Ep 133: Fusion Strategy with Dr. Vijay (“VG”) Govindarajan

SUMMARY 

Global Leadership Podcast interviewer Jason Jaggard interviews innovation expert Dr. Vijay Govindarajan on how generative AI and data graphs impacts organizational strategy, and how leaders can continue to innovate in a rapidly changing context.   

IN THIS EPISODE: 

• How did VG’s grandfather influence his understanding of innovation? 

• What is the “Three Box Solution,” and how does it affect strategy and innovation? 

•  What role does imagination play in innovation?  

• What is the basic premise of “fusion strategy?” 

• What is the difference between “digitals” and “industrials”? 

• What is the basic meaning of the terms “datagraphs,” “digital twins” and “tripartite”?  

• How do fusion strategy concepts translate from industrial and manufacturing sectors to social and/or service sectors?  

• How willing does VG think people might be to volunteer their data in faith communities?  

LISTEN 

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STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS 

• The only competition that matters is self-competition; self-competition is about achieving true potential; and to achieve true potential you have to innovate.  
• VG does not consider himself a professor; he is “in the impact business.”  
• The “Three Boxes”: (1) manage the present; (2) selectively abandon the past; and (3) create the future.  
• Companies think that they are “doing strategy” by working in Box 1, but strategy must also include the other two boxes.  
• While you must always work in all three boxes, all three boxes require different mindsets and capabilities.  

• Box Two is always the most difficult to work in for corporations, but is really the most important for creating the future.  
• Another way to think about strategy is to imagine the future, then “fold the future back to the present,” and then take actions today to create that future. 
• What companies tend to do for strategy is to simply push the present forward.  
• The premise of VG’s Fusion Strategy goes back to the 1980s and the question, “How will information technology affect the world of business and the discipline of management?” 
• Even the though the technology has changed, the essential question is the same.  
• “Datagraphs” track product in use (as opposed to product sold).  
• A “digital twin” is a digital replica of your product (or process).  
• “Tripartite digital twins” integrates three essential digital twins: design, process, and product-as-used. 
• The integration of these tripartite digital twins allow companies to diagnose root causes of problems much faster than traditional companies.  
• VG suggests that “augmented” intelligence is a better term than “artificial” intelligence.  
• Faith communities should thoughtfully consider their goal, and then they should ask themselves whether or not data or AI achieve the goal even more efficiently.  
• Because of their facility with digital technology, the church can serve younger generations very differently.  
• Showing value is the key to motivating people to share their data.  
• Asking great questions is a key leadership trait, and is essentially human.  

LINKS MENTIONED 

• Website: Vijay on LinkedIn 
• Book: Fusion Strategy: How Real-Time Data and AI Will Power the Industrial Future (Pre-Order; Amazon) 

• Added Value: Vijay’s Seminars on Fusion Strategy (Feb 6, 7, and 8) 
• Book: The Three-Box Solution: A Strategy for Leading Innovation 
• Book: Vijay’s Amazon Page 
• Website: Jason Jaggard on LinkedIn 
• Website: Novus Global 
• Website: Meta Performance Institute 
• Book: Beyond High Performance: What Great Coaches Know About How the Best Get Better 
• Website: Global Leadership Network