This interview originally appeared on CPA Canada’s The ONE Conference and Expo website. Access the full interview, here.
It takes a special kind of leader to reimagine what’s next and raise the bar on innovation at their company, especially during a pandemic. So what makes you really stand out in the marketplace now?
Often, it’s the ability to grow without losing sight of the human impact.
Learn more about how strong people-centred strategies can transform your organization in this Q&A with Stephanie Mehta, Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company, who is the closing keynote on day two.
You’re known for a fresh perspective in journalism, reporting on top business, finance and tech issues of the day. What strategies as a leader and a storyteller have helped shape your work at Fast Company?
For Fast Company the key has been focus. We’ve picked key editorial pillars where we can excel: Design, Social Impact, Work Life and Creativity offer us a distinct lens through which to tell stories you won’t read anywhere else. We’re lucky that these are areas that have not historically been “core” parts of business coverage but have emerged as increasingly important to large companies seeking to attract the best talent and understand the more human and humane side of business and global economies.
Whether organizations take a people-centred approach to change – or not – is often what makes or breaks digital transformation initiatives, restructuring, new operating models. How can companies reimagine what’s next without losing sight of the human impact?
Human impact IS what’s next. If you look at some of the world’s biggest companies, they’re all using design thinking, or human-centered approaches, to innovate and advance their companies.
For CPAs, the rise of automation presents some challenges, but also many promising opportunities to redirect energy and effort. What’s your advice to business and accounting professionals who are ready to foster more creativity at work?
I think there’s a misconception that creativity at work is just for people who work in traditionally creative fields (design, marketing, communications) or industries (restaurants, fashion, the arts). In fact, the most exciting creativity is when executives apply creativity in professions known more for precision than coloring outside the lines. For CPAs in particular, creativity can be applied to helping customers solve problems. A favorite example is Microsoft, which has used its scale and purchasing power to ensure that its vendors also offer a suite of benefits to their hourly workers, ensuring that contractors who work alongside Microsoft day by day enjoy some of the same benefits as the teams they serve. That’s a great example of financial and legal creativity.
High-profile businesses and ideas cross your desk daily. What are some of the common attributes you see that make a corporate vision for the future truly stand out? And has the pandemic has raised the bar on innovation?
Wow, that’s a tough one. I’m impressed when companies acknowledge that they actually don’t have all the answers, that a back-to-work policy put in place in June may change dramatically in August due to changing health conditions. It is refreshing to see corporate leaders say they are learning as they go.
We’re excited to have you join us virtually at The ONE virtually this fall! What can attendees look forward to learning more about in your keynote?
Succeeding in a new reality is going to require insatiable curiosity. As Adam Grant talks about in “Think Again,” we all need to think like scientists–we need to be unbiased, interrogate, be willing to experiment, and learn from our mistakes. Given how heroic scientists have been in the last 18 months, I can think of no better aspiration.
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