Innovation from Staffing World – The Medici Effect
I attend the Staffing World keynote every year and I always walk away with something thought provoking and inspiring. This year’s keynote speaker was Frans Johansson, author of the well received business book, The Medici Effect.
The Medicis were the most prominent and influential family in Europe during the Renaissance, known as traders, bankers, politicians, patrons of the arts, and the dominant force inside the Catholic Church, no small accomplishment. In short, a dynasty that influenced the globe. However, Frans’ borrowing of the Medici name, didn’t inspire me, it was actually Frans’ own personal story and what that means for innovation, or what I believe is a far better term for today, reinvention.
Frans is a man of African-American, Cherokee and Swedish descent, who grew up in Sweden, and he celebrates the notion of diversity. But in this sense he terms diversity as thinking differently, or reinvention. Frans reinvented his own career many times, creating several successful businesses, including a magazine called Catalyst, a software company and of course now, an acclaimed author and inspirational speaker. His story brought to mind, some advice that Danny Cahill recently gave to our Bullhorn community members, in our recently published report, How Danny Sees It, Danny Cahill’s Four Big Ideas for Today’s Economy. Danny’s advice – in a tough economy, don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself, move into new markets and find new segments that align with your company’s objectives and distinctive competence. Simple concept, but I bet the vast majority of you have done that over and over.
The most successful people seize opportunity through reinvention, even in the most challenging and uncertain times. It was true of the Medici’s and it’s true of Frans Johansson. And if you’re a Bullhorn user, you have the most powerful staffing and recruiting software at your disposal on the planet to drive that reinvention. Pardon the unabashed commercial; after all, I am the marketing guy.
This Bullhorn Blog post was written by Joe Cordo.
