Digitally Curious

With the rise and rise of online shopping can the high street survive? To answer this question and others on the future of retail I asked Julian Fisher, CEO of Retail platform Jisp for his expert views.

Julian has enjoyed a varied background in technology, payments and new media, and in 1994 he launched the UK’s first internet exhibition.

Since then his work has remained inexorably linked to the internet and improving sales, payment and issues with compliance together with information solutions for a wide and diverse group of blue-chip companies.

In this episode we discussed:

• Can the high street be saved from the threat of Amazon?
• The High street vs the internet
• What can high street retailers do to prevent extinction?
• The last Blockbuster on the planet
• Sainsbury's and Argos
• The John Lewis online strategy
• The problem with showrooming
• Meeting consumer demands in-store
• John Lewis in-store iPhones
• The Apple retail experience
• Removing the pay-desk
• The John Lewis Partnership model
• RetailTainment - Retail + Entertainment
• Today at Apple - why it works so well
• Why a helpful store assistant will make you buy more
• How to double transaction revenue
• How delivery services are disrupting restaurants
• The delivery channel is not important - it's all business
• The dark kitchen concept
• The latest retail innovations
• Using retail data to create better experiences
• What will the high street look like in 5-10 years?
• The role of cash in retail
• How mobile is key for retail
• The future retail mix
• Three practical tips for retailers

1. Talk to your staff and customers
2. Be bold & innovative & fail fast
3. Make your customers the focus

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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In this episode we speak with Dr Elaine Kasket who tells stories about the impact of the digital age on how we live and how we die, and helps others write and speak powerfully about what matters to them. 

She is the author of a fascinating book on the subject “All the Ghosts in the Machine” which I had the pleasure of reading ahead of our recording.

In this podcast, you will also learn

·      The ethics and privacy of family letters
·      The laws of data ownership
·      The deceased's right to privacy
·      Why you need a digital will
·      The need for a Facebook Legacy Contact
·      The legal issues around legacy contacts
·      Your digital afterlife on other platforms
·      Context collapse and personal brand
·      Eulogy for a digital stranger
·      The DeathTech space
·      Are you ready for your own digital afterlife?
·      3 tips to get your digital life in order

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
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In Episode 10 of the Actionable Futurist® Podcast we speak with Lauren Walker, who at the time of recording was the Chief Operating & Data Officer in EMEA for leading agency Dentsu Aegis. She is now Managing Director at Accenture Interactive.

Lauren joined Dentsu in 2017 from IBM and lead a team of more than 600 people across operations, market research, social science, digital and data science, and engineering. In May 2021 she moved to be Managing Director at Accenture Interactive.

Prior to these roles, she spent a decade at IBM with a raft of senior roles - most recently head of data strategy partnerships for Europe.

Lauren was also director of competitive strategy at Choicepoint, now part of LexisNexis, and spent two years as a special advisor to the Director of the White House in Washington DC.

In this fascinating podcast, we covered the world of data and looked at what's next.

Disclaimer: Lauren's comments are her own and not that of her previous or current employer.

Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn
Follow Lauren on Twitter

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
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In Episode 9 we speak with James Varga, who co-founded The ID Co in 2011 with a mission to create convenience  allowing consumers to sign up to new products and services in seconds.

He is active in a number of local and global efforts to help people do more online, including the Fintech Delivery Panel, the Open Banking Excellence where he is Co-founder and Trust In Digital Life.

As one of the first to call for Open Banking in the UK, James has a wealth of experience in this space. Having previously built a personal finance management and aggregation service, he has a unique perspective that highlights the importance of customer convenience in the overall success and adoption of Open Banking. 

Among other things we discussed:

• What is Open Banking?
• Applications for Open Banking
• The identity challenges
• Matching the right person to the right product
• GDPR and Open Banking
• Data ownership is key
• 2018 - the year of regulated disruption
• Giving the consumer back control
• Why has Open Banking been slow to take off?
• Is Open Banking good for banks?
• The real opportunity for Open Banking
• What's the Open Banking silver bullet?
• Account aggregation is just the start
• Using data for customer onboarding
• Consumer behavioural change
• The balance between convenience and reward
• Banks are bad at using data
• Being a B2C Fintech isn't easy
• Monzo's IFTTT integration
• Consumer data ownership is key
• We need to give consumers an incentive to use Open Banking
• Instant loans - 45% revenue increase & 7% fraud reduction
• The Australian Open Banking scene
• The open data approach is a risk
• Getting the regulators involved
• 3 things for next week

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

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@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
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In Episode 8 we speak with Dr. Lynn Gribble, who is one of Australia’s founding coaches, an accidental academic and an award-winning author and university lecturer.

She’s known as a digital innovator for her work in technology-enabled academia and she calls herself a “pragmatic futurist coach”. She also helps people to “future proof” their careers in an ever-evolving workplace.

We spoke with Lynn from Sydney, Australia where she lives and works.

We discussed a range of topics relevant to companies of any size including:

• The future of work is about relationships
• Do people want to be managed in the digital age?
• Managing the circumstances not the people
• Soft vs disciplinary skills
• We need people to connect people
• What we can't teach AI to do is make a human connection
• People are the only truly sustainable competitive advantage
• What is the future of work?
• People need to be agile and take ownership of their skills development
• Flexibility is the key in the gig economy
• The serviced office of the future
• The one piece of technology that will drive fundamental change
• The digital agent
• Home robots are the hardest workers
• The receptionist of the future
• The stigma of retrenchment
• Managing Millennials
• What ice skating can teach you
• What organisations get wrong
• If you punish risk you will get no innovation
• Are we addressing ethics in business?
• The link between risk and ethics
• What 3 things can you do next week?
• 1. Build relationships not networks
• 2. Take a small risk & do something new
• 3. How can I be kinder & more connected to colleagues?

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
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@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
Order Digitally Curious

In Episode 7 we speak with Pitching expert Peter Hopwood and answer the question “What’s the Future of … Pitching for Success?”

Peter is a communications and presence coach, public speaking and pitch trainer and conference host.

We spoke with Peter from Croatia where he lives and works.

We discussed a range of topics relevant to companies of any size including:

• Getting people curious about your business
• Simple tricks for networking events
• How to stand out
• Mistakes people make when pitching
• Why the first 60 seconds is key
• The worst pitch ever
• Show you care what you're talking about
• Think about your style and tone
• Getting your nerves under control
• Owning the pause
• How being different gets you noticed
• Channelling Don Draper from Mad Men
• The importance of rehearsals
• Three things you can do next week
• Why should people listen to you?
• Think about your "sexy secret"
• Find out more about Peter

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
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@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
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In Episode 6 we speak with the CEO of Integral Communications Group Ethan McCarty  and answer the question “What’s the Future of … Employee Communication?”

A former journalist, Ethan joined IBM in early 2000 to manage the web presence for IBM’s $6 billion a year research division, he also co-authored their groundbreaking blogging guidelines, launched IBM’s intranet podcasting platform and worked on IBM’s award-winning annual report to shareholders.

He is now the CEO of Integral Communications Group, a consulting firm specializing in employee activation, as well as a masters-level lecturer on digital media and employee communications for Columbia University.

We spoke to Ethan from New York where he lives and works.

We discussed a range of topics relevant to companies of any size including:

• Why Ethan started an employee activation company
• Internal vs External communications
• Harnessing your external network
• Employee Advocacy beyond: "Please retweet this"
• How do you measure employee engagement?
• Helping attract new talent to the firm
• Using communication as a recruitment tool
• How do you "activate" employees?
• Stop "interruption messaging"
• Culture and purpose
• Personal brand vs company brand
• Renting your brand to an organisation
• Eminence vs advocacy
• Showing up with your network
• Design your value proposition to be network permeable
• Getting your digital tools ready
• What 3 things can you do next week to start an employee engagement program?
• 1. Start talking with employees
• 2. Reinspect the measures of our work
• 3. Inspect your practice of iteration
• The Agile Manifesto

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
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@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
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In Episode 5 we speak with Digital Strategist Tiffany St James and answer the question “What’s the Future of … Digital Transformation?”

Tiffany is the former Head of Public Participation for the UK Government and an Executive Director of the British Interactive Media Association.

She embeds digital and social media capability into national and international organisations and governments, and speaks worldwide on social media, digital strategy, women in tech and tech innovation.

We discussed a range of topics relevant to companies of any size including:

• Digital Transformation in the UK Government
• What would you do differently?
• Digital Transformation with people
• How do you transform a large corporate?
• Changing the physical interior of a business
• Being "digitally curious"
• Instilling play into corporate education
• Developing your problem solving muscle
• Using escape rooms to aid problem solving
• "Corporate adventuring" to find out information
• Running a "corporate fire drill"
• Use Corporate Venturing to solve problems
• The Two Tribes in every organisation
• Organising a Hackathon
• Be careful not to over-serve young leaders
• What can the board teach young people?
• Hackathons to create cultural change
• Digital Diversity
• Digital Maturity
• The digital talent crisis
• Getting people studying the right subjects
• Get involved with local schools & unis
• Studying a 2nd language - coding
• Learning how to learn
• What is Employee Experience (EX)?
• Wellness in corporates - a fresh look
• Quantified Workers
• More productive employees take breaks together
• Women in innovation
• Diversity of Thought
• Three things for next week

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
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@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
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In Episode 4 we speak with Dom Price, Work Futurist at Australian Unicorn Atlassian and answer the question “What’s the Future of … Work?”

This special episode was recorded live in front of an audience at Australia House in London during Tech Week, hosted by The Australia United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce where we discussed a range of topics relevant to companies of any size including:

• The culture at Atlassian
• Place, products, purpose, people
• When AI evolves, what will we be doing?
• Unlearning old ways of working
• Why Dom hates business cases
• How can you “unlearn”?
• The 4 “L’s”
  - Love
  - Longed for
  - Loathed
  - Learn
• Example of the 4L’s in practice
• Declining every meeting
• Staying up to date with latest trends
• The Atlassian scale-up story
• What would you do differently?
• How do you hire people before you need them?
• The best advice Dom ever received
• Getting better not bigger
• Creating company values
• The values interview
• Recognising excellence against values
• What makes the Australian Tech market unique?
• Learning a 2nd language - coding
• The hiring challenge in Australia
• Importing talent to amplify local talent
• Success through diversity
• You’re not going to be the next Netflix of ...
• Attracting talent beyond free lunches & ping-pong tables
• Hiring for values
• The secret sauce of Atlassian
• How to win the global war on talent
• Running a tech camp

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
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@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
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In Episode 3 we speak with James Poulter, the co-founder of Voice Agency Vixen Labs and answer the question “What’s the Future of … Voice?”.

In this show, we covered a range of topics including:

• Why James started podcasting back in 2007
• Key learnings from being an early podcaster
• How the next generation will interact with computers using voice
• How smart speakers will drive the growth of all voice services
• Is there a voice “killer app” yet?
• What will Google Duplex do for voice?
• Building empathy into voice services
• The science of voice phrasing for success
• The notion of a “brand tone of voice”
• Predictions for voice in the next 18 months?
• The possibility for dedicated voice departments
• Ambient listening - what is it and what are the implications?
• How voice is growing thanks to “screen fatigue”
• The rise of voice + AR
• Voice in the enterprise
• Privacy vs utility - crossing the “privacy chasm”
• Three things listeners can do next week to experiment with voice

More about James

Twitter: @JamesPoulter
Company: vixenlabs.co
Voice 2 Community

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
Order Digitally Curious