Cris Beswick

WHY STRATEGY, LEADERSHIP & CULTURE SHOULD EAT BREAKFAST TOGETHER

Cris’ keynote ‘Why Strategy, Leadership & Culture Should Eat Breakfast Together’ explores the importance of connecting strategy, leadership and culture for innovation to become a repeatable and sustainable growth engine.

Aimed at senior leaders and key influencers in organisations, Cris shares insight into why these three components must be considered together, as a system, in order for organisations to shape the future.

Cris provides numerous examples from clients he’s worked with around the world that demonstrate how forward-thinking leaders have worked together to create synergy between strategy, leadership and culture by taking a system approach to designing their organisations. Cris shares practical methods for fostering innovation on all levels of an organisation, unpacks what effective leadership looks like in an organisation with an innovation-focused culture and how the alignment of strategy, leadership and culture empowers employees to work together in the pursuit of change, relevance and growth.

Cris also provides tailored advice on what steps organisations should take to ensure that their strategy, leadership and culture are aligned properly.

By engaging in this fast-paced and conversational keynote, Cris helps leaders explore the challenges of building the holy grail of competitive advantage and even business survival, A Culture of Innovation!

Key points:

• A fast-paced and conversational keynote, speaker exploring the challenges of building the holy grail of competitive advantage and even business survival, A Culture of Innovation!
• Why culture doesn’t eat strategy for breakfast anymore.
• Why strategy, leadership & culture should eat breakfast together.
• Why innovation capability and culture need to be approached as a system.
• The importance of leaders in designing and shaping an innovation-led culture.

BUILDING A CULTURE OF INNOVATION

In this keynote, Cris Beswick provides a pragmatic overview of how CEOs, senior leaders and key influencers can build organisation-wide innovation capability. Drawing on his many years’ experience at the forefront of innovation advising corporate clients around the world, he will demystify the concept of ‘innovation’, so often seen as too complex and overwhelming for most business leaders. Cris will unpack how ‘Building a Culture of Innovation’ isn’t rocket science – it’s not about reinventing the wheel or developing radical new ideas – but rather about understanding what it takes to create an environment in which people feel empowered to contribute to the innovation agenda. By using proven frameworks and practical examples from multiple industries, Cris will show you how to create the conditions for high-performing innovation capability and develop a culture of innovation.

Based on his bestselling book ‘Building a Culture of Innovation’, voted one of the top 5 books on innovation in 2017 by The Chartered Management Institute, this keynote provides leaders at all levels with simple frameworks, practical tools and inspiring stories to help them become catalysts for change in their organisations. Through this keynote, you’ll gain an understanding of how everyone can contribute to creating a culture of trust, collaboration and ultimately innovation; helping you understand why innovation matters, what it means for your organisation and most importantly where the hell to start!

This keynote is designed for senior leaders who want to understand what drives successful innovation in organisations – not just big tech companies but any business that wants to stay competitive in today’s rapidly changing world. It’s tailored for executives across all levels who are looking for practical advice on creating an environment which encourages creativity and innovation, as well as those who need the tools and insights to lead for innovation.

Key points:

• A fast-paced and conversational keynote, speaker exploring the challenges of building the holy grail of competitive advantage and even business survival, A Culture of Innovation!
• It’s not rocket science, but you do need to know what it takes and where to start.
• A pragmatic overview of how CEOs, senior leaders and agents of change can build organisation-wide innovation capability.
• Based on Cris’ bestselling book ‘Building a Culture of Innovation’, voted one of the top 5 books on innovation in 2017 by the Chartered Management Institute.
• Why innovation capability and culture need to be approached as a system.
• The importance of leaders in designing and shaping an innovation-led culture.

LEADING FOR INNOVATION

‘Leading FOR Innovation’ is a keynote for organisational leaders that recognise the need to develop the skills and strategies needed to lead their organisation through an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. Cris Beswick explores why, now more than ever, we need leaders with a unique and creative approach to shaping the future. Leaders who are willing to take risks, experiment and explore in order to stay ahead of the competition.

Cris also explores why ‘Leading FOR Innovation’ is essential for success and why leaders should all strive to become a little more like Martin Luther King and a little more like Einstein in order to become more purpose-driven and more curious about the future and the art of the possible.

Leaders will learn why it’s important to make sense of the future in order to shape it, why it’s essential to have a clear vision for their organisation and why having the courage to take bold, smart risks rather than sticking with traditional approaches is a fundamental part of the innovation process.

Finally, Cris will unpack the qualities required for building an intelligent, collaborative and adaptable organisation; such as open communication, good decision-making processes, and a willingness to experiment with new ideas rather than being held back by fear of failure.

This keynote is designed specifically for leaders wanting to explore the qualities of great leadership and the importance of ‘Leading FOR Innovation’ in today’s ever-changing business environment.

Key points:

• Why leaders need to be a little more Martin Luther King and a little more Einstein.
• Why the challenges of the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world and building exceptional organisations means leading in exceptional ways.
• Making sense of the future to shape the future.
• Why being bolder than the competition means building an intelligent, collaborative, and adaptable organisation.
• Understanding the significance and power of designing the culture you want to lead.
• The importance of a growth mindset and psychological safety for innovation.

THE CRITICAL ROLE OF CULTURE FOR INNOVATION

In this keynote Cris Beswick explores the critical role of culture in enabling innovation. It covers why embedding innovation into culture isn’t a nice to have, squishy topic; but in fact, represents a company’s survival strategy. In his pragmatic style, Cris will unpacks the values, behaviours, artefacts, implicit reward systems and embedded practices that make an innovation-led company work.

We will also unpack the culture paradox: why what we see isn’t necessarily the real culture, examine the view that innovation culture follows innovation processes and how values, beliefs, norms and behaviour are all manifestations of culture.

Finally this keynote will discuss how to create an environment for sustained success through establishing an organisation wide strategy for creating and maintaining a culture of innovation. Cris will also discuss the tools and techniques that can be used to create a successful culture for innovation and why innovation is a team sport so requires a system approach.

This keynote aims to equip leaders with an understanding of the critical role of culture in enabling innovation, how to develop it and how to sustain it within their organisations. Participants will gain insights into the importance of aligning organisational values, processes and behaviour with a culture of innovation that is necessary for the pursuit of change, relevance and growth.

By the end of this keynote, participants will be able to analyse their organisation’s culture and implement new approaches for creating an effective innovation-driven culture and have an understanding of the tools and knowledge needed to maintain and nurture a culture of innovation throughout their organisation.

Key points:

• Why embedding innovation into culture isn’t a nice to have, squishy topic; but in fact, represents a company’s survival strategy.
• The values, behaviours, artefacts, implicit reward systems, and embedded practices that make an innovation-led company work.
• The culture paradox, why what we see isn’t necessarily the real culture.
• Innovation culture follows an innovation process.
• How values, beliefs, norms, and behaviour are all manifestations of culture.

LEADING FOR INNOVATION WITH A GROWTH MINDSET

In his powerful keynote ‘Leading for Innovation with a Growth Mindset’ Cris Beswick explores the power of leaders to shape the future of their organisation with a growth mindset. He starts by looking at why quality pioneer W. Edwards Deming was right when he said: ‘A bad system will beat a good person every time’, and how leaders can create an environment in which those around them experience success or failure as a result of conscious and unconscious leadership dynamics.

People are looking for their leader’s behaviour as an example on how they should act and what values they should hold true so Cris unpacks why and how having the right mindset is more important than intelligence, talent or education when it comes to innovation and why the right mindset is an essential element of creating a culture that values learning and fosters innovation. Cris also shares how leaders can encourage collaboration, trust and ownership within their team, and create a sense of commitment that ultimately leads to building a culture of innovation.

This keynote is ideal for leaders looking to cultivate an innovation-led culture in which everyone can learn, grow and succeed together. It also offers practical strategies for encouraging commitment, trust and ownership while promoting collaboration. Ultimately, this keynote will equip business leaders with the tools they need to lead their teams to success through innovation-led growth.

Key points:

• Why Deming was right, and a bad system will beat a good person every time!
• The conscious and unconscious way leaders shape experiences of those around them.
• People look to leaders for the behaviour they want.
• Why having the right mindset trumps intelligence, talent, or education.
• Mindset is an innovation culture essential.
• Valuing learning not failure!
• Trust, ownership and commitment vs cheating, deception, and personal agenda.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE AND INNOVATION

In his keynote ‘Psychological Safety for High Performance and Growth’ Cris Beswick explores the essential role of psychological safety in creating high-performing teams, organisations and ultimately a culture of innovation. It will draw upon cutting-edge research on why failure is the catalyst for success, how to navigate disruption and innovation, reframe failures as learning episodes, differentiate between different types of failure and appreciate why de Bono was right when he said “The English language doesn’t have a word for justified failure other than to call it a mistake”.

Cris will share the concept of radical candor as a way to create an effective environment of psychological safety within which employees can feel safe to take risks while also maintaining respect up and down an organisation. He also shares strategies for developing trust, providing feedback that encourages growth instead of criticism; cultivating empathy and finally, how to create an environment of psychological safety for a culture of innovation.

By the end of this keynote, leaders will understand why failure is essential and have gained valuable insight into powerful tools that can help them foster a culture of psychological safety in their organisation. They’ll learn the importance of making mistakes without fear of retribution and how using reframing techniques turn failures into learning episodes and how to differentiate between different types of failure so they make the right choices when dealing with uncertainty. Cris will also explore radical candour as a way to encourage respectful dialogue about successes and failures and strategies for developing trust and providing feedback that encourages growth instead of criticism.

The takeaway from this session will be invaluable for leaders, executives, managers, HR personnel or anyone who wants to create a culture conducive to innovation across their organisation.

Key points:

• Failure is the catalyst for success.
• Navigating disruption, innovation, and failure as a platform for learning and growth.
• Reframing failures as learning episodes.
• The different types of failure and why de Bono was right.
• The truth about psychological safety and radical candor.
• How to start building a culture of innovation through psychological safety today.

BUILDING AN INNOVATION-LED CULTURE BY DESIGN

Keynote overview:

Cris’ keynote ‘Building an Innovation-led Culture by Design’ explores the concept of intentionally designing culture by using the principles from his bestselling book ‘Building a Culture of Innovation’.

It covers topics such as how to be ‘Intentional’ about designing your desired future culture, how you start to ‘design’ the culture you want and need, why Deming was right when he said that a bad system will beat a good person every time, and why values pin together different parts of organisational culture.

Additionally, this keynote addresses the importance of avoiding becoming another Enron in order to ensure successful innovation-led cultures are not only created but brought to life on a day-to-day basis. Through interactive discussions and real-life examples, Cris’ keynote provides organisations with the essential tools needed to drive successful and sustainable transformation and innovation capability.

Cris will discuss how to be ‘Intentional’ about designing your desired future culture, covering topics such as understanding the purpose of innovation, why it must become a part of core values and how behaviours drive the culture you really get. It will also cover how you start to ‘design’ the culture you want and need through creating an innovation mindset, fostering a collaborative environment, and encouraging learning instead of failure by building an innovation system.

This keynote is designed to help leaders build a strong foundation for their future success by unpacking the key components that make up a high-performing Culture of Innovation.

Key points:

• How to be ‘Intentional’ about designing your future culture.
• How you start to ‘design’ the culture you want and need.
• Why Deming was right, and a bad system will beat a good person every time.
• Using ‘Building a Culture of Innovation’ to design culture with intent.
• Key culture design principles for leaders.
• The different parts of culture and why values pin them together.
• How not to be another Enron.