Designing For Growth: Preview

March 6 - 9, 2010

The Sanctuary
1 Sanctuary Beach Drive
Kiawah Island, SC 29455
800-654-2924
www.kiawahresort.com

Preview

More and more companies' post-recession growth strategies are taking form. But an organization that isn't properly scaled to support growth will likely collapse under its own weight. If you are responsible for growth at your company – or if you are responsible for scaling the organization to support it – we welcome you to join us at our next DiamondExchange, Designing for Growth. We will explore how companies need to think differently about the structure of their businesses to help them grow, scale, and adapt–because technology has completely changed what the optimal business design looks like. To inform our discussion, we will bring together leading thinkers across economics, technology, and academia, and from top–notch organizations including Harvard Business School and Kaiser Permanente, so that we can learn about the "art of the possible" as well as today's practical applications.

Consider recent research conducted by Diamond, which found that 60% of senior executives characterized their primary strategic objective as "market penetration." This has profound implications in today's era of complexity because growth is not simply about scaling the back office, or even the front office. Doing it right requires delivering different tools to knowledge workers–those who drive the profitability of the company by managing risk and creating opportunities.

We will begin the DiamondExchange by understanding the challenges of the times from the man who predicted many of the problems we currently face. We are fortunate to have Marvin Zonis, Diamond fellow and professor emeritus of business administration at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, who will share his well-considered observations on what is in store for American businesses.

Knowing what is out there gives us a tremendous advantage in preparing for the future. Imagine what would be possible if all your suppliers and business partners had the same vision of the emerging market. This is what Chris Hoenig, CEO of StateoftheUSA.org, is trying to accomplish by creating a mashup of government statistics across health, economics, environment, education, crime, demographics, and more. The objective is to provide a single frame of reference, using scientifically credible statistics, about how society is changing–open source intelligence for the business community, if you will. Business leaders can use it to feed their forecasts, to track shifts in aggregate demand–even to minimize corporate healthcare costs and absenteeism by selecting sites with low obesity rates. You can't manage something you can't measure, and StateoftheUSA.org is the first step in doing a better job of managing our collective wellbeing.

Kaiser Permanente has long been aware of this point, and the company has secured its spot as one of the nation's most innovative healthcare providers–in part because of its unique role as both a payer and a provider. This structure gives Kaiser a distinctive view of information that has helped the firm improve the quality of care while keeping costs in check. Phil Fasano, CIO of Kaiser Permanente, will discuss how the company derives a competitive advantage from information.

Open source information is just one feature of an organization that functions at a high level. Linda Hill, Diamond fellow and professor of leadership at Harvard Business School, has spent time studying Pixar–an exemplary model of collaboration and creativity. She will share her findings and how organizations and leaders need to adapt to thrive in a collaborative environment that runs counter to the hierarchical structures in which many of us have grown up. She'll also provide insights on how to inspire and harness the creativity in our organizations.

Knowledge workers have the greatest impact on a firm's profitability, and they require different support systems and structures than those handling more routine tasks. That is the key finding of Diamond's recent research on "High-Value Knowledge Work." Dr. John Sviokla, Diamond's vice chairman, will discuss the results of this recent ground-breaking study and how you can enhance the productivity of knowledge workers at your company.

The DiamondExchange will give you a snapshot of the future–one you can use to guide your efforts as you lead change at your company. As always, we'll welcome you into the DiamondExchange network in an intimate setting with fellow executives, practitioners, and Diamond fellows to help you think through solutions that are right for your company and your industry in today's environment. Please join us.

Look for more information in the following weeks. Questions? Please call Talia Weidberg at 312-268-3140.