old types of formal education will no longer guarantee employability. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s na\u00efve, he says, to assume we can simply transfer the values of the 20<\/span>th<\/span> century <\/span>
\n<\/span>into the 21<\/span>st<\/span>. Today, we\u2019re dealing with a degree of variability, volume and complexity that we\u2019ve never seen before. To best understand and compete going forward, we will need to acquire a new mindset and a new set of tools. He urges us not to \u201cwait for somebody else to fix it.\u201d In other words, you can be a passive bystander, or you can be an architect of the new infrastructure. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mark Esposito is one of the sector\u2019s most influential thinkers on strategy and leadership. He was listed on the <\/span>Thinkers50Radar<\/span><\/i> in 2016 and has authored a number of books on sustainability, business ethics and understanding the future of business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leadership and Strategy in the Age of Disruption<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

In his role within IE\u2019s <\/span>Leadership and<\/span> Strategy in the Age of Disruption<\/span> program, he\u2019s well placed to use his unrivaled expertise in guiding decision-makers, strategists, and current and future leaders towards being those architects of the future. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Running from June 12 to July 19, the program begins with scenario-based analysis of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Moving through disruption spurred by accelerating technology and the impact of global instability, it familiarizes students with Fintech and its impact on traditional brick-and-mortar establishments. <\/span><\/p>\n

IE offers students the tools and knowledge to leverage disruption, understand fragmentation, and develop visionary thinking and innovative strategies. Intakes for winter and spring were completely full, so don\u2019t miss your chance to enroll in the next one. For more information about the program,\u00a0<\/span>download our brochure<\/b><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new Renaissance, a fourth Industrial Revolution\u2026 however you call it, the fragmentation that\u2019s marked the early 21st century stands in stark contrast to the 20th [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[375],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8324"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8324"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8380,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8324\/revisions\/8380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/lifelong-learning\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}