(US & Canada) VIDEO | Even the Best of Visions Cannot Transform Without a Story — The Profitable Good Company Founder and CEO

(US and Canada) Brian Evergreen, Founder and CEO of The Profitable Good Company, speaks with Robert Lutton, VP at Sandhill Consultants and Editorial Board Vice Chair for CDO Magazine, in a video interview about the factors that fuelled him to write his book ‘Autonomous Transformation,’ transforming leadership approach, key leadership skill sets, and the changing job mindset in the age of information.

At the onset, Evergreen states that the inspiration to write the book ‘Autonomous Transformation’ came when he first began working with C-level organizational leaders as Microsoft's AI Strategy Lead. As he led these meetings to discuss AI agendas, he was often faced with questions about humans in the era of AI, and the future of technology.

To answer these questions, Evergreen started consulting with academicians and research institutions. He continued these conversations with leaders throughout his positions and accumulated questions that he answered through his book.

Further, Evergreen argues that the majority of leadership principles taught in schools and through experience in organizations root in the Industrial Revolution and prioritize systems over people. He maintains that this mindset is ineffective in the 21st century leading to cracks between organizations attempting to adopt new leadership principles that put humans in the center versus those which do not.

Accordingly, Evergreen urges data leaders to examine different approaches to work. He notes that the current approach is data-driven, where data comes first, and humans are a computational resource. While affirming that data is invaluable, he moves beyond that approach and proposes a reasoning-driven paradigm that puts humans at the forefront.

Highlighting leadership skills, Evergreen insists that empathy is essential in translating information into insights and making data useful. This requires understanding what drives and motivates customers, teams, shareholders, and stakeholders and enhancing the value of the outcome. He asserts that empathy helps organizations understand what motivates the customer to buy, thus increasing the value quotient.

The next critical skill is that of storytelling, says Evergreen. He maintains that storytelling is an important yet often overlooked element of leadership. However, he notes that organizational leaders are beginning to recognize it as a key part of their curriculum. He goes on to explain that even the best vision and strategy in the world will not lead to successful transformation or achievement without being able to tell a story that inspires and motivates others to follow it.

Another skill Evergreen believes can be built like any other skill set is envisioning. Citing an example, he says that even if data leaders feel they are executing someone else's vision, their role still requires them to envision the team's future.

Moving forward, Evergreen notes that a unique skill set is required to lead data scientists or decision scientists. He states that data scientists are analogous to astronauts as they explore, discover and make breakthroughs. Hence, leaders must not expect data scientists to recreate a breakthrough to become 2% more organizationally efficient, as it would cost them a 20th of their whole careers.

Therefore, Evergreen urges organizational leaders to recognize various skill sets and address different use cases. He encourages leaders to focus the academically-minded data scientists and decision scientists on making breakthroughs, and those more interested in manipulating data be assigned to recreate the breakthroughs of others.

In conclusion, he mentions that being in the information age has led to a paradigm shift in the job mindset. This age has enabled job seekers to locate and pursue new positions, unlike in the past decade. Evergreen believes in implementing vision and meaning into the work to keep talent motivated and connected.

CDO Magazine appreciates Brian Evergreen for sharing his insights with our global community.