Outthinker

Positioning for Success: How Julie Copeland Transformed Arbill’s Strategy

Leave a Comment / Blog / Kaihan Krippendroff

It was 2015. A decade had passed since Julie Copeland had taken the reins of CEO from her father, as he had a generation earlier from his own father. This third-generation, Philadelphia-born business, Arbill, had patiently built a reputation as a leading supplier of high-quality safety equipment. Their helmets, gloves, goggles, and hazmat suits had […]

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Six Strategy Priorities for 2024 According to Leading Experts

Leave a Comment / Blog / Kaihan Krippendroff

As predictability becomes more elusive, chief strategy officers (CSOs) look ahead to 2024 with an even bigger challenge to separate the signal from the noise and determine where to place their efforts and attention to lead their organizations into the future.

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The Underappreciated Strategic Implications of Digital Products

Leave a Comment / Blog / Kaihan Krippendroff

We have heard the prognostications, repeatedly, that digital products and services are “changing everything.” What started with music has been echoing across industries, upending incumbents and carving new pathways past middlemen to end users. But there is a more profound, and yet underappreciated, strategic dynamic underway. You can hear its faint undertones here and there,

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Remembering the Past to Prepare for the Future

Leave a Comment / Blog / Kaihan Krippendroff

In Japan, large stones dot the coastline, marking the furthest point that historic tsunamis reached inland. Known as “tsunami stones,” they serve as visual reminders of past destruction, warning future generations not to build their houses beyond these boundaries.

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Is There a Lizard Under Your Bed? Notes from Outthinker Networks Roundtable with Rita McGrath

Leave a Comment / Blog / Kaihan Krippendroff

Last week, 40 heads of strategy, intrapreneurs, and thought leaders convened in New York City for Outthinker Networks’ Executive Summit, hosted by BNY Mellon. Attendees discussed Leveraging Generative AI for Strategic Advantage and Innovation Portfolio Management/Resource Allocation with special guest Rita McGrath, strategic advisor and Columbia Business School professor.

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10 Trends on Strategy Officers’ Agendas for 2023

Leave a Comment / Blog / Kaihan Krippendroff

Chief strategy officers (CSOs) are tasked with a dual challenge in foresight: to observe and make short-term decisions based on the trends that are happening today and, at the same time, to advise their companies on long-term shifts that will have impact five to ten years in the future. These strategists, uniquely positioned as key

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Blockchain ≠ Bitcoin

Blog / Kaihan Krippendroff

When many hear the word Blockchain, they think immediately of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This is an unfortunate mistake. You can classify types of Blockchains across two dimensions:

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Language, Vision, and the Emergence of the Human Race

Blog / Kaihan Krippendroff

The last two weeks I’ve been roaming up the East Coast in an RV with my family, which has given me a chance to start digging into a book numerous people have recommended. Bill Gates and Barack Obama cite this book as one we should all read if we want to understand where humanity may

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An Unexpected Train Ride Across the Ukraine

Blog / Kaihan Krippendroff

It feels I’m the only one left alive, cruising across the Ukraine in a Soviet-era train. My compartment is empty. The hallway is empty. Outside, dark forests are separated by a periodic streetlight shining dimly on empty streets.

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Three Strategic Lessons from Seattle

Blog / Kaihan Krippendroff

This week, I was in Erie, PA, then Chicago, now I’m in Seattle to present two talks. Stepping out of the arrivals area at the Seattle–Tacoma Airport activated a vivid memory of stopping at the seating area there, eight years ago, to conduct a phone interview with Time Magazine. A few weeks later, my photo

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Kaihan Krippendorff to Speak