Rogue Waves
Future-Proof Your Business to Survive and Profit from Radical Change
Lavin Exclusive Speaker
If business is an ocean, companies need to avoid the waves that could sink them. But what if waves go rogue, leading to unexpected threats like pandemics? Jonathan Brill says these events may be unexpected, but we can plan for them. That’s what he did when he was Global Futurist at Hewlett-Packard, boldly steering the legendary tech giant through a decade of sudden changes. Jonathan, author of the business survival guide Rogue Waves, practices his craft for the world’s biggest companies, like Microsoft and Samsung; he forecasts the future with practical techniques you can learn. He’ll teach you about the trends that will reshape the future, how to scale the skills that will help your organization adapt, and how to see risks as opportunities. Great companies don’t just roll with waves: they come out stronger on the other side.
Jonathan Brill’s deep experience at the helm of HP’s vision for the future taught him that every company needs to prepare for the unexpected—because every company can profit from the unexpected if they capitalize on it with the right approach. He made sure that HP was resilient and primed for the future, taking an intentional, proactive approach to change. Jonathan notes that an average of four big business shocks hit U.S. companies every year, and so we can forecast for them and figure out the patterns to watch for. It doesn’t require a crystal ball: we just need to pay attention at the right time. That’s how Jonathan outmaneuvered Xerox when the company tried to force a hostile takeover of HP in 2020; this twist might have been sudden or surprising to some, but he was ready for a scenario that looked exactly like this.
Jonathan has since developed the vital ABCs of thriving in the face of uncertainty and change. A is for Awareness: if a company doesn’t see what’s on the horizon, it can’t be ready. B is for Behavior: everyone in an organization should be empowered to exploit sudden developments in the market or world events. Finally, C is for Culture: stable and dependable teams, psychological safety, and clear communication are vital for taking advantage of disruption. With these ABCs in place, big shifts and rogue waves aren’t events to fear; they are part of your company’s plan for growth and success.
Rogue Waves: Future-Proof Your Business to Survive and Profit from Radical Change, Jonathan’s must-read handbook for riding out the fiercest of storms, is a step-by-step plan for taking advantage of uncertainty. The book is filled with the tools that Jonathan honed at HP and throughout his futurist career, giving you strategies for taking advantage of seemingly random chance; turning chaos into profit; and controlling your future. Your company will grow in the face of the new―while your competitors watch from the sidelines and try to catch up. New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant says that Rogue Waves delivers an “actionable framework for driving change instead of being blindsided by it.”
Jonathan has developed product innovation teams and growth pipelines for the U.S. government, the MIT Media Lab research institute, and world-class brands. He founded the Special Projects Agency—a diverse group of designers, creators, engineers, and scientists—to create unique experiences ranging from World’s Fair pavilions to artificial intelligence software. He holds patents for his inventions in display technology and augmented reality, contributor to TED, Singularity University, Forbes, and Harvard Business Review. Jonathan graduated from Pratt Institute, a leader in higher education for creative professionals, and has completed extensive executive training at Stanford.