Episode 86: Anti-fragile

 

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Looking Outside is for curious people looking for a fresh take on familiar topics, in business and beyond.

Today we are joined once again by good friend of the podcast, Roger Spitz. While Roger is known well as a futurist and change agent today, his career started in investment banking and M&A. On this episode we explore the cross-roads of the investment world with emerging future innovation, and how this impacts business strategy. Roger argues the playbooks of old strategy are outdated. Systemic, regular disruption and added complexities in our world mean we need to use modern frameworks to address new shocks to business systems. When the risks were low, the fallout of bad decisions was manageable, Roger says, but value creation today requires a new way of assessing opportunity – by building anti-fragile systems that can help steer towards the long term game amidst short term crises.


To look outside, Roger reads a lot and tries to get out of his echo chamber. But one particular trick he has is to collaborate with someone on his project who comes from a different background, expertise and perspective. Roger recognizes that there is no ‘right answer’ just as there is no ‘right expert’ so voices of difference enrich the work.


Roger Spitz is a leading futurist and venture capitalist. Before founding the Disruptive Futures Institute in San Francisco, he served as Global Head of Technology Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) at a major investment bank, advising on transactions totaling over $25 billion. As President of Techistential, the preeminent foresight practice, Roger advises CEOs, boards and investors on strategy under uncertainty and sustainable value creation. Roger is a bestselling author of five books and his frameworks are widely adopted by leading organizations worldwide.


All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme song by Azteca X.

 
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Episode 85: AI replicas