Breaking Bad Belief Systems- Innovation Mindset with Patrick Schwerdtfeger of Trend Mastery Inc.

As Entrepreneurs, we are constantly striving to get in front of the challenges we have. However we often seem to be in a constant state of fighting fires. 

So now we are at a precipice where technology tools can alleviate this pain but we must first invest the time in training & understand how to best position ourselves and our teams to innovate successfully. 

Let’s start to think about our human resources differently in a mind shift away from our desires to the personal & professional development of our employees. Thinking bigger attracts A-players! This fuels innovation.

Our guest today: Patrick Schwerdtfeger, Business Futurist and Keynote Speaker 

Patrick specializes in technology trends including big data, artificial intelligence, Fintech and blockchain. He’s the author of “Pandemic, Inc.: 8 Forces Driving Business Failure or Fortune in the Post-COVID-19 Economy” as well as five other books, and has lectured at numerous academic institutions including Purdue and Stanford Universities. 

Patrick is also a regular speaker for Bloomberg TV, founder of Trend Mastery Inc., and host of the Strategic Business Insights video blog (with over 28,000 subscribers and six million views on YouTube). Patrick has spoken about business trends, technology and digital marketing at hundreds of conferences all around the world.

Today we discuss:

How to think bigger to attract stronger talent

Challenge today?

Companies are not adopting technology fast enough

Companies always feel like they’re “behind” with respect to technology

How can companies leverage HR to accelerate technology adoption?

Jobs of the future: (1) communication skills & (2) creative problem solving

Thinking about your human resources differently

Stop thinking bottom up

NEW: How can companies attract top talent

NEW: Millennials are “lazy, apathetic, and entitled” but they CAN be inspired

NEW: Inspire your employees, customers, and competitors (good source)

Why is this important to the company?

Being innovative fuels growth

Rick’s Nuggets

Define your company’s purpose & cause 

Utilize Talent from competitor - adjacent companies

Present Innovative technologies

How do we solve the problem? 

#1: Identify staff who are excited to learn and use software more extensively

#2: Leverage enterprise software and get more training for your staff

#3: Understand that technology propagates SMB through enterprise software

#4: Break down tasks into (1) manual & (2) cognitive

#5: Break each category down into (1) manual & (2) cognitive

#6: Soft repetitive tasks by their level of complexity

#7: Understand that “Innovation = Budgeting Failure”

#8: Protecting high-gross margin products to FUND innovation

#9: FAIL as fast and as cheaply as possible (test new ideas cheaply)

NEW: think bigger about your business

NEW: not 10% bigger, but 10x bigger

Rick’s Nuggets

Train your people  - Have an active training program that promotes learning, innovation, new technologies - good for retention

Elevate top-down thinking

Key Takeaways -Value:

#1: EVERYONE thinks they’re behind.

#2: think more strategically, and you’ll catch up quickly.

Guest Links:

Patrick's Book: Pandemic, Inc.: 8 Forces Driving Business Failure or Fortune in the Post-COVID-19 Economy (Amazon)

Patrick Schwerdtfeger: Patrick Schwerdtfeger

Company: Patrick Schwerdtfeger  Facebook  Twitter 

This show is proudly sponsored by Criteria Crop