Big companies optimize for profit, not the consumer - strategy advisor Peter McDonald

If strategic planning in the consumer goods sector feels different right now, you’re not imagining it. For the past 15 years, leaders in CPG categories have struggled to build plans that deliver the kinds of predictable, reliable profit of days past. Former General Mills Chief Strategy Officer, and a leading independent voice in long range strategic planning, Peter McDonald joins us to discuss the shifting expectation of corporate strategy, where it is necessary to provide a long range lens into the future beyond a short term fiduciary focus. At the heart of this strategy challenge today is a preoccupation with old playbooks in new competitive landscapes, prioritizing the shareholder at the expense of the consumer, and operating with false confidence - denial, even - that things will revert to the way they were.----------More:Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.comConnect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.comLearn more about Peter McDonaldFollow Peter on LinkedIn----------⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!----------Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.

Fashion is a massive $1.8 Trillion industry. Within that two tales unfold: one of quality, timelessness and individualized expression, and another of wastefulness, shame and pride. On this episode of Looking Outside, we explore how fast fashion competes with slow fashion; where craftsmanship, carefulness and scarcity supersede fleeting trends. For this we’re joined by French fashion designer and YouTuber Justine Leconte. To her one million viewers around the world, Justine emphasizes the importance of choosing what we buy carefully. But not necessarily at the expense of style, which everyone has the ability to harness, particularly when we tailor fashion to us. ----------More:Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.comConnect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.comLearn more about Justine Leconte & her labelFollow Justine on YouTube, Pinterest & TikTokCheck out Justine's guide for Timelines StyleRequest Justine's Fast Fashion BlacklistWatch 5 myths that fast fashion brands want you to believe----------⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!----------Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.

This podcast was not read by synthetic AI generated replicas … although it could be. Live from the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies in Denmark, together with three trained communications professionals, we discuss the future of their field. If there even is one.FARSIGHT podcast host and Head of Publications at the CIFS Casper Skovgaard Petersen, Head of Communications Toke Hanghøj and new CIFS partner, and host Jo Lepore discuss the synthetification of what we create and what we consume.Technology is rapidly upending the traditional media industry. As this happens, we see literacy rates declining and the increasing ease of outsourcing writing and thinking. So too, all of this influences the stories we create and tell about the future. Whether we paint visions as warning for where our vices may take us, or as a mirror to reflect back what parts of humanity we do not want to lose. And of course, there are lessons in looking back at the past and the stories we told each other that no longer hold true.----------More:Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.comConnect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.comLearn more about Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies Listen to the FARSIGHT podcast & read the publicationFollow Casper & Toke on LinkedIn----------⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!----------Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.

Financial stability and economic growth has been a staple of national prosperity and business success. In this search for predictable prosperity, fueled by individual ownership and material attainment, we forget that economic models were built as a fix to a problem within the specific context of a social need. Today, economic models have become the convention our society moves within, and the narrative of perpetual growth is familiar. But are these models serving society in the context we now live in, one that requires constraint? To explore these frameworks that rule our lives, we’re joined by economist Hans Stegeman, who, in his double life as Chief Economist at Triodos Bank in the Netherlands by day, and independent thinking columnist by night, shows how provocative questions that help us re-perceive existing systems can influence change from inside the system. ----------More:Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.comConnect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.comLearn more about Hans StegemanFollow Hans on LinkedIn & subscribe to his newsletter - Tipping PointsSubscribe to Hans' Substack - System Economics----------⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!----------Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.

Your business could benefit from a chief geopolitical officer. Not just because of the large shift in operational complexity accelerated by geopolitical conflicts, but because not looking at these topics in a considered way, through a lens of expertise, could lead to poor decisions, lost opportunities, or worse, paralysis. But, says our Looking Outside guest today, while the crisis is real and large, it’s not anything new – in fact we’re going back to the old ‘normal’. Jake Sotiriadis has seen this first hand, as part of the intelligence unit in the United States Air Force, as strategic foresight lead at the Pentagon, and as senior strategy advisor to the public and private sector. Jake says every decision carries some risk. The biggest risk, however, is not a bad decision, but indecision.----------More:Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.comConnect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.comLearn more about Jake SotiriadisFollow Jake on LinkedInRead Jake's 2020 report on Geopolitical CompetitionJake's book "THE REVENGE OF IDEOLOGY: The Hidden Forces Reshaping Global Power" is available for pre-order soon----------⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!----------Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.

You can’t talk about the future without talking about change. But change can trick you, as guest Roger Spitz says on this latest episode, filmed live at the Rulebreaker Future Congress in Germany. Roger is the founding Chair of the Disruptive Futures Institute and, there, instructs global leaders in operating with agility in uncertain environments. The thing about change, Roger explains, is that it feels equally incredibly slow and exponentially fast – and both perceptual models can distract us from focusing on the present moment and what needs to be solved for today. On the show, Roger stresses why cognitive agility and informed optimism are critical mindsets in a future that feels uncontrollably volatile. ----------More:Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.comConnect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.comLearn more about Roger SpitzFollow Roger on LinkedIn & X & MediumGrab a copy of Roger's book Disrupt with ImpactFollow Techistential on LinkedIn & XFollow the Disruptive Futures Institute on LinkedIn & XLearn more on the Rulebreaker Future Congress & the Rulebreaker Society----------⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!----------Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.

We’ve been living digitally for decades. While many of us think romantically about an analog and physical existence, the future is not taking us back there, but deeper into a digital immersion. So says our guest today, Lyron Bentovim, CEO and President of The Glimpse Group, a company advancing augmented and virtual reality innovation. In this episode, filmed live at the Rulebreaker Future Congress in Germany, Lyron paints the possibilities of virtual reality in creating moments of deeper connection, by rethinking digital – not necessarily physical - experiences we are used to today.----------More:Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.comConnect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.comLearn more about Lyron via his Entrepreneur & WSJ & CEOWorld profilesFollow Lyron on LinkedIn and XFollow The Glimpse Group on LinkedIn & XLearn more on the Rulebreaker Future Congress & the Rulebreaker Society----------⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!----------Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.

Bioengineering is a complex field. In some industries it’s well established, in others still nascent. But one thing is true regardless of where it’s applied – it poses interesting problems. Dr Hamid Noori is one scientist motivated by solving these kinds of big, difficult and (he would say) fun problems. As CEO of bioengineering company, The Cultivated B, his work takes cellular technologies from the lab to the market. On this episode, filmed live at the Rulebreaker Future Congress in Germany, he shares how a grand purpose in life is not necessary if you have audacious problems that you are focused on solving and an openness to solving them in new ways.----------More:Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.comConnect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.comLearn more about Hamid Noori & Cultivated BFollow Hamid on LinkedIn & his writing on Forbes Technology CouncilFollow Cultivated B on LinkedInCheck out Hamid's other ventures n!Biomachines & PreFerIndustries Learn more on the Rulebreaker Future Congress & the Rulebreaker Society----------⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!----------Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.

For over two decades, Germany's most demanded futurist, Sven Gabor Janszky, has been gathering business leaders across Europe, exposing them to the 'rulebreaking' ideas that are changing our world. In this 24th edition of this event, Sven sits down with host (and international keynote at the congress) Jo Lepore, to discuss the science behind finding breakthrough ideas, particularly those in longevity. Through his scientific research, and his venture capital, Sven has seen how breakthroughs in organ preservation, gene engineering and bio-matching are already extending our life span. Now he's also observing with curiosity how things like AI replicas and brain computer interfaces will preserve our humanity even further. Sven says it might sound like science fiction but the signals of this future are already here. There is no way to slow them down, instead it is us who must catch up.This is a live podcast, filmed at the Rulebreaker Future Congress in Leipzig Germany May 2025. The event, hosted by 2b AHEAD, brings together "people whose ideas change the world". ----------More:Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.comConnect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.comLearn more about future scientist Sven Gabor Janszky & 2b AHEADFollow Sven on LinkedIn & X & Instagram Learn more on the Rulebreaker Future Congress & the Rulebreaker SocietyRead Sven's research on the future of GenAI 2035 & Strategic Foresight 2035 & Space 2040 & Digital Humans 2035.----------⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!----------Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.

Arguably, the most important thing we need to do when thinking about the future, is to hold our strong opinions weakly. In the world of business strategy, the process of mapping what may lie ahead is usually tempted by a perfected, tried-and-true, method. So what happens when the forecast is wrong? On this episode of Looking Outside we are exploring the process and purpose of scenario planning, with world leading forecaster, professor and futurist, Paul Saffo. Having helped organizations, governments and future leaders build skills in forecasting for the future for decades, Paul knows better than most how predictions of the future can fail when certainty is the desired outcome. Equally he’s seen how people can become entranced with a specific method and obsessed with the accuracy of their predictions. He says instead, when thinking about the future, we should intentionally second guess assumptions, especially, those of so-called subject matter experts. Sometimes, it comes down simply to having a good compass and learning to read the stars.----------More:Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.comConnect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.comLearn more about Paul Saffo, futurist with a pastFollow Paul on LinkedIn & X & Instagram Check out more of Paul's work with the Long Now Foundation, Singularity University, The Atlantic Council and the Millennium Project----------⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!----------Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.