Arkaro Insights: adapt and thrive in complexity

Mark Blackwell
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Arkaro Insights: adapt and thrive in complexity brings together practitioners and researchers for honest, practical conversations on leadership, change and innovation in a complex, adaptive world. Each episode gives B2B executives the thinking and tools to lead transformation, not just manage it — whether in agriculture, food, chemicals or any industry where complexity is the daily reality. We explore four interconnected themes: The AI Implementation Blueprint — how leaders cut through the hype and embed AI as a genuine organisational capability The Human Edge — the neuroscience and psychology of change, creativity and decision-making under uncertainty Outside-In Innovation — customer needs, market signals and the disciplines that turn insight into growth Strategy for Complex Adaptive Systems — emergent strategy, integrated business planning and leading organisations that learn and adapt Hosted by Mark Blackwell, founder of Arkaro, a B2B consultancy that works alongside clients in a collaborative 'do it with you' approach, leaving behind sustainable solutions, not just a slide deck. "We don't just coach — we get on the pitch with you." Connect With Us 💬 We'd love to hear from you! What topics would you like us to explore in future podcast episodes? Drop us a message or connect with us to learn more about Arkaro's approach. 🔗 Visit us at www.arkaro.com 👥 Follow our updates: Arkaro on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkaro/ 📧 Email us at: mark@arkaro.com

  1. 2D AGO

    The Steam Engine Mistake Companies Are Repeating with AI — Harvard Professor Joseph Fuller Explains

    "There are no executives alive on the planet today that have ever overseen the implementation of a general purpose technology to their organisations." — Joseph Fuller, Harvard Business School Most companies are making the same mistake with AI that factory owners made when electricity arrived in the 1880s — bolting the new technology onto old processes and calling it transformation. Around 60% of companies are treating AI as a technology problem and handing it to the CTO. It is a management problem. In this episode, Joseph Fuller of Harvard Business School explains what to do instead — and why the companies that get this right may not be the ones you expect. About Joseph Fuller Joseph Fuller is Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School and co-head of the Managing the Future of Work project, which he founded. A former CEO of global strategy firm Monitor Group, he advises leading organisations on AI adoption, workforce transformation, and organisational design. Joseph Fuller LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephbfuller/ American Enterprise Institute: https://www.aei.org/profile/joseph-b-fuller/ HBS Managing the Future of Work: Project: https://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/Pages/default.aspx Newsletter: https://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/newsletter/Pages/default.aspx Podcast: https://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hbs-managing-the-future-of-work/id1395603706 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3zUxYNebA2rrEuH0IJcrJ2 Amazon Podcasts: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJJPGGPX LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/project-on-managing-the-future-of-work/ Related Arkaro Insights episodes: Stephen Wunker on AI and the Octopus Organisation: https://arkaro.com/ai-octopus-organization-stephen-wunker/ Charlene Li on Why AI Transformation Fails: https://arkaro.com/why-ai-transformation-fails-leaders-90-days-charlene-li/  Niels van Hove on AI and Decision-Centric Planning: https://arkaro.com/niels-van-hove-ai-sop-ibp-decision-centric-planning/  Marco Ryan on Rewire or Retire: https://arkaro.com/rewire-retire-ai-leadership-marco-ryan/ Connect with Arkaro: 🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn: Arkaro Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkaro Mark Blackwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrblackwell/ Newsletter - Arkaro Insights: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/arkaro-insights-6924308904973631488/ 🌐 Visit our website: www.arkaro.com 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@arkaro Audio Podcast: https://arkaroinsights.buzzsprout.com 📧 For business enquiries: mark@arkaro.com

    35 min

  2. 6D AGO

    Group Genius: The Science Behind High-Performing Teams with Keith Sawyer

    What separates a high-performing team from a group of talented individuals who consistently underperform? According to Dr Keith Sawyer, the answer lies in group flow — a state of peak collective experience that goes far beyond individual performance. Dr Sawyer is the Morgan Distinguished Professor of Educational Innovations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and one of the world’s leading researchers on creativity, collaboration, and innovation. A jazz pianist who has performed with Chicago improvisational theater groups, he has spent decades studying how peak creative performance emerges not inside a single mind, but between minds. In this episode, Mark Blackwell and Keith Sawyer explore the ten conditions for group flow, why improvisation is always a balance between structure and freedom, how problem-finding is fundamentally different from problem-solving and why that distinction matters for business teams, the Goldilocks quality that runs through every one of the ten conditions, why groupthink and group flow are two sides of the same coin, and what jazz and improv theater can teach organisations about building teams that consistently outperform. Building on previous Arkaro Insights conversations with Roni Reiter-Palmon on creative problem solving and Hilary Scarlett on the neuroscience of collaboration, this episode adds a compelling new layer: the social and improvisational dynamics that allow groups to achieve something greater than the sum of their parts. Keith’s book Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration is available at https://a.co/d/0aBHbJ0p. His podcast The Science of Creativity is at sawyerpodcast.com and his Substack newsletter at keithsawyer.substack.com. Connect with Arkaro: 🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn: Arkaro Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkaro Mark Blackwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrblackwell/ Newsletter - Arkaro Insights: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/arkaro-insights-6924308904973631488/ 🌐 Visit our website: www.arkaro.com 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@arkaro Audio Podcast: https://arkaroinsights.buzzsprout.com 📧 For business enquiries: mark@arkaro.com

    39 min

  3. APR 8

    Innovation Is Not a Light Bulb Moment — It’s an Engineering Discipline with David Cropley

    What if innovation were not a mysterious creative gift but a measurable engineering discipline? That is exactly the argument Professor David Cropley of the University of Adelaide makes — and he has the diagnostic framework to back it up. In this episode of Arkaro Insights, Mark Blackwell talks with David about why most organisations are failing at innovation, where precisely the failure occurs, and what leaders can do about it. David introduces the Innovation Phase Model, a 42-cell diagnostic matrix that maps seven stages of innovation against six psychosocial dimensions. Administered as a survey across teams and organisations, it pinpoints exactly where the roadblocks are — and consistently reveals the same pattern: most organisations are competent at implementation but struggle badly at the front end, where problems need to be identified and ideas generated before anything can be built. They also discuss why AI is being deployed the wrong way in most organisations — treated as a product innovation when it is fundamentally a process innovation — and David shares the mathematical proof that large language models are capped at roughly average human creativity. Useful, but not the innovation engine many believe it to be. The Smith Corona story brings it home: a world-class innovator that went bankrupt because it could only think incrementally when disruption arrived. In this episode: The Innovation Phase Model and the 42-cell diagnosticWhy structure determines behaviour, and most people are rewarded for exploiting not exploringAI as a process innovation being treated as a product — and why that mattersThe mathematical ceiling on large language model creativityThree things a new CEO or VP should do first to build a genuine innovation cultureGuest: Professor David Cropley, University of Adelaide Author of The Psychology of Innovation in Organizations (Cambridge University Press)  LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidcropley Connect with Arkaro: 🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn: Arkaro Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkaro Mark Blackwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrblackwell/ Newsletter - Arkaro Insights: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/arkaro-insights-6924308904973631488/ 🌐 Visit our website: www.arkaro.com 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@arkaro Audio Podcast: https://arkaroinsights.buzzsprout.com 📧 For business enquiries: mark@arkaro.com

    36 min

  4. APR 3

    The And Equation: Making Food Healthy, Affordable and Sustainable with Juan Aguiriano, Kerry Group

    What if sustainability weren't a cost of doing business, but its central engine? That is exactly the transformation Juan Aguiriano, Group Head of Sustainability at Kerry, has helped to architect over the past seven years. In this episode, Juan traces Kerry's journey from its roots as an Irish dairy cooperative to its emergence as what the company calls an impact company, with an audacious mission to reach over two billion people with sustainable nutrition solutions by 2030. We explore how Kerry's Beyond the Horizon strategy moved sustainability from implicit good practice to an explicit business choice, reshaping the company's portfolio, investment decisions and innovation pipeline. Juan explains the "and equation" at the heart of Kerry's approach: making food that is healthy, affordable, tasty and sustainable, all at once. The conversation covers: How Kerry built its purpose, "inspiring food, nourishing life," through dialogue with tens of thousands of employees worldwideThe five strategic impact themes driving Kerry's sustainability agenda, from nutrition and climate to responsible sourcing and social impactThe Evolve programme: how Kerry worked with 3,000 Irish dairy farmers and Bord Bia to create what became the world's most sustainably verified dairy supply chainWhy extending shelf life through natural fermentation and biotechnology is one of the most cost-effective tools in the fight against food wasteHow the Kerry Health and Nutrition Institute (KHNI) is advancing the science of sustainable nutritionThe role of digital tools and AI in scaling and accelerating impactJuan brings the perspective of a realistic optimist: the physical risks facing the global food system are accelerating, yet the cultural shift inside Kerry, where sustainability has become everyone's business, gives genuine cause for confidence. A compelling case study in how doing good and doing well are not in conflict, but increasingly inseparable. Connect with Arkaro: 🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn: Arkaro Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkaro Mark Blackwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrblackwell/ Newsletter - Arkaro Insights: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/arkaro-insights-6924308904973631488/ 🌐 Visit our website: www.arkaro.com 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@arkaro Audio Podcast: https://arkaroinsights.buzzsprout.com 📧 For business enquiries: mark@arkaro.com

    32 min

  5. MAR 30

    Beyond the Hype: What Creativity Research Tells Us About AI and Innovation | Dr Todd Lubart

    What does the science of creativity actually tell us about working with AI? And where does human judgement remain irreplaceable? Mark Blackwell speaks with Dr Todd Lubart, Professor of Psychology at Université Paris Cité, about his research on Cyber-Creativity and the future of human-AI collaboration in innovation. Todd has spent his career building rigorous frameworks for understanding and measuring creative potential. In this conversation he brings that evidence base to bear on the questions business leaders are wrestling with right now. In this episode: Why AI excels at divergent thinking but struggles with genuine originalityWhere the quickest wins are in the creative process, and where the pitfalls lieThe Pick and Mix approach to prompting multiple AI systems for better resultsWhy problem definition remains a distinctly human advantageThe four scenarios from the Manifesto for Human-AI Creativity, including Plagiarism 3.0 and ShutdownHow rigorous benchmarking transforms the quality of idea evaluationThe hidden cost of slop, and what to do about itEssential listening for business leaders in innovation-intensive sectors who want to engage with AI on the basis of evidence, not headlines. Connect with Arkaro: 🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn: Arkaro Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkaro Mark Blackwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrblackwell/ Newsletter - Arkaro Insights: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/arkaro-insights-6924308904973631488/ 🌐 Visit our website: www.arkaro.com 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@arkaro Audio Podcast: https://arkaroinsights.buzzsprout.com 📧 For business enquiries: mark@arkaro.com

    42 min

  6. MAR 19

    People-Centric Change: The End of Linear Thinking | Professor Julie Hodges

    That famous statistic, that 70% of organisational transformations fail, turns out to have no evidence behind it whatsoever. So says Professor Julie Hodges, and she should know. As Professor of Organisational Change at Durham University Business School, and with 20 years of commercial experience at PwC and Royal Bank of Scotland, Julie is one of the world's leading authorities on how organisations change, and why it so often goes wrong. In this episode, Mark Blackwell and Julie explore why the tidy, linear models of change that most organisations still rely on are no longer fit for purpose, and what a more honest, people-centred approach actually looks like in practice. In this episode: Why the "70% failure" statistic is a myth, and what we should be asking insteadThe difference between incremental and transformational change, and why it mattersWhy change is messy, emotional and rarely linear, and why that is actually normalThe critical role of sense-making and why people resist change for good reasonsCo-creation versus design by committee: how to involve people without losing momentumThe evolving role of HR in leading organisational changeHow AI is raising the stakes for change management, and what leaders should do about itThe skills managers need most: empathy, courage, agility and digital fluencyJulie's books mentioned in this episode: People-Centric ChangeManaging and Leading People Through Change (3rd edition)Both are grounded in empirical research and written with practical application firmly in mind. Connect with Arkaro: 🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn: Arkaro Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkaro Mark Blackwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrblackwell/ Newsletter - Arkaro Insights: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/arkaro-insights-6924308904973631488/ 🌐 Visit our website: www.arkaro.com 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@arkaro Audio Podcast: https://arkaroinsights.buzzsprout.com 📧 For business enquiries: mark@arkaro.com

    29 min

  7. MAR 1

    Why Most AI Transformations Fail — and What Leaders Must Do in 90 Days | Charlene Li

    Most organisations are asking the wrong question about AI. They're treating it as a technology to be managed rather than a capability that should serve their business goals. The result? An executive vacuum where leadership sees the potential but the middle of the organisation is paralysed on the how. In this episode, Mark speaks with Charlene Li — one of the world's foremost experts on disruptive transformation and AI strategy, adviser to 49 of the Fortune 100, and author of six books including her latest, Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success. Charlene's central thesis is that growth creates disruption — and that the leaders who thrive are those who run towards it rather than wait for it to settle. In this episode you'll learn: Why you don't need an AI strategy — and what you need insteadHow companies like Nestlé, Marsh, Ally Bank, and Moderna are reimagining work with AIThe real reason people resist AI (it's not the technology)The Playground Paradox and why more constraints can unlock more innovationWhy your data will never be clean enough — and why that's not an excuseHow to build the right transformation team, including the one role most organisations overlookWhy speed is the new competitive moatAbout Charlene Li Charlene Li is a world-renowned expert on disruptive transformation and AI strategy with over three decades of experience. She has advised 49 of the Fortune 100 companies, including Adobe and Southwest Airlines. A Harvard MBA and New York Times bestselling author of six books, her latest, Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success, provides a manual for moving from experimentation to strategic value. She is the founder of Quantum Networks Group and previously established the analyst firm Altimeter. Named one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company. 🔗 Charlene's website: https://charleneli.com/ 🔗 Connect with Charlene on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleneli/  📖 Get the book: WinningWithAIBook.com Connect with Arkaro: 🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn: Arkaro Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkaro Mark Blackwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrblackwell/ Newsletter - Arkaro Insights: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/arkaro-insights-6924308904973631488/ 🌐 Visit our website: www.arkaro.com 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@arkaro Audio Podcast: https://arkaroinsights.buzzsprout.com 📧 For business enquiries: mark@arkaro.com

    38 min

  8. FEB 23

    Why Teams Pick the Wrong Ideas — and What Leaders Can Do About It | Dr. Roni Reiter-Palmon

    45% of teams select a suboptimal solution — even when a better one is right in front of them. Creativity researcher Dr. Roni Reiter-Palmon explains why, and what leaders can do to fix it. Most teams jump straight to solutions. It feels productive. It looks like progress. But according to Dr. Roni Reiter-Palmon, that instinct is costing organisations their best ideas — before they ever get off the whiteboard. Roni is the John Lewis Holland Distinguished Professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Director of Innovation for the Centre of Collaboration Science, and President of Division 10 of the American Psychological Association. Ranked in the top 2% of researchers globally, she has authored over 200 publications and is co-editor of the forthcoming APA Handbook of Creativity. In this conversation, we explore the full arc of creative problem solving — from defining the problem to selecting the solution — and why rushing any part of the process leads teams to consistently underperform. What we cover: The 53% finding — In videotaped team sessions, over half of all communication was devoted to defining the problem, not solving it. Far from wasted time, this investment was the single biggest driver of better outcomes. The 45% problem — Nearly half of teams in Roni's research selected a suboptimal solution from their own generated ideas. They did not recognise an effective idea even when they had produced it themselves. More structure and guidance reduced this to 25% — still a sobering number. Why AI produces mediocrity — AI compresses the distribution of ideas toward the average. The truly terrible ideas disappear, but so do the genuinely breakthrough ones. If you are relying on AI for creative thinking, you may be trading originality for the illusion of productivity. The hidden cost of brainstorming — The brainstorming movement did creativity a disservice by equating one phase of the process with the whole. Problem construction and idea evaluation — the phases before and after — are where most teams lose the most value. Psychological safety as the foundation — Every component of effective creative problem solving, from information sharing to constructive conflict, depends on psychological safety. Without it, none of the other techniques take hold. What leaders can actually do — Practical guidance on managing the messy middle of collaboration: how to keep multiple perspectives alive, how to prevent task conflict tipping into relationship conflict, and how to know when creativity is genuinely needed and when it is not. "The notion of brainstorming did a disservice to the field because it equated brainstorming with creativity, when in fact it's only one aspect of the creative process." — Dr. Roni Reiter-Palmon Connect with Roni: University of Nebraska at Omaha: unomaha.edu Email: rreiter-palmon@unomaha.edu LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roni-reiter-palmon-222ba46/ Referenced episodes: Zorana Ivcevic Pringle — Problem framing and emotional creativity Vlad Glaveanu — Slow AI and the future of human creativity Hilary Scarlett — Neuroscience, trust and the power of shared Connect with Arkaro: 🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn: Arkaro Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkaro Mark Blackwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrblackwell/ Newsletter - Arkaro Insights: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/arkaro-insights-6924308904973631488/ 🌐 Visit our website: www.arkaro.com 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@arkaro Audio Podcast: https://arkaroinsights.buzzsprout.com 📧 For business enquiries: mark@arkaro.com

    43 min
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Arkaro Insights: adapt and thrive in complexity brings together practitioners and researchers for honest, practical conversations on leadership, change and innovation in a complex, adaptive world. Each episode gives B2B executives the thinking and tools to lead transformation, not just manage it — whether in agriculture, food, chemicals or any industry where complexity is the daily reality. We explore four interconnected themes: The AI Implementation Blueprint — how leaders cut through the hype and embed AI as a genuine organisational capability The Human Edge — the neuroscience and psychology of change, creativity and decision-making under uncertainty Outside-In Innovation — customer needs, market signals and the disciplines that turn insight into growth Strategy for Complex Adaptive Systems — emergent strategy, integrated business planning and leading organisations that learn and adapt Hosted by Mark Blackwell, founder of Arkaro, a B2B consultancy that works alongside clients in a collaborative 'do it with you' approach, leaving behind sustainable solutions, not just a slide deck. "We don't just coach — we get on the pitch with you." Connect With Us 💬 We'd love to hear from you! What topics would you like us to explore in future podcast episodes? Drop us a message or connect with us to learn more about Arkaro's approach. 🔗 Visit us at www.arkaro.com 👥 Follow our updates: Arkaro on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkaro/ 📧 Email us at: mark@arkaro.com

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