Lee Wade, Exponential-e’s CEO, reflects on what's in store in the fourth quarter of 2021, and how to transform challenges into opportunities
As technology professionals, many of us are naturally technically orientated – fascinated by the latest innovations, and the smallest details of everything from personal devices to global IT infrastructure. And that’s as it should be. It’s a passion for innovation that makes the digital landscape such an exciting, dynamic environment to operate in, and ensures the speed of technological evolutions continues to build speed at an ever-increasing pace.
But as we look for new opportunities to make our mark on our industries and deliver first-class products and services to our customers and end users, it’s important not to lose sight of the human side of things. As the Canadian philosopher and futurist Marshall McLuhan put it.
It's human ingenuity and curiosity that drives the most fundamental shifts in the landscape – the ones that irrevocably change the way we live and work – just as much as the latest hardware and software. One informs the other, and so both sides should be considered of equal priority.
This has always been a fundamental part of life at Exponential-e. We’ve always been just as curious about the next generation of talent, ambition, and creativity as we have about the next game-changing technology and have built our teams with this in mind.
In addition to recruiting current leaders and innovators in our sector, we look closely at up-and-coming talent, providing them with the opportunities, support, and inspiration they need to achieve their full potential.
You’ll find out more about how this philosophy informs our learning & development initiatives in the pages ahead, along with recent success stories that showcase what can be achieved when talent and technology come together.
For further examples of this, just consider the past year-and-a-half, and how our various industries successfully pivoted in response to the pandemic. While the basic technology to enable successful remote working was already there, developing it to use at a previously unprecedented scale and overcoming the cultural challenges that came with this new model was a triumph of human persistence, cooperation, and ingenuity.
With government-mandated remote working now giving way to more flexible, more effective hybrid working, I expect this period of personal, professional, and technological growth to continue for some time yet. In the meantime, I wish you all the best for the rest of this year and look forward to continuing working together.
Enjoy this issue of Envision!
Best wishes,
Lee Wade, CEO, Exponential-e
