John Rogers is the author of The Renaissance Campaign – a mindset that has put him at the helm of a billion-dollar transportation company, working alongside Michael J Fox promoting the advancement of stem cell research, and testifying in front of the U.S. Senate. His core worldview posits that most all challenges can be solved with the right mix of holistic thinking coupled with an effective high-impact campaign. 

Key Takeaways

[3:45] If you don’t have revenue, you’re not a business. Leaders often find themselves so busy working in the business that they end up not working on the business. The same holds true in government.

[7:15] Whether it be non-profit, business, or government, they’re not making conscious time to create space for the long-term picture and the health of the organization. A piece of this is that they don’t know how and they don’t have the discipline.

[12:05] The Cassandra Syndrome is something that occurs when you know what’s going to happen, but nobody believes you. This applies to things like climate change and artificial intelligence.

[14:30] Our society has become so wonderfully specialized, but that can also get in our way.

[15:35] Today’s problems require multiple heads with multiple expertise to solve for.

[16:15] In order to get holistic thinking into an organization, it first starts with getting some creatives in the door.

[18:55] In order to break out of silos within your organization, you need to have diversity of thought.

[23:55] John immerses a wide variety of people in a room for a couple of days and doesn’t give them a break. This is to see how they work under pressure.

[26:35] John’s coach made him go through an exercise to use three words to describe himself in all areas of life. It was a tough challenge because of all the words that you end up leaving behind.

[34:45] John shares a little bit about the stem cell work he did with actor Michael J. Fox.

Quotable Quotes

“We have short-term challenges that leaders have to navigate, but we have bigger, long-term challenges at the same time.” Click To Tweet “We are all prisoners of our own perspective.” Click To Tweet “The naysayers, they disappear, they get swallowed up.” Click To Tweet

Additional Resources

• Johnrogers360.com
• Connect with John on Twitter: @_JohnRogers360
• Tom Wujec — “First, tell me how you make toast” — TED Talks