People are weary of navigating this strange world and want to know: How is this going to end?

A Time to Experiment

“We have two endpoints,” said Malcolm Gladwell, confident that doctors would become increasingly better at managing the effects of COVID-19 over the coming months. “Milestone number one is, I think, we’re going to see the mortality rate start to drop in the hospitals quite substantially. That’s short to medium term. Longer term, a year to a year and a half, we’ll get a vaccine, which is going to alleviate a lot of our anxiety.”

Gladwell speaks with measured optimism based on his experience as a journalist covering the HIV epidemic for The Washington Post in the 1990s. Having analyzed the nature of viral epidemics for his first book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (2000), Gladwell gained popular distinction for his ability to uncover hidden and sometimes counter-intuitive connections among disparate aspects of daily life. With six titles under his name – including Outliers, which debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list in 2008 – Gladwell is a prominent public speaker, host of the podcast Revisionist History, and a Member of the Royal Order of Canada.

As a special guest on the thought leadership series , Gladwell applies that same keen, if provocative, insight to contemplating how businesses can cope with the knock-on effects of the COVID-19 crisis to illuminate new possibilities and drive innovation forward. , Gladwell provides examples of how the constraints and demands of the prolonged crisis can actually spark new ways of thinking about products and services.

“Our task is to experiment,” Gladwell said during the interview. He encouraged 51ˇçÁ÷customers and business leaders to “rethink your business in this weird time that we are living in.”

Reimagining for the Non-Obvious: Three Industries Transformed

The COVID-19 crisis has brought digital transformation into sharp focus. Businesses are seeing the need for real-time data in the cloud and supply chain resilience. Increased remote interaction – a consequence of social distancing – has amplified the business value of a carefully managed customer experience, as industries that are dependent on gatherings of people need to rethink their offerings. Now is the opportune time to fundamentally reimagine how innovation can reshape experiences by creating new products and services.

Sports: Where Have All the Fans Gone?

Gladwell, a devoted basketball fan, entertained the possibilities for innovation in athletic events, focusing on the question: Can the NBA do their playoffs by the end of summer? Sure, he said. This can be certainly accomplished through a combination of testing and quarantining, but the excitement of the group fan experience is gone.

“So, what are you selling?” he asked with characteristic directness. “Well, now you’re selling something else. You’re selling intimacy.”

You have an opportunity now to reshape the product around the intimacy of the experience and away from the excitement of a group experience, he suggested. Using technology – like cameras, sensors, and robotics – you can capture the up-close sights and sounds of a basketball game for an audience of spectators who are social distancing at home.

For the first time, sports fans will experience the game as if they are on the court with the players and coaches. “You now have permission to experiment in redefining what the experience of watching a basketball game is all about,” Gladwell said.

Environment: Will People in Urban Centers Demand Cleaner Air?

“A lot of the things are non-obvious,” Gladwell noted, as he segued into anecdotal observation about the improvement of air quality in urban centers due to the reduction in traffic congestion during recent weeks. This is interesting to Gladwell because it coincides with recent research about the impact of air quality not only on physical health, but also on cognitive health and learning – and because people seem much happier about it. He sees it as an opportunity to reimagine cities with greater possibilities for electric mobility solutions, green spaces, and bike lanes.

“Will there be public pressure for social changes and innovations to keep the air clean?” he pondered. “I would never have thought, even three weeks ago, that one thing that might come out COVID, this pandemic, is pressure in cities around the world toward maintaining air quality.”

Education: How Can We Create a More Effective Educational System?

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises from the COVID-19 crisis has been the shift to remote learning for students of all ages. Despite the shortcomings in terms of content, technology platforms, and frayed nerves, this period of mass online education has nonetheless been an admirable experiment, one worth learning from and refining.

“This is a period where we can clarify what works and what doesn’t in online learning,” Gladwell suggested with earnestness, himself a product of an academic upbringing. His father, a mathematics professor and his mother, a psychotherapist, fueled his interest in research and writing. He suggested serious research to examine the connection between educational institutions and students, emphasizing the need to address digital inequalities among students.

“This is another golden opportunity for us to rethink the relationship between school institutions and students in a variety of different contexts.”

For more inspiration, fresh ideas, and business analysis, follow the thought leader series .

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This article first appeared on the 51ˇçÁ÷News Center.

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From sending cookies to coronavirus first responders and truckers on the road to printing 3D face masks and earning cybersecurity badges, the latest generation of Girl Scouts is all-in for the next phase of the organization’s digital journey.

In an , Sylvia Acevedo, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, described how Girl Scouts have come together and become even stronger in applying technology and leadership development to fulfill the .

Here are highlights from Acevedo’s digital broadcast with Paula Hansen, chief revenue officer for 51ˇçÁ÷Customer Experience.

Adapting Quickly to Innovate Cookie Sales

After hearing about Acevedo’s extensive STEM background — which included work as a rocket scientist at NASA and positions as a technology executive and entrepreneur — it is easy to understand how she has channeled her passion for space, science, and math into valuable skill-building for girls. For example, in response to the pandemic, Girl Scouts brought its entire cookie sales operation online in just nine days.

“The iconic cookie program teaches amazing business skills, but you have to adapt to the way people work and live,” Acevedo said. “So that girls would be safe, we stopped all in-person cookie sales and pivoted to put in an entire online system together with partners using 51ˇçÁ÷software so that we could enable girls to sell their cookies all over the country. We called it ‘Girl Scouts Cookie Care.’”

Cybersecurity is Top Digital Priority

Girl Scouts has gone more digital, offering a host of program activities that revolve around STEM, entrepreneurship, the outdoors, and leadership. The initiative is called Girl Scouts at Home, but the objective is to open up a world of civic-minded leadership to girls who are eager to keep learning. With the spread of COVID-19 and subsequent focus on all things virtual, cybersecurity recently became a priority.

“We had almost 8,000 cybersecurity badges earned in March, so that tells us our programs are relevant and girls see real use of it,” Acevedo said. “One girl wrote to me saying that based on what she learned in our cybersecurity program, she immediately called her grandmother [who] had been frauded. She made sure that her grandmother put all the protections on her Wi-Fi system, computer, and phone so she wouldn’t be frauded again.”

Digital with a Human Touch

Going virtual has also helped bolster community spirit. Online troop meetings have increased because girls want to stay in touch with friends more, whether they’re creating tens of thousands of face masks — one troop is using 3D printing to churn these out­ — or going outside for shared constellation learning experiences.

“Girls are figuring out how they can still use their skills to make the world a better place,” she said. “They can still earn their space science badges, and it’s also a great way to connect with other girls.”

Encouraging Girls to Pursue STEM Careers

Chief among Acevedo’s goals was helping girls understand they were not just tech users, but also could be tech creators, designers, and inventors. Girl Scouts flipped STEM programming that has been historically designed to meet boy’s interests to meet the interests of girls today. Last year, Girl Scouts earned over 1 million STEM badges and 128,000 cybersecurity badges. Acevedo was particularly proud of how Girl Scouts as young as middle schoolers were developing Faraday shields to foil would-be car thieves.

“We redesigned the badges around what a girl is familiar with and interested in,” Acevedo explained. “Once they’re familiar with it, they’re interested. Once they’re interested, they’re confident. And once they’re confident, they’re competent. People ask, ‘How do you teach brownies, who are seven- and eight-year-old girls, protocols, networks, and malware?’ We meet them where they are.”

Building the Future Workforce

Acevedo said Girl Scouts is leading the largest national effort in the U.S. to teach girls 21st century skills. Gender equity is a major objective, reflected in the organization’s Fair Play, Equal Pay initiative that helps build a better future for girls in collaboration with companies like SAP.

“51ˇçÁ÷was our very first partner in this,” she said. “It’s a signal to the 1.6 million girls in our organization that 51ˇçÁ÷is the kind of place they want to go work at. And, the kind of STEM experiences we’re developing are a great match for 51ˇçÁ÷because they have the workforce skills that are very much needed. I’m grateful for the leadership of 51ˇçÁ÷and what that says to their employees and the rising generation.”

One thing that has not changed is the taste of those delicious Girl Scout cookies. Thanks to the organization’s latest digital transformation, customers can stock up before the end of cookie season with just a few clicks. Enjoy!

This article first appeared on the 51ˇçÁ÷News Center.

The post SAPPHIRE NOW Unplugged: Girl Scouts Innovate Iconic Cookie Sales and More for Digital World appeared first on 51ˇçÁ÷Africa News Center.

“Rather, it’s that we’re recognizing suddenly that a lot of things that have been happening slowly and under the surface for years now have changed the global order, and now we have to pay attention to it,” Bremmer said. “Not only is this the largest crisis of our lifetimes, but it’s the largest crisis against the backdrop of no global leadership.”

Bremmer’s remarks came during a provocative conversation about the interconnection of health, business, society, and technology with Adaire Fox-Martin, member of the Executive Board of 51ˇçÁ÷SE and head of Customer Success.

Their talk was among the many perceptive broadcasts from , part of the digital program.

Geopolitics Unaligned with Institutions and Alliances

When Fox-Martin asked what lessons could be learned, Bremmer pointed to the mismatch between dramatically changed geopolitics in the last 10 to 20 years versus institutions and alliances that have stayed relatively the same.

“It really implies that those institutions or alliances are no longer as fit for purpose,” he said. “And even if we’re committed to them, we’ll be less committed to them, and even if we’re strongly committed to them, they won’t be as useful as they used to be. I think it will be about a three-year period before we come to the new normal for the global economy, and that’s a long time.”

Diversify Supply Chains for Resilience

Noting that almost every CEO is attempting to figure out how to make their business more efficient, Bremmer expects companies to diversify supply chains for resiliency and flexibility. This is a huge pivot away from traditional supply chain management.

“The hope is that you can do that and create more resilience in supply chains by moving it closer to consumers without necessarily having to make it so expensively over-redundant,” Bremmer said. “You do need a just-in-case as opposed to just-in-time supply chain. Some of that is going to be redundant, but a lot of it can be just by shrinking the supply chain and getting it close to where the consumption actually is.”

Digital Is a Must

Admitting the crisis was not good for anyone, Bremmer saw a desperate need for the digital economy to help in getting through this. He urged companies to move quickly toward the 21st century because “if they weren’t digital and they weren’t post-industrial before, they’re going to have to be, or they’re going to be looking at bankruptcy or they’re going to be looking at getting acquired.” He also called for the development of a world data organization to manage the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI).

As Bremmer enumerated a dizzying array of geopolitical challenges by country with razor-sharp realism, he was also optimistic about the potential of a world data organization. To show what was possible, he pointed to recent unprecedented partnerships between competitive tech vendors that were exploring contact tracing for COVID-19 cases.

“What we really want is to have an institution that allows for opening a whole bunch of chapters around different ways that data and technology affect our lives and allows us to integrate and coordinate those things and invite everyone in the world to do so within a set of rules,” Bremmer explained. “It’s a really good time to create an institution around this.”

Globalization as a Force for Good

Regarding what needs to change most, Bremmer harked back to the 2008 recession, where nothing really changed afterward. He saw the pandemic as a much larger crisis and speculated that it might just be big enough to address the ongoing problems of globalization that has historically benefitted the few at the top, while fractured institutions and alliances no longer address geopolitical realities.

“This a much bigger crisis, so maybe it’s big enough for us to start addressing some of these problems, but we don’t want it to be too big,” Bremmer said. “If it’s too big, the institutions will start to break, so we really need this crisis to be in that narrow window – that not-too-hot, not-too-cold, just right to force us to adapt our institutions, our alliances, our values, our supply chains to a very new global order, a very new global reality.”

Perhaps most surprisingly, Ian Bremmer did not predicate country success in emerging from the coronavirus on wealth. He said the biggest winners would be well governed countries that were less exposed to globalization and had young populations and leaders more focused on science.

Follow me @smgaler

This article first appeared on the 51ˇçÁ÷News Center.

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Indeed, what has emerged as COVID-19 impacts companies and economies is the make-or-break value of digital transformation.

“SAPPHIRE NOW Reimagined will be more accessible to all customers, partners, and stakeholders in the 51ˇçÁ÷ecosystem, and we look forward to providing everyone with an amazing end-to-end experience like never before,” said Alicia Tillman, global chief marketing officer at SAP. “With this year’s purely digital event, we want people to bring their curiosity and commitment to innovate together so we can unleash opportunities in this unprecedented business environment.”

Incredible Insights, Immediately Valuable Information

Through a digital program of executive keynotes, customer stories, demos, round tables, and much more, the virtual SAPPHIRE NOW experience is equal parts inspiration, insight, and how-to learning. Experts will address up-to-the-minute business challenges and share practical guidance, drawing examples from market leaders already adapting to business during these challenging times.

Here’s how this virtual experience will unfold over the next months.

: Launched in April 2020

In a thought leadership series, join 51ˇçÁ÷hosts and business executives, thought leaders, best-selling authors, well known athletes, and innovators for candid conversations about the future of business and a world that is changing before our eyes. Each short episode will put viewers in the virtual room with luminaries who will share their insights on issues ranging from the future of workplace collaboration to how leaders and managers need to think differently about engaging with their teams to tips for staying our personal best during challenging times.

The diverse line-up will feature an exciting range of speakers  including , , Al Guido, Adam Grant, and more.

: June 15

Go on a virtual innovation journey with 51ˇçÁ÷CEO Christian Klein and other members of the 51ˇçÁ÷Executive Board, who will showcase how market leaders are not only innovating but charting a path to the future. The line-up of special guests will spotlight customers and partners talking about how they have tapped 51ˇçÁ÷solutions to address their unique challenges and take advantage of new opportunities to generate real business results.

: Starting June 15

During this impressive rolling line-up of live and on-demand digital programming, 51ˇçÁ÷experts will share company innovations and product road maps while customers industry-wide will spotlight business results using these solutions. Topics will revolve around managing experiences for end-to-end visibility and action across the enterprise, including , , , and . Participants will also hear updates on the , the company’s portfolio of integrated solutions and technology that speeds up innovation by turning data into business value.

While companies worldwide continue to reinvent how they do business, the virtual digital program for SAPPHIRE NOW Reimagined will help participants overcome immediate hurdles and start building a better future now.

Follow me: @smgaler

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