Vas Narasimhan is not your typical CEO, having started his career in public health, where he became passionate about how to impact health on a large scale. Now, many years later and in the role of CEO at Novartis, his passion remains undiminished. The impact the company is having on patients is remarkable, be it with “miraculous” treatments that cure children of deadly diseases with one pill, or with the Novartis Access program.
In the first half of my interview with Vas, we discuss what Reimagining Medicine means in an R&D based company that is deeply committed to innovation; addressing the needs of the 2 billion people with no access to health care; and the potential for, and challenges of, radically improving patient outcomes with advanced therapies.
Read the full article on OutsideLens Blog: https://outsidelens.com/reimagine-medicine-vas-narasimhan/
Links And Resources Mentioned In This Episode:
I am an anthropologist-turned-executive, who has spent my career as a perpetual outsider. I have helped growing businesses in companies like BP, HayGroup, Syngenta and Terramera using the incredible power of diverse perspectives. Both my academic training and decades in the corporate world taught me the same lesson time and time again: examining your world through the eyes of someone from a different background lets you discover new ways forward.
Several years ago I left the corporate world to live the second half of my life on my own terms. I had a strong desire to give something back. So with business partners I launched a podcast called the Innovation Ecosystem and over the next 3 years I was fortunate to interview almost 100 people, all leaders in their own fields, about innovation, leadership and change.
While these podcasts helped leaders see the world with fresh eyes, they were all still rooted in the language and perspective of business.
Feedback from listeners and business partners convinced me that this it was time to explore new areas, to go beyond the foothills and to venture into more challenging and exciting terrain.
As a result I recently created a new business called Outside Lens. The business will help you to escape from the hamster wheel of conference rooms, PowerPoint presentations, and airport lounges. That’s the “Outside” part of the name OutsideLens. And the “Lens” part? As I said, I am an anthropologist by training, and having achieved some moderate success by applying different lenses to business, I understand that fresh ways of looking leads to fresh solutions. Exploring issues through multiple lenses unlocks unimagined possibilities.
So I founded OutsideLens to leverage this insight, to help leaders navigate the choppy waters of today’s volatile business environment. From the podcasts and my work with organisations and individuals, our goal is always the same: to bring you fresh and diverse perspectives that help you navigate the world we live in.
With this in mind, what can you expect from me and this podcast going forward?
Well I have a fascinating line up of guests. Given my background, as well as having leaders from the worlds of business, sports, the arts and academia, I am also bringing perspectives from the outside, from the worlds of exploration, photography, anthropology, ethnography.
If you would like to know about us, what else we are doing, or to subscribe to the podcast, explore www.outsidelens.com for more information. I hope you enjoy the upcoming season, and let me know what you think, either on LinkedIn or email me via website.
In this episode, we are joined by writer and speaker, Adam Fisher, to discuss his latest book, Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley (As Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom). Adam has previously worked as a freelance journalist for a variety of prestigious publications and as Features Editor of New York Magazine and Wired Magazine.
In this episode, we are joined by Wanda Draper, who is the Executive Director at Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture to discuss her experience on the board of a museum and how museums can influence innovation. Wanda has over 40 years of experience in both broadcast and print journalism and has previously worked as Director of Programming at NBC-affiliated WBALTV, Director of Public Information for the Governor of Maryland, and as a reporter for The Baltimore Sun.
In this episode, we are joined by cognitive psychologist, Christopher Chabris, who is perhaps best known for his collaborative research on the Ig Nobel prize-winning ‘Gorillas in Our Midst’ experiment and his subsequent popular psychology book, The Invisible Gorilla. Chris is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Union College in New York and a Senior Investigator at Geisinger Health System.
In this episode, we are joined by economist and entrepreneur, Ricardo Amorim. Ricardo is founder and CEO of Ricam Consultoria, a financial and investment consultancy, and recent startups AAA Academy and Smartrips. Ricardo is also the author of the best-selling book, After the Storm, is a host on Brazil’s leading news channel, GloboNews, and is a lecturer and keynote speaker.
In this episode, we are joined by entrepreneur and innovation influencer, Jean-Claude Bastos. Jean-Claude is the founder of Quantum Global Group, Banco Kwanza, Angola’s first investment bank, and The African Innovation Foundation (AIF), which aims to support sustainable projects in Africa and hosts the annual Innovation Prize for Africa.
In this episode, we are joined by Whitney Johnson to discuss her upcoming book, Build an A-Team. Whitney is the author of the bestselling book Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Innovation to Work, and is the founder of the accompanying Disrupt Yourself podcast. Whitney is also a noted speaker, and executive and innovation coach, and is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review.
What was covered
In this episode, author and journalist Warren Berger joins us to discuss his book, A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry in Sparking Breakthrough Ideas, which examines the ways in which deep questioning fuels innovation. Warren has contributed articles and stories to The New York Times, GQ, New York magazine, and The Los Angeles Times, and was previously magazine editor for CBS and contributing editor for Wired.
In this episode we are joined by Piyush Chowhan who is the Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer for Arvind Lifestyle Brands, which operates more than a thousand apparel retail stores across India. Piyush has extensive experience in retail strategy, business analytics, customer loyalty and CRM, retail business consulting and supply chain management.
In this episode, we are joined by Founder and Director of the IMD Global Board Center, Prof. Didier Cossin. Didier is a global expert in governance, and in addition to his role at IMD has served as a consultant to the United Nations, the European Central Bank and multiple major corporations, including HSBC, Vodafone, Schlumberger and Coca-Cola. We speak about four pillars of good board governance: people, information, structure and processes, and group dynamics.
What Was Covered
Key Takeaways and Learnings
Links and Resources Mentioned in this Podcast
In this episode, author and speaker, Akshay Nanavati, joins us to discuss his new book, Fearvana: The Revolutionary Science of How to Turn Fear into Health, Wealth and Happiness, which uses neuroscientific and psychological research to aid personal development. Akshay talks openly about his personal journey, struggle with drugs and alcohol and post traumatic stress disorder diagnosis that led to the research in his concept of Fearvana. Akshay is a Marine Corps Veteran, adventurer, entrepreneur and success coach.
What Was Covered
Key Takeaways and Learnings
In this episode, we are joined by Greg Satell, an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and innovation advisor. Greg has been published in The Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company Inc., The Times of London, and Business Insider, and has just published his first book, Mapping Innovation. Previously, Greg spent 15 years in media businesses in Eastern Europe - from Poland to Moscow to Kiev and from small business journals to large news organizations and lifestyle brands. His work as an innovation advisor spans from Fortune 500 companies, to mid-size firms, and startups.
What was Covered
In this episode, we are joined by Hanne de Mora, Co-Founder and Chairperson of management consultancy organisation a-connect, to talk about innovation of the future of the world of work. Hanne is also a member of the Board of Directors for AB Volvo and the Supervisory Board for IMD Business School.
What was Covered
In this episode, Kyle Nicholas McCray, Director of Innovation at American Pacific Mortgage Corporation, joins us to discuss his experience as an intrapreneur and innovator within an established financial business. We cover with Kyle his early career at Apple, his time as an entrepreneur and how that led him to set up Scrappy Labs, an innovation lab within APMC dedicated to exploring new and innovative products and services to revolutionize the relationship between the company and a new generation of homebuyers.
What Was Covered
Key Takeaways and Learnings
In this episode, we are joined by Michael Mueller, partner and co-founder of Acrea, an innovative management consultancy which focuses on helping companies thrive in the digital age. Michael started his career at McKinsey after which he went on to hold a number of senior IT management roles within the banking industry. More recently he has developed his entrepreneurial career by founding a startup B2B travel company.
What Was Covered
Key Takeaways and Learnings
In this episode Pam Marrone, a serial entrepreneur, having founded, built and sold two biopesticide companies, joins us. She is currently the CEO and founder of Marrone Bio Innovations Inc, a Nasdaq listed company at the forefront of the drive towards sustainable agriculture. This purpose drove my work at Syngenta, and is central to that of Terramera, the Vancouver-based agtech company that I am on the Board of.
In our discussion we cover:
Key takeaways and learnings include:
In this episode, Mark briefly shares his key takeaways from season 3 followed by a special sneak peak at his interview for Nick Skillicorn's Innovation and Creativity Summit coming up next week. Listen in as Nick interviews Mark about his intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial experiences and his key advice for corporate innovators at all levels.
In this episode we are joined by Tamara Kleinberg, serial innovator, keynote speaker, creator the Innovation Quotient Edge (IQE) Assessment and founder of LaunchStreet, a leading platform for individuals and organisations seeking to innovate.
In this episode we cover:
Pondering the cure for cancer, developing vaccines for genital herpes, seeking that next big scientific breakthrough and mopping a basement floor is a day in the life of this episode’s guest Dr. Jessica Baker Flechtner, Chief Scientific Officer and Biosciences Pioneer at Genocea Biosciences.
Jessica joined innovative biotech startup Genocea in 2007, soon after the company was founded, and played an essential role in progressing the small company through startup phase to going public. At the same time as building a company, Jessica used her 18+ years of experience in immunology, infectious diseases, cancer and vaccine treatment to lead the Genocea efforts to develop T cell-directed vaccines and immunotherapies.
Jessica is also a member of the prestigious 40 women over 40 for her passion project to encourage more young women to embark on careers in STEM – learn more about it here. She joins a number of our previous guests, 40 over 40 founder Whitney Johnson, Pamay Bassey and Celine Schillinger in this extraordinary forum.
In today’s episode, learn from Jessica’s journey and rationale for joining an innovative biosciences startup despite her illustrious research career; her key role in bringing a company from the acquisition of venture capital funding through to going public in year and how she and the Genocea team create a culture of discussing failure and celebrating success that helps them maintain their competitive edge in an ever-changing and demanding pharmaceutical industry. This episode is an intriguing soire into the life of a Biosciences startup pioneer and the challenges that come along with it, we hope you enjoy!
Do you stop and smell the roses every once in awhile ? Do you remember what a raisin really tastes like? Do you take the time to listen to what your inner monologue are really saying?
Today’s guest Josh Spodek has made it his job to remind leaders to do just that. Labelled by Forbes and ABC News as a “Rocket Scientist”, Josh is nothing short of a serial overachiever. He has found success across many fields and disciplines such as science, invention, entrepreneurship, art, leadership, coaching, and education. He is an Adjunct Professor at NYU, leadership coach and workshop leader for Columbia Business School, columnist for Inc and founder of Spodek Academy. Josh holds five Ivy League degrees, including a PhD in Astrophysics and an MBA, and studied under a Nobel Prize winner.
Josh’s fascination with leadership as something that could be learned drove him to study it himself and eventually led him down the path of leadership and as an executive coach. He now leads seminars in leadership, entrepreneurship, creativity, motivation and sales at Harvard, Princeton, MIT, INSEAD (Singapore), the New York Academy of Science, and private corporations, including: UBS, EY, Deloitte, McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Time Magazine, Google and many more. He also leads seminars in Leadership, Creativity, Sales, Strategy, and Motivation at Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, MIT, and INSEAD Singapore, among others. Following visits to North Korea, he lectured on North Korean strategy at Columbia University, and in South Korea and China wrote a book on the topic reviewed as “a very thought-provoking read that may totally change how you interpret the country.”
If his professional achievements alone aren’t enough. Josh also swam the Hudson River, did over 80,000 burpees, wrote over 2,400 blog posts, took over 250 cold showers, coined the term sidcha, and has jumped out of two airplanes. He now lives in New York City’s Greenwich Village and blogs daily at www.joshuaspodek.com.
In this episode, Josh and Mark discuss Josh’s journey from PhD student of astrophysics to launching and failing in the business world and finally becoming a sought-after leadership coach and professor at NYU. They also experiment with some practical tools and exercises Josh uses to build the leadership muscles (for those of you hungry for tools); Finally, they explore the importance of experiential learning or project-based learning for building leadership and personal skills.
In today’s episode, futurist and simplification guru Lisa Bodell and our host Mark Bidwell reconvene to share more essential tools for leaders and teams to simplify their work environment from her second book Why Simple Wins (check out our book review on Amazon here); they explore insights into how companies like SAP, Southwest Airlines and Syngenta are putting simplification principles into action; and get a sneak peak at her favourite tool “killing complexity” that you can try out for yourself and your team.
Want to keep up with our guests visit our website and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
Elmar Mock is the Founder of Creaholic, but he began his career as an engineer in a deteriorating watch industry. Elmar approached top-level management within his company with an insane idea, a new way to completely innovate the industry and improve sales. Everyone thought he was crazy and his co-workers distanced themselves from him, but that turned out to be a good thing. Today’s topics include:
● His experience and frustrations as a young inventor in the dying watch industry and the unique mindset he employed.
● Using examples from the natural world he highlights the diverse approaches to innovation, change, and creation.
● Gives constructive advice for those of us pushing for change, within ourselves, the organizations we work for, and the society we live in.
FULL SHOW NOTES: http://innovationecosystem.com/reviving-the-swiss-watch-industry:-the-remarkable-story-of-swatch-with-elmar-mock/
Marc Vollenweider is the CEO of Evalueserve and has spent over 15 years guiding Evalueserve to become a global research, analytics and data management solutions provider. This is the second time Marc has appeared on the podcast; you can listen to his first interview here. Marc has recently written the book titled, Mind+Machine:A Decision Model for Optimizing and Implementing Analytics, which Mark and Marc cover on this week’s show. Some of the other topics covered in this interview are:
● Marc’s transition from being a McKinsey partner to founding a business employing over 3,500 people.
● The winner-takes-all characteristics of the markets Marc plays in, and his strategies to go after these markets, are detailed in his new book Mind+Machine.
● The counter-intuitive benefits arising from simplification and automation.
Creating the Space for Innovation, in many respects, that's what we're doing with the show. We are inviting you to come out of your day-to-day life of always-on communications, with people making enormous demands of your time, and to reflect a little bit on different individuals with diverse perspectives on the subject of change, leadership, and innovation with the hope that it gives you some inspiration, some insight, some tools to actually progress your personal or organizational innovation agendas.