13 March 2020. The world was waking up to the reality that a global pandemic had begun. Scientific modelling said the NHS would run out of life-saving equipment within weeks. A phone call from the Cabinet Office came through to professional services firm PA Consulting. The ask? To build 30,000 mechanical ventilators in eight weeks.
It was a seemingly impossible request, but somehow the team delivered enough ventilators so no patient that needed one went without. In this episode, PA's innovation chief, Frazer Bennett, who was at the project helm, dissects the business lessons from the challenge, including the power of experimental mindsets, parallelism, the fallacy of a 'lightbulb moment' and why his heart sinks when he sees primary-coloured bean bags.
Also on the show, was the first AI Safety Summit "too selective"? Is Elon Musk right that the future of work is no work? And after former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of one of the biggest frauds in American history, why we are still suckers for charismatic founders?
Relevant story links:
Prominent computer scientist warns AI Safety Summit is 'too selective'
Why financial analysts are providing inadequate scrutiny of fraudulent CEOs
Musk tells PM artificial intelligence will eradicate the need to work
Are we all just suckers for charismatic founders?
https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/just-suckers-charismatic-founders/long-reads/article/1750807
Credits:
Presenters: Kate Magee and Antonia Garrett Peel
Producers: Nav Pal and Til Owen
Artwork: David Robinson
#management #leadership #business
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