REPORT
“Disruptive management, a Refresher Programme talk by Sergi Corbeto
The latest talk held by ESADE Alumni in their Refresher Programme series was “Disruptive Management by Sergi Corbeto (EDIK 98), professor and director of the ESADE Executive Education Disruptive Management Programme.
“These are incredibly exciting times. Eighty percent of all the technologists that ever lived are alive today, were Sergi Corbeto’s opening words. He is fascinated by the fact that the intelligence of a considerable part of the population is being used to discover new things. “The aim of technological disruption is to make us all happier and live longer. It’s reckoned that in a few years, life expectancy will be greater than 100, he said.
Although he feels that humanity has reached the frontier of a new world, he says that the focus should not be on digital but on anthropological issues. The great debate about technology should be the ethical code of all these advances. Humanity can already be described as transhuman because it is already taking advantage of the opportunities provided by cyber intelligence and robotics.
That is why, in the business world, companies must be reorganised to cater for a new sort of humanism. “Fifty years ago, corporations were pyramids in which the pecking order was clearly shaped by supply and demand. Then, driven by emotional intelligence, personal-professional space, creativity, innovation and customer orientation, there was a shift towards a matrix structure based on business units with transversal support lines serving departments. But this sort of framework has drawbacks because where the lines in the matrix intersect, overlaps happen and people with the same job cause losses, explained the professor.
The human-centric trend that has emerged recently, which he defines as “putting people in the centre, is possible thanks to a highly operative tool known as the customer journey designed to understand how the customer feels about each product or service and what their expectations are. “The human-centric focus needs motivated, professional employees who must learn to learn. To be successful, you must combine the talent learning curve with customers’ needs, said Corbeto. This is why the Bain & Company consultancy published the pyramid of values, intended mainly to gain an insight into how a product or service changes a consumer’s life, because the best customers are those in search of consumer experiences that enable them to become better people and make a contribution to society.
It is a question of overhauling the firm’s organisation. Not developing or changing it but creating a new, more sustainable and efficient order. This is not always easy because some sorts of executives prevent it, either by isolating the organisation from its real goals, or by creating chaos or controlling all processes. Hence Corbeto’s emphasis on the importance of creating a new corporate narrative by programming a counter narrative and interweaving a variety of ventures together to transform the organisation. “Unless you deal with your vulnerability, you cannot change. But listening to angry people will increase the company’s life span. In a world hurtling towards the tyranny of the algorithm, the only option is to become more human than ever. So managers must be artists. They must focus on customers and employees, cultivate high performance teams, convey the firm’s purpose and content. We must get back to basics and understand that there’s a superpower that drives everything. A superpower that has nothing to do with algorithms but with empathy, said Corbeto to round off his talk.
This Refresher Programme uses the Student First methodology. It is imperative and obligatory to read the case and work the documentation in advance.
ESADE Alumni is delighted to invite you to this talk in the Refresher Programme series, “Disruptive Management, by Sergi Corbeto, academic assistant in the department of general management and strategy and director of the disruptive management programme in ESADE Executive Education.
Welcome to the new normal. Welcome to a world where exponential technologies are changing how we live, work, manage and collaborate. A world where only companies that develop open innovation ecosystems will succeed. A world where good is not enough, a world where customers must be the focal point of your company in order to give them the best possible experience and ensure absolute satisfaction.
The time has come to make digital skills an integral part of our companies so that interactions and processes become more organic than ever.
It’s time to focus on your employees and make sure that they share your goals and live them out at every stage of their journey through the company.
It’s time to tell a powerful, enchanting story, a story like none other in the world. A story that will help you move beyond yourselves and your companies.
It’s time to stop being bosses and become 21st century leaders, leaders who let singularities be the driving force of ecosystems.
It’s time to open your eyes. It’s time to be disruptive.
You are invited to the presentation of the ESADE Executive Disruptive Management Programme to discuss the mega trends that are changing the world and what managers and executives must do to ensure that their companies, employees and customers benefit from this change.
Are you in?
Sergi Corbeto (EDIK 98)
Founding partner and CEO of Mind The Gap, corporate change agents. Director of ESADE’s Disruptive Management Programme. TEC speaker. ZinkShower speaker. Keynote speaker at Thinking Heads.
All this plus ten years’ managerial experience at Nike and Xerox, and two masters: one in human resources (Universidad de Barcelona) and another in Business Administration (ESADE). Prior to setting up Mind The Gap, Sergi founded the gaming and digital content factory, Cookie Box.
He has developed transformation projects for Accenture, KPMG, Novartis, Bankia, Santander, BBVA, DeutscheBank, Danone, ESADE, Cepsa, Repsol, Google, Telefónica and many other companies.
Author of the book: Let’s Play!: La empresa contada a los jóvenes.
Each member may bring a maximum of one guest
See you there!
How to get to ESADE:
Public transport: Bus (22, 64, 78, 63 and 75), Metro (L3 Maria Cristina) and FGC (L6 Reina Elisenda).
Car: NEW municipal parking B: SM in c / Marqués de Mulhacen, 51.
For further information:
esadealumni@esade.edu
