Envisioning Possible Futures | Insights Everywhere | Ep.003 | Marc Escobosa

How visionary leaders can seize new opportunities and navigate change...

In this conversation, Marc Escobosa, Vice President of Futures at Salesforce, shares his career journey, discusses the role of scenario planning in shaping the future, and the importance of leaders embracing storytelling to enrol and guide others on the journey. Marc discusses his background in design, how he became interested in how mental constructs are defined by culture and language, and his lateral career journey into - and through - design and technology.

Mark explains what he does as a leader in the Futures team at Salesforce, helping to anticipate and imagine possible scenarios, and shape the future. He shares his belief that it’s important for businesses to be resilient, flexible, and recomposable in the face of today’s disruptive technological advancements.

Takeaways

- Marc helps businesses engage in data-informed scenario planning which is an important tool for anticipating and preparing for different possible futures.
- It’s important to build realistic scenarios which are comprised of a mix of both good and bad outcomes.
- The main purpose of scenario planning is to have a diverse group of stakeholders build a shared understanding of possible future outcomes that they may not have considered before and debate and work through them.
- Businesses need to be resilient, flexible, and recomposable in the face of technological advancements.
- Technological advancements such as AI should not just automate what we already do, but should help reimagine how we currently do things.
- Leadership should involve inspiring and including others in decision-making with effective storytelling. This includes bringing the audience along the journey, recognizing and honoring what is lost and gained, and inspiring others to want to come with you by representing everyone as you move together.
- Young future leaders should have a beginners’ mind, follow their passion for problem-solving, and periodically assess their happiness with the altitude of problems they are working on, regardless of titles and compensation.

Chapters

00:05 Introduction and Background
12:38 The Role of the Futures Team at Salesforce
15:15 The Power of Scenario Planning
25:25 Importance of Resilience and Flexibility in Business
29:00 Adoption and Innovation in AI
33:34 Leadership and Effective Storytelling
41:14 Advice for Young Future Leaders

Note: Professor Ronald Heifetz is from Harvard Kennedy School, not the Harvard School of Business.

Get in touch with us at hello@studioeverywhere.com to learn how we can help your business.