#121—Proximity: How Coming Breakthroughs in Just-in-Time Transform Business, Society, and Daily Life

Outthinkers

The world has undergone a transformation in the past century, as the industrial revolution turned many luxuries into everyday commodities. Then, at the turn of the century, the advent of the internet compounded this supply and demand shift. Now, we are entering yet again a new era as we see technology once again propel us into a new radical shift we call: Proximity.

Full disclosure, in this episode, we follow a different format to present the findings a book I co-authored with Rob Wolcott, cofounder and chair of The World Innovation Network (TWIN Global). He came up with the idea years ago. He I spent the last three years compiling research and case studies on the topic into our recently released book: Proximity: How Coming Breakthroughs in Just-in-Time Transform Business, Society, and Daily Life.

In this discussion, Rob and I are honored to be joined by guest host Stuart Crainer, co-founder of Thinkers50, the definitive listing of the world's top 50 management thinkers. Rob is the cofounder and chair of The World Innovation Network (TWIN Global) and adjunct professor of innovation at the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago.

Together, we lay out the key discoveries Rob and I made as we interviewed innovators, business leaders, and other experts seeking to piece together the facets of the concept of proximity: the idea that digital technologies are pushing the production and provision of value ever closer to the moment of demand in time and space.

What we discovered is a monumental shift in how businesses approach value creation. Rather than following the typical value creation chain that has so long prevailed the concept of business and industries, businesses are now meeting customers by creating value at the moment it is needed. Not just when they need but actually where they need it.

The implications of this shift with change most, maybe every, area of life: the way we work, eat, heal, produce, power, defend, explore space. And the implications for businesses are profound as well, and we share what leaders need to know and act on now if they want to stay ahead of this curve that will likely upend every business industry as we know it.

We hope you enjoy this special episode of Outthinkers.

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Episode Timeline:
00:00—Highlight from today's episode
0:33—Introducing the topic of today’s episode
4:25—If you really know me, you know that...
5:41—What's your definition of strategy?
6:36— What is Proximity? Unpacking the core concept
11:31— Praise for Procrastination: The counterintuitive logic of proximity
14:38—The Proximity revolution: Real-world examples and implications
17:20—How well is the Proximity concept understood in the business world
20:40—Proximity and AI
25:01— Overcoming obstacles
26:27— Proximity pioneers: Organizations leading the way
31:40— Just-in-time reimagined
32:46— Sustainability and Proximity
36:04—Projecting proximity's timeline
38:40—Optimism and caution in the proximity era

Thank you to our guest. Thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.
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