Curious & Cuirky

Curious & Cuirky, crafted by Caltech, is an engaging monthly Zoom series bringing curious thought leaders from Caltech Executive Education together to share fresh insights on the hottest and most innovative news in the business world.

In these fascinating round-table webinars, our education experts present emerging ideas on compelling business topics in lightning talks of 5-10 minutes each. Then in an open discussion, they expand on their topics, inviting questions from attendees. Always interesting, always "cuirky" and curious. You'll walk away with a unique perspective on how to manage business challenges and stimulate your creativity. You won't want to miss it!

Here's what we'll be talking about...

Open Sesame

The Gate Was There for a Reason

We delve into lessons in career growth, discipline, and dad wisdom—honoring the long path and those who taught us to walk it.

AI Technology Fog

In today’s AI gold rush, it’s easy to lose sight of strategy in the stampede for tools. We'll explore how history’s tech missteps offer the clarity we need to navigate in today’s AI-driven fog.

Tariff Lessons

Perhaps historical tariff lessons can clarify some of the predicted consequences and eventual outcomes of today's tariff climate. Are you ready to sleep more soundly?

One Product, Many Jobs

In today’s economy, the most profitable growth isn’t coming from more customers—it’s coming from doing more for the ones you already have. We’ll explore the rising trend of multi-functional B2B solutions, why they're newsworthy now, and how to unlock hidden value by building your product to do more for your customers.

Learning from Misfits

The Wild, the Wise, and the Wonderfully Stubborn: Leadership Lessons from Fiction’s Misfits: What do a gardener, a delusional knight, a small-town lawyer, and a witty heroine have in common? With a mixed bag of unique challenges and misfortunes, they know more about leadership than most business books combined.

Whatcha Gonna Ask?

Your partner in question...

Dr. W. Edwards Deming, business theorist, economist, and the father of quality management, said, “If you don't know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing.” Curious how you can get better at “asking the right question?” Let’s ask AI for some help…and invent a new game in the process!

In this 45-minute session, our education experts present emerging ideas on compelling business topics in lightning talks of 5-10 minutes each. Then in an open discussion, they expand on their topics, inviting questions from attendees. Always interesting, always "cuirky" and curious. You'll walk away with a unique perspective on how to manage business challenges and stimulate your creativity. You won't want to miss it!

Here's What We'll Be Talking About

Seeing into the future: The Power to Predict: How AI is Changing B2B Sales and Customer Strategy

What if you could anticipate customer needs, predict deal success, prepare for future trends, and stop churn before it happens? AI-powered predictive analytics is transforming B2B sales, turning guesswork into precision decision-making—and giving companies a powerful edge.

Tariff uncertainty: Tariff Turmoil

The once-steady foundation of value-based versus cost-based pricing strategy is starting to crumble in real-time as businesses struggle with immediate cost increases having little to do with the value of their product. Adjusting to this situation presents a challenge: how to you price strategically when tariffs increase your costs, but not your value?

Curious & Cuirky

Ready, Set ... GO!

"If you need a playbook, you're already too late." Resilient teams act in the face of unprecedented uncertainty. Fragile ones wait for instructions. Resilient teams improvise and adapt to changing circumstances while a fragile team becomes reliant on pre-determined plans and instructions. Which team are you leading? We'll talk about ramping up your teams.

Episode Summary

In this episode we discuss:

• An Innovative Way to Retain Top Talent

How can organizations bring a future-focused, innovative mindset to their recruiting and retention efforts? One answer may be using a new ideation technique created to invent "jobs that don't yet exist."

• Election Campaigns & B2B Marketers

What can B2B marketers learn from election campaigns? By examining both successes and failures in political marketing, we'll uncover actionable insights that can transform how companies engage with their markets.

• "Winning Isn’t for Everyone…"

Does Nike’s ad for the Olympics, "Winning Isn’t For Everyone… Am I a Bad Person?" foster an internal culture where winning is defined as “lack of compassion, respect, empathy and an obsession with power”?

In this episode we discuss:
 

*Why (and how) is gamification being increasingly used in B2B marketing and sales?

*Innovating the Olympics! There are 390 medal events at the Paris Olympics. Could we make it an even 400 at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028? And if so, what are some criteria we might consider for creating – and including – a future event? Curious? Let’s imagine together what might be to come!  

*Managing Remote Workers - Are Productivity Tracking Tools the Answer?

*The world’s biggest 2-week sporting event is ready to kick-off on July 26 – the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. More than 10,500 elite athletes from around the globe will compete for the gold at 17 competition sites. You think this is an easy program to organize? Think again. From construction to logistics, sponsoring an Olympics is the LARGEST logistics challenge known to man. Listen to the complexities and magnitude of logistics requirements here.

Moderator: Tom Spitale

Producer: Tracylynne Williams

In this episode we discuss:
 

*What’s Love Got To Do With It?  How Microsoft is using the principles of B2B storytelling to connect emotionally with business buyers of their Artificial Intelligence offerings - and how you can take a page out of their book.  

*Raising AI to the Third Power: AI & AI (Acquisition Integration) & AI (Acquisition Innovation) . In the news: Conoco Phillips announced it’s acquiring Marathon Oil for $22.5 billion. Becton Dickinson is acquiring Edwards Critical Care Product group for $4.2 billion. WM (Waste Management) is acquiring Stericycle (medical waste services) for $7.2 billion. And Uber Eats is acquiring Foodpanda for $950 million. Yes, lots going on these days in M & A.

*Now the hard work begins for these companies to successfully integrate – and realize the potential synergies – of their new acquisitions. What are some best practices in acquisition integration? And can AI help the acquirer be more creative in identifying and exploiting unforeseen innovation opportunities in its newly-acquired company? Let’s find out!  

*New AI technology aimed at improving job hiring hasn’t worked … What needs to change?

 

*When Protecting Manufacturing, IP Becomes a Sovereign Strategy… Taiwan produces around 90% of the world's most advanced chips. Netherlands-based ASML Holding NV and Taiwan-based TSMC have created remote means to disable critical equipment needed to manufacture semiconductors.

ASML makes Extreme Ultraviolet machines and is the ONLY manufacturer in the world, selling at >$200 million each. Netherlands law prohibits ASML from selling these machines to Chinese companies. It is Europe’s most valued tech stock with a valuation double that of Intel… about $370 billion.

But China, working with Huawei, has cobbled together proxy machines that can perform, albeit inefficiently, the same processes. TSMC Chairman Mark Liu hinted in a September interview with CNN that any invader of Taiwan would find his company’s chip making machines out of order. “Nobody can control TSMC by force,” Liu said. “If there is a military invasion, we will render TSMC’s factory non-operable.”
If this happens, expect MASSIVE shortages of semiconductors. Smart customers will dramatically increase their safety stocks and order at least a year’s supply of devices NOW.

Moderator: Tom Spitale

Producer: Tracylynne Williams  

In this episode we discuss:

*Do you own a pair of ON running shoes, even if you’re not a runner?
If you are launching a new product - what can ON teach us about disrupting a market using the Magnetic Effect of Focus?

*“Intelligent failing” is a critical success factor in any successful innovation initiative. But what about “unintelligent failing”… as we’ve seen recently at Boeing? Let’s take a deeper look at these different kinds of “failure,” and see how “question-storming” at Boeing could have helped prevent their recent quality-control disasters!

*The WNBA, the fans, and a sports bar…lessons in business transformation.

*The acceleration of international tariffs applied to goods and services across the globe and by nearly all major trading countries has elevated competition to the sovereign level. This requires companies to focus heavily on:

-Exploring new markets, investing in local production, and enhancing supply chain visibility.
-Developing mitigation strategies, including the use of technology and collaboration tools with trade partners and people involved in the global supply chain.
-Prioritizing adaptability and resilience to prepare for ongoing changes and effects in the global trade landscape.

*Leadership secrets from chasing the Aurora Borealis (aka Northern Lights)

Moderator: Tim Boyd
Producer: Tracylynne Williams