How Organizations Can Thrive in a World of Disruption with Kian Gohar

There are several principles for running a successful business and some of them are beneficial in their own right. However, certain common characteristics can be recognized in businesses that flourish and survive in today's fast-paced, ever-changing world. To those who help organizations expand and grow, words like creativity, flexibility, leadership, and luck are constantly at the forefront. However, our guest in today's episode has written a book that provides business leaders with four key categories to propel their business forward, win over their competitors, and embrace an evolving workforce.

 

Listen to this podcast as Michael Kurland interviews Kian Gohar, an author and the founder of Geolab, an innovative research and training organization that empowers leaders through coaching with strategy and design. Kian discusses his background as well as his passion for kitesurfing. He discusses his involvement with the X Prize Foundation and his favorite projects over the previous several years, specifically creating an avatar to clean up nuclear power plant disasters. He also talks about his book, Competing in the New World of Work: How Radical Adaptability Separates the Best from the Rest and how it may help business owners prosper and grow in this ever-changing economy.

 

Key Takeaways

Kian's background and interest in kite surfing
Kian’s affiliation with X Prize Foundation and his favorite X Prize projects
Kian’s journey and learnings that lead to his book
The four must-have categories of a business to thrive in a constantly changing world
The future of businesses using the radical adaptability muscle

 

Quotes

I've spent my whole life as an innovator, first as an entrepreneur, then as a venture capitalist, and now as the CEO of a business that helps people and executive teams learn about the future and get better at it. - Kian

 

I'm a mission-driven person. As a result, I wanted to combine my skills as an entrepreneur and develop businesses attempting to tackle global challenges. - Kian

 

We're also going towards an economy with fewer centralized platforms over the next decade, which is another major development. And what this means is that people will be able to connect, transact, and communicate more directly with one another. – Kian

 

I can tell you from my point of view, what made us successful during the pandemic and over the past eight years that we've been in business is having foresight. We've never had the mentality of “we've always done it this way.” - Mike

 

Books, Techs, and Website Mentioned in The Episode

 

BOOK:

Competing in the New World of Work: How Radical Adaptability Separates the Best from the Rest 
Find it Here: https://www.geolab.com/get-book
https://www.amazon.com/Competing-New-World-Work-Adaptability/dp/1647821959

 

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

Xprize Foundation - https://www.xprize.org/
Stanford Research Institute - https://www.sri.com/

 

Featured in this Episode

Kian Gohar 

Author, Founder, and CEO of Geo Lab

Profile: https://www.kian.is/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fromthekgb

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromthekgb

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiangohar

Website: https://www.geolab.com/

 

Michael Kurland

CEO and Founder of Branded Group, Inc., 

Host of "Be Better with Michael Kurland" podcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikekurland

Website: www.branded-group.com

 

A Word from Our Host

Thank you for tuning in. I hope that today's episode inspired you to become a purpose-driven leader in your career or your community. There's no doubt that when we lead with purpose, we can change lives. If you enjoyed today's show, I'd be grateful if you would take a moment to rate us on your preferred listening platform to learn more about Branded Group's BeBetter experience and how we provide industry-leading on-demand facility maintenance, construction management, and special project implementation. Visit us at www.branded-group.com. Be sure to follow us on social media, and you can also reach out to me directly on LinkedIn. Until next time, be better.

 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:01 Guest introduction and background

06:30 Kian on his stories about kite surfing

08:39 Kian on marching to the tune of his drum

10:39 Favorite projects with X Prize foundation 

13:27 Possibilities in the new bionic age 

16:00 Kian’s research project that lead to his book

20:00 The Radical Adaptability Muscle: Four key categories

22:43 Case example of foresight: cannabis retail

27:34 The future using Radical Adaptability

30:51 Conclusion

 

This podcast was produced by Heartcast Media.