Wait & Speak Podcast

In this episode, I speak with Professor Adrian Saville about the essence of shaping effective strategy in dynamic markets. Adrian is Professor of Economics, Finance and Strategy at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). As Founding Director of the GIBS Centre for African Management and Markets (CAMM) and Founder of Boundless World, he works with leaders to sharpen strategic direction in dynamic environments by addressing three essential questions: Where to compete? How to win? And why does it matter? With deep experience in the investment industry - including building and exiting Cannon Asset Managers and managing a global multi-asset fund - Adrian brings both academic rigor and practical insight to strategic decision-making. He consults widely to blue-chip and high-growth firms across industries such as digital banking, pharmaceuticals and payments, while continuing to teach MBA programmes at GIBS and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. In our conversation, we explore: What defines a truly dynamic market The importance of understanding your business model, your home-market advantage, and the exportability of that advantage The role of key assumptions, culture, and capabilities in shaping strategic performance The tension between growth and profitability, and how leaders should navigate it Tyme Bank as a case study in timing, conviction, and disciplined execution If you’d like to explore the book Adrian mentioned in relation to the Tyme Bank example, you can find it here:  It's About Tyme Final note: If you found this conversation valuable, please share it with your network or leave a rating wherever you listen to podcasts, it really helps grow the conversation. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are for informational and discussion purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or professional advice. Listeners should consult a qualified advisor before making any business or investment decisions.

Strategy is often presented as a search for the “right” answer. But according to Prof Bob de Wit, strategic problems are not puzzles to be solved; they are paradoxes to be navigated. In this episode, I speak with Prof de Wit about why perspective lies at the heart of strategic choice. He is one of the world’s leading strategy thinkers and author of Strategy: An International Perspective (now in its eighth edition, used in over 75 countries). Drawing on decades of research and teaching, Prof De Wit explains why leaders routinely talk past one another, how competing strategic logics create blind spots, and why becoming aware of your own perspective is the first step toward better strategy. We explore: Why strategic problems have no single “right” answer. How leaders can identify and overcome their own blind spots. The tension between competing strategic perspectives (inside-out vs. outside-in, evolution vs. revolution, control vs. adaptation). Why the digital age is reshaping not just business models - but professions, governance, and society itself. What “Society 4.0” means for leaders navigating AI and global power shifts. Prof. De Wit argues that strategy is ultimately about making conscious choices between competing logics - not applying universal formulas. In an era defined by AI, platform power, and accelerating change, that awareness becomes even more critical. For leaders, academics, and strategists alike, this conversation is a reminder that the quality of your strategy depends on the clarity of your perspective. Final note: If you found this conversation valuable, please share it with your network or leave a rating wherever you listen to podcasts, it really helps grow the conversation. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are for informational and discussion purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or professional advice. Listeners should consult a qualified advisor before making any business or investment decisions.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Marc Sniukas, creator of the Better Strategy OS — a practical, execution-focused system that helps leadership teams design, activate, and embed strategy for real results. We explore how leaders can navigate complexity, accelerate growth, and transform their organisations using the Better Strategy OS as a structured, no-nonsense approach to strategy. Guest Bio: Dr. Marc Sniukas, Strategy Advisor | Author | Creator of the Better Strategy OS For over 20 years, Marc has helped leadership teams at companies like BMW, DeBeers, Deloitte, HSBC, Danfoss, MTN, and more design and execute strategies that drive real growth, innovation, and transformation. He’s the author of The Art of Opportunity (Wiley) and creator of the Better Strategy OS — a practical, proven system that helps leaders make better strategy, fast. Marc has taught strategy at leading business schools and worked with organizations across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East—from global giants to fast-scaling hidden champions. Final note: If you found this conversation valuable, please share it with your network or leave a rating wherever you listen to podcasts, it really helps grow the conversation. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are for informational and discussion purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or professional advice. Listeners should consult a qualified advisor before making any business or investment decisions.

In this episode, I speak with Prof Clayton Williams, author of What Strategy Is: The 18 Fundamental Laws of Strategy, a thought-provoking synthesis that distils decades of strategic thinking into a clear, disciplined framework. We explore the foundations behind the 18 laws, what inspired Clayton to write the book, and how leaders can use these principles to sharpen strategic clarity, avoid common pitfalls, and make more coherent strategic choices in complex and uncertain environments. The book is available in print and on audiobook. Guest Bio: Prof Clayton Williams, Chief Strategy & Policy Advisor | Author | Professor of Strategy & Applied Complexity Science. Clayton Williams grew up between two worlds - the Kruger, which remains his true home and first love, and the corporate world shaped by organisations such as Mondi, Sappi, Massmart, and Liberty. His childhood was split between wildlife reserves and boardrooms, ecosystems and economics. His mother’s studies in nature conservation drew him into fieldwork early on, sparking both a love of learning and an instinct for seeing systems as living, dynamic networks. As a teenager, inspired by the TV series JAG, Clayton set his sights on flying. He earned his pilot’s licence at 15 and ignored career counsellors who warned he would be bored. By 19, he was CEO of the flying school where he had trained; by 21, he had completed a management buyout. That early immersion in leadership shaped his view of organisations as adaptive organisms that must be cultivated, not merely managed. Over the following years, he led several mid-cap companies through transformation programmes, worked in consulting, and spent five years in banking across a wide range of sectors. Today, he serves as Chief Strategy Adviser to a national investment institution, helping to align capital with the Netherlands’ societal and environmental agenda. He describes his work not as traditional leadership, but as strategy cultivation: building the strategic organism that can think, decide, and act coherently. His academic journey began unexpectedly. Standing in for his then-wife at a business school lecture, he discovered a passion for teaching and research. Later, while at Nedbank, he worked closely with Dr Amy Jansen, a rigorous practitioner-academic who sharpened his thinking and introduced him to a more scientific discipline of strategy. That collaboration planted the seed for What Strategy Is: The 18 Fundamental Laws of Strategy. Frustrated that even after winning his university’s strategy prize he still could not clearly define what strategy is, Clayton set out to build a falsifiable, scientific foundation for the field. Drawing on complexity science, thermodynamics, and information theory, his work reframes strategy as a universal adaptive process - how intelligent systems, from companies to ecosystems, collapse uncertainty into advantage. Everything, he says, traces back to the Kruger: “That’s where I first learned that survival, whether in nature or in business, depends on sensing, adapting, and cohering. In the end, that’s all strategy really is.” Final note: If you found this conversation valuable, please share it with your network or leave a rating wherever you listen to podcasts, it really helps grow the conversation. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are for informational and discussion purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or professional advice. Listeners should consult a qualified advisor before making any business or investment decisions.

Episode overview: In this episode, I speak with Richard Hammond, Co-Founder and CEO of Uncrowd, an experience-analytics company that uses the Friction vs Reward (FvR) model to help organisations understand how customers choose between competing offerings. Richard has extensive experience in retail, loyalty, and customer-insight roles. He is the author of: Friction/Reward: Be Your Customer’s First Choice (Pearson, 2019) Smart Retail: Winning Ideas and Strategies from the Most Successful Retailers in the World (4th ed., Pearson Business) He works at the intersection of behavioural insight, retail strategy, and analytics, and is widely recognised for his thinking on retail-choice dynamics. Over the years, Richard has translated the insights of his book into practical, strategic tools through Uncrowd. Our conversation explores both the foundations of the FvR framework and how it has evolved since the book was published. We talk about real-world retail applications, common blind spots for leaders when it comes to customer choice, and practical lessons any organisation can apply to build smarter decisions, clearer value, and more effective retail strategy. Follow his work: LinkedIn Uncrowd Other resources mentioned: Gap Selling: Get to the Root of Why People Buy - a book Richard referenced as influential during our conversation, which he shared as a useful complementary perspective. Final note: If you found this conversation valuable, please share it with your network or leave a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts, it really helps us grow the conversation. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are for informational and discussion purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or professional advice. Listeners should consult a qualified advisor before making any business or investment decisions.

Episode Overview: In this episode, I speak with Jeffrey Roberts, a strategist and organizational researcher who works at the intersection of theory, practice, and decision-making. We discuss how organizations really make strategic choices, and why the hardest part of strategy is often defining the real problem. Jeffrey shares insights on sense-making, systems thinking, and what it means to “muddle through” complexity rather than trying to find the perfect plan. If you’re interested in strategy, foresight, or how leaders can turn data and uncertainty into better decisions, this conversation is for you. About Jeffrey Roberts: Jeff is a Partner in the UK Strategy3 & UK Data Labs practices.  A specialist in corporate strategy, organisation design, and business transformation he works with clients to identify commercial growth opportunities and organise to capture them.  He has worked across geographies and sectors helping clients to invent and activate new markets, build novel business models, grow into new categories, value future opportunities, introduce products, define and defend their political interests, transform their operating models, and redesign their organisations for improved performance. His 20+ year career includes management consultancy and in-house roles (BAT: business transformation and strategy). He was named by Rethink Retail as a Top Retail expert for 2023, 2024, & 2025. He holds a PhD in Sociology and frequently lectures on strategy, organisations, and quantitative methods. Follow Jeffrey’s work here: LinkedIn Substack Books mentioned: Abbott, Andrew Delano. Methods of Discovery: Heuristics for the Social Sciences. W. W. Norton & Company, 2004. Hammond, Richard. Friction/Reward: Be your customer's first choice. Pearson, 2019. Final note: If you found this conversation valuable, please share it with your network or leave a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts, it really helps us grow the conversation. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are for informational and discussion purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or professional advice. Listeners should consult a qualified advisor before making any business or investment decisions.

Episode Overview: In this episode of Wait & Speak, I speak with John Loos about the signals shaping South Africa’s property market, from national trends and micro shifts to sentiment tracking, economic headwinds, and the factors influencing the near-term outlook. You’ll also hear us refer to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC): the major global recession of 2008–2009, triggered by the collapse of the U.S. housing market. We explore how that moment reshaped property markets and consider which lessons may still be relevant today. About John Loos: John Loos is a senior economist at FNB Commercial Property Finance. He started his career as an economist at the National Treasury under Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, then worked as a macroeconomist for Global Insight (now S&P Global). At Absa Group, he coordinated macroeconomic forecasting and was named 2004 Reuters Economist of the Year. Since joining FNB in 2006, John has developed the FNB Property Barometer, a leading source of housing market analysis in South Africa, and currently focuses on commercial property, conducting surveys such as the FNB Commercial Property Broker Survey. Follow John’s work here: https://za.linkedin.com/in/john-loos-299a3a51 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or professional advice. Please consult a qualified advisor before making any decisions. Bonus Tip: Don’t forget to subscribe to Wait & Speak for more insights where signals meet strategy. Please leave a review if you enjoyed this conversation!

In this episode, I speak with Prof Wim Naudé. Wim is an economist active in academia, business and public policy making. His focus is on innovation, technology and trade, and their consequences for human well-being, security, and prosperity. According to the Stanford and Elsevier rankings (version 5) Wim is among the top 2% of scientists in the world. ScholarGPS ranks Wim amongst the top 0,05% of scientists in the world, and rates him as a Highly Ranked Scholar™ in the field of Artificial Intelligence (#32 globally). We discuss Wim’s research on the economics of AI and how this is something that is seldom taught or researched at business schools. Business schools do well to teach their students advanced data science, including the techniques of modern AI and the ethical principles that should be applied in its use. This is however not enough. Wim suggests that understanding the bigger picture is necessary if current and future leaders are to properly govern, not only the technology of AI, but the entire global digital economy. Further reading: Naudé W, Gries T, Dimitri N. Artificial Intelligence: Economic Perspectives and Models. Cambridge University Press; 2024. Wim’s IZA Discussion Paper on this topic: What They Don’t Teach You about Artificial Intelligence at Business School: Stagnation, Oil, and War

In this episode, I speak with Willem Gous about how aspiring entrepreneurs can shift their mindset to unlock their entrepreneurial potential. As the founder of The Human Entrepreneur, Willem helps people to become self-employed through entrepreneurship training and building a business to become financially sustainable. Willem Gous, an entrepreneur for more than 25 years and ASEB (African Startup Ecosystem Builder Awards) Startup Mentor of the Year 2023 South Africa, is a South African entrepreneur who developed a recipe for job creation in Africa. In his business, The Human Entrepreneur, he works with unemployed people in townships. He helps them develop the right mindset, mental fitness, and rhythm of success to start a profitable business with customers without external funding in just 5 weeks. His focus on micro-entrepreneurship continues with his latest book, “Side Hustle Success - A Low-Cost, Low-Risk Way to Make More Money in 5 Easy Steps”. Written for Africa, easy, simple and contextual to the African continent, it focuses on awakening the entrepreneurial spirit in schools, universities and communities. Website: https://TheHumanEntrepreneur.org    LinkedIn: http://za.linkedin.com/in/willemgous

In this episode, I speak with Felicity Hodkinson about how coaching can unlock previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership. Felicity Hodkinson is an experienced International Coaching Federation (ICF) credentialed PCC (Professional Certified Coach) level coach who works with individuals at all stages and transitions of their working life. She enables individuals to both connect to, and also show more of their inherent talent in their lives and work. She has a reputation for coaching in a style that has been described as ‘challenging, not soft’.  She works intuitively and intelligently to create a space for growth that is bespoke for each client.  With over 20 years experience in marketing, commercial and change management within the food and retail industry, across both small business and corporate FTSE100 companies, Felicity brings lived experience to her passion for coaching. She holds an MSc in Organisational Transformation, and her continued development includes a Diploma in Supervision: A Relational Process.  She is committed to expanding the availability, access and quality of professional coaching and supports coaches with Mentor Coaching for ICF credentialing and with supervision. In 2020, Felicity led the UK Chapter of the ICF in the role of President, and remains a committed member of the ICF.  Connect with her: On LinkedIn Via her website: bendtheriver.org Visit ICF: https://coachingfederation.org/

Have you ever had the feeling that you're treading water professionally; that you're coming up against limits in terms of what you can achieve? In his new book, Christian Greiser shares insights on how we can reset our mental attitude and achieve success and fulfilment. He draws on insights from his many years of experience as an executive coach and incorporates research findings, case studies and exercises. I had the pleasure of speaking with Christian about the book: Remove, Replace, Restart – The Essential Maintenance Manual for Your Engine for Success. In addition, we talked about what good coaching looks like and the benefits of meditation for professional development. More about Christian: Christian Greiser is an executive coach and management consultant. He guides thought leaders, decision-makers, and entrepreneurs on their personal development journeys, helping them figure out their values, talents, and strengths. As he does so, he brings not only his perspective as a senior strategy consultant with operational leadership experience, but also an intuitive understanding for the role of personality in business. Prior to establishing his own consultancy, Christian held the role of Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and led one of the largest practice groups worldwide. An engineer by education, he occupied managerial roles at German industrial conglomerate Mannesmann AG before entering the world of consulting. He studied in Braunschweig, Paris, and London and is a Fellow of the Institute of Coaching (McLean/Harvard Medical School). Christian has been featured in Knowledge@Wharton and Forbes. He is author of the book “Remove, Replace, Restart – the Essential Maintenance Manual for your Engine for Success” (GABAL). Christian and his wife divide their time between the German town of Meerbusch, near Düsseldorf, and the Greek island of Corfu. Christian has been practicing meditation with Zen masters of Europe and Asia for more than fifteen years and is the founder of a global mindfulness network. Insights from this meditation practice are also incorporated into his coaching. Christian’s website: https://www.greiseradvisory.com/ Get a copy of the book: Remove, Replace, Restart – The Essential Maintenance Manual for Your Engine for Success  

I spoke with Emilio Galli-Zugaro about Communicative Leadership, gaining credibility and trust with your stakeholders, the fork test as a leadership analogy, and how leaders can practice communicative leadership. Emilio Galli-Zugaro is founder and Managing Director of the Orvieto Academy for Communicative Leadership and Senior Advisor of Methodos S.p.A Milan, The Change Management Company. He is member of the board of the Allianz Foundation in Munich and the Giovanni Bassetti Foundation in Milan. He sits in several advisory boards (Safe Deposit Bank of Norway, Actyx, Gk Personalberatung et al.). As a Certified Business Coach he coaches C-suite people, teaches and publishes on leadership issues. From 1992 to 2015 he was Head of Group Communications of Allianz. He studied political science in Würzburg and Rome and worked at different PR levels in Rome, inter alia as head of PR of the Organization of Italian Chambers of Commerce. From 1985 until 1992 Emilio worked as a journalist and correspondent for various international media like Fortune, Wirtschaftswoche, L‘Indipendente, Finanz und Wirtschaft, The European. Since 1996 he has been an Associate Lecturer of Corporate Communication and Crisis Communication at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. He also lectures Communicative Leadership at the executive programs of esmt, Berlin, since 2006. In 2016 he has founded the Orvieto Academy for Communicative Leadership offering leadership workshops in Germany and in Umbria (Italy) for executives and communications professionals (www.orvieto-academy.com). In January 2017 Pearson FT, UK, published Emilio and his daughter Clementina Galli-Zugaro’s book on Communicative Leadership (“The Listening Leader”). In June 2018, Ariston/RandomHouse has published his latest book “Ich bin so frei – Raus aus dem Hamsterrad und rein in den richtigen Job” (“I am free – out of the hamster wheel and into the right job”), written together with Jannike Stöhr. In 2023 he completed the WABC Chartered Business Coach Programme You can contact Emilio via his website: https://www.galli-zugaro.com/ Emilio and his daughter Clementina Galli-Zugaro’s book on Communicative Leadership can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Listening-Leader-performance-communicative-leadership/dp/1292142162 

I spoke with Dr Cobus Oosthuizen about the implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) for organisational leaders, and how leaders can orientate themselves for a future of exponential automation across the various sectors of the economy. Cobus is the Dean of Postgraduate Business Programmes at Boston City Campus, South Africa. His research focus is on leadership cognition, mental modalities, and neuroplasticity to enact peak leadership performance. He is a member of the Southern Africa Institute for Management Scientists (SAIMS) and an endorser to the Responsible Research in Business Management (RRBM) initiative. He serves on the conference board of the International Business Conference (IBC), and is also a member of the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) Africa Chapter Steering Committee. In April of this year (2023), Cobus received the Morné Mostert award for a Futures-related PhD thesis at the Stellenbosch Business School: “A 4IR Integrated intelligence Taxonomy and Measurement Framework for Top Management.” Cobus holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship and a PhD in Leadership (Futures). Link to publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jacobus-Oosthuizen

I spoke with Sensei Scott Langley (7th Dan) about his latest book, A Sustainable Karate-ka: A Small Book About a Long Journey. We discussed motivation, the elements of being a sustainable karate-ka and instructor, how to keep on keeping on, how karate is not a thing but a karate-ka is, and his advice for karate-ka who have just started and those who have trained for many years. Background to the book: “From a prematurely early age, I have been concerned with the longevity of my karate journey. Before I was anywhere near my prime. I was already predicting my decline and busied myself with ideas of how to counteract my natural tendencies to be lazy, fat and aging. Now, as I approach my fiftieth birthday, I am somewhat justified in my anxiety over general decline. Therefore, I have written a short book about the long journey I embarked upon all those years ago. This book is about me, no one else. However, I do hope that the lessons I have learnt as I meandered through life speak to you a little. This book isn’t about making big gestures or disclosing huge revelations. It doesn’t contain secrets or answers to mysteries and enigmas. It doesn’t even share salacious gossip about well-known karate-ka (I am sorry to say.) What it does contain is how I have approached the difficult question of how do we keep on keeping on? So, I do hope you enjoy how I have tried to become a Sustainable Karate-ka” About Sensei Scott Langley 7th Dan: Scott is one of the youngest people ever to win the World Championships and has over 30 years’ experience practicing and teaching karate. Scott has been practicing martial arts since the age of 5, however, he started his karate career proper in 1986 under the instruction of Howard Milson, a senior member of Kodokai and one of the very few 5th dans in the UK at the time. Scott trained hard with Howard and Kato Sensei and gained shodan in 1992. After travelling to Japan with Kato Sensei in 1993, Scott started university in Staffordshire and trained on a daily basis with him. During this time, he assisted Kato Sensei teaching around the UK and Europe. Scott also competed regularly, winning, both in kata and kumite, the National Championships five times, European Championships three times, and the 1996 JKA World Championships in Moscow. Building on this success, Scott travelled once more to Japan in 1997 and started to train full time at the JKA (Asai fraction) Hombu dojo. Under constant pressure from the instruction of Asai, Abe, Yahara, Kagawa, Isaka, Yamaguchi etc, Scott went from strength to strength and in 1998 was asked to enter the instructor’s course. Unfortunately, an injured knee prevented this, so after considerable rehabilitation, Scott, along with Yasuhisa Inada, entered the course in 2000 and became the first instructor’s course class of the newly formed Japan Karate Shotorenmei. Two intensive years later, Scott graduated from the course and became the fifth non-Japanese person ever to do so (JKA/JKS). Feeling it was time to move on and encouraged by the hombu dojo to develop JKS karate, Scott moved to Ireland. From 2002 until 2013 Scott was the Technical Director of the JKS GB & Ireland and the Chief Instructor of JKS Ireland’s Hombu Dojo. In that time the group grew from 4 clubs to 120 clubs, making it the biggest single style group in the British Isles. His own club also grew from the initial 8 members that showed up first night, to over 500 members and four full time instructors. Scott is the best selling author of Karate Stupid and Karate Clever which tell much of Scott's karate journey so far. Scott trains daily at the dojo with the other Sensei and takes the adult classes on Monday and Thursday nights.  He spends most of his weekends travelling around Great Britain and Europe teaching at seminars. However, he likes to surprise the kids every now and then so he might drop in on any class any time. “Scott Langley is one of the few instructors to have learnt karate in Japan from the source. He teaches the true art of karate. In Europe this is very rare and should be taken advantage of!” Yutaka Koike 5th Dan – All Japan Champion

In this episode I speak with Prof. Wim Naudé. Wim is an economist active in academia, business and public policy making.  His focus is on innovation, technology and trade, and their consequences for human well-being, security, and prosperity. According to the Stanford and Elsevier rankings (version 5) Wim is among the top 2% of scientists in the world. We discussed his recent research paper on late industrialisation and global value chains (GVCs)* under platform capitalism. Keywords: Digitisation · Digital platforms · GVCs · Industrialisation · Competition policy. * A global value chain (GVC) is the series of stages in the production of a product or service for sale to consumers. Each stage adds value, and at least two stages are in different countries.” (World Bank, 2020:17) Further reading: Naudé, W. Late industrialisation and global value chains under platform capitalism. J. Ind. Bus. Econ. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40812-022-00240-2 World Bank: World Development Report 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains

I spoke with Mary Rodgers, CEO at the Galway City Innovation District. We discussed her work with startups, startup ecosystems and what it takes to become a successful founder. Mary promotes ecosystem building activities to support the creation of high-value sustainable jobs in the West and North West of Ireland. Mary nurtures a transformative culture at the PorterShed Galway, supporting globally focused tech startups and facilitating technology innovation and collaboration. Mary is an accomplished executive with domestic and international experience in startup supports including mentoring, business development, scaling and fundraising. Mary has worked with both startups and growth organisations throughout her career. Further reading: The rise of innovation districts Building a startup that will last

I spoke with Faris Aranki - CEO and Founder of Shiageto Consulting. We discussed his experience of starting a business and how he helps clients to sharpen their effectiveness and improve their success Having spent over 20 years delivering strategic change for the corporate and non-corporate worlds, Faris has experienced first-hand the fine differences between strategic success and failure. His work has spanned numerous companies (from global behemoths to small start-ups), in numerous countries, across a range of sectors, supporting them all to unlock strategic success.  He came to realise that often what hinders institutions from achieving their goals goes beyond the quality of their strategy; it is their ability to engage effectively with others at all levels and remove barriers in their way. This has led to his passion for improving strategic effectiveness within all businesses and individuals and the foundation of Shiageto Consulting. Over time, Faris has worked to distil his knowledge of how to solve complex problems in a structured manner combined with his skill on engaging effectively with others and his ability to quickly determine the barriers to a strategy's success. This knowledge has formed the foundation of Shiageto’s workshops, courses and methodologies. Faris believes that any firm or team can adopt these improvements; all it requires is a little of the right support - something Shiageto provides.

I spoke with Doris Viljoen about the role of trends and fads in futures thinking. We considered the difference between trends and fads, the dimensions of change, the approach futurists use when thinking about the future, macrotrends, technology and the macro environment. Doris Viljoen is the director of Stellenbosch University’s Institute for Futures Research (IFR) where she endeavours to interpret global as well as local trends and assess their relevance for South Africa and Africa. She has specialised skills in environmental scanning, the application of foresight methodology, scenario planning as well as strategy development.  Before joining the IFR, Doris did consulting work on feasibility and location assessment studies for large capital projects and received the top student award on the M.Phil Futures Studies programme. She has a wide range of research interests and is passionate about asking the right questions, searching for and finding relevant data as well as designing tools and techniques to facilitate thinking about plausible futures. She is well versed in multiple scenario planning techniques and has facilitated decision making teams through scenario exercises on topics ranging from infrastructure planning, higher education, and downstream metals beneficiation to the futures of work in South Africa. Doris also lectures on the academic programmes in Futures Studies at the University of Stellenbosch Business School. Her particular areas of specialty are scenario planning, organisational foresight, futures studies frameworks, tools and techniques, and managing foresight projects.  Her research towards a PhD in Futures Studies looks at the future of work, specifically focusing on non-conventional employment engagements. Further reading: IFR: Futures of agricultural employment in South Africa 2035 OECD: About Strategic Foresight George Day and Paul Schoemaker: See Sooner, Act Faster Useful resources on Futures thinking UNESCO on Futures literacy  

I spoke with Michal Reut-Gelbart about public transport in the context of the smart mobility revolution. Michal is a Manager with KPMG’s Strategy practice in Ireland. Michal was previously the CEO of Future Mobility IL, a non-profit NGO that seeks to promote implementation of smart mobility solutions and reduce road congestion and air pollution. This is achieved by promoting effective public policy in the mobility sector and working in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders. She is an expert in the MaaS (Mobility as a Service) revolution and sustainable transportation. Michal also has vast experience in public policy after serving in the Budget Division at the Israeli Ministry of Finance, where she was responsible for national innovation and high education system budgets. Michal has experience as an economist in a global listed high-tech company and in a global consulting firm in the corporate finance team.    Resources for further reading: Integrating Public Transport into Mobility as a Service Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) – a new way of using ITS in public transport How Mobility as a Service Impacts Public Transport Business Models The Innovative Mobility Landscape: The Case of Mobility as a Service Mobility to 2030

KPMG has produced several publications in a series on aviation and aerospace. Given the investment, R&D development and regulatory timelines in aviation are longer, strategic decisions about where to place bets or anticipate disruption for 5-10 years out starts now. The first publication, launched just before the pandemic, looked at several topics like sustainability in propulsion technology and the return of supersonics. The second looked at the potential long-term legacy of COVID as well as topics like urban air mobility. The most recent (3rd) focused on ground handling. The pandemic has proven seismic across aviation - but not terminal. In common with other segments, the ground handling industry will likely survive, but it cannot afford to return to pre-pandemic norms. Players should use the opportunity presented by today’s lower volumes to get ahead of the trends that can shape the coming decade. I spoke with Chris Brown to learn more. Chris is the national lead of KPMG’s Strategy practice in Ireland. Specialising in strategy and new service revenue streams for the past 15 years, Chris has led over 250 strategic reviews, portfolio strategies, growth strategies, market entries, commercial due diligences and similar projects. Besides working in the UK and Ireland, he has lived and worked in China, Hong Kong, Japan and mainland Europe, leading market entry strategies in over a dozen other markets. Further reading: Aviation 2030: issue 1 - Disruption and its implications for the aviation sector Aviation 2030: issue 2 - Disruption beyond COVID-19 Aviation 2030: issue 3 - Ground handling beyond COVID-19