Eight Questions With Featured Grey Swan Guild Member: Gordon Withrow
The Delivery Man for Transformation, A Renaissance Man with Unapologetic Imperfections, Left Brain meets Right Brain Alchemist
Our Eight Questions is part of our ongoing series profiling some of the amazingly talented members of our global Grey Swan Guild and get behind the curtain of what makes them think and sense the world differently and more effectively than others.
Gordon Withrow— Mission Critical on Change from the Centre of The Americas — Ohio
Bio: Gordon is a leader who seeks value creation and harmony through collaboration based on years of experience leading large scale transformation efforts.
Having spent a decade gaining expertise in technology and M&A with a third party logistics company, a decade as an IBM Consultant, and another decade plus as a transformation leader in a Fortune 100 financial services company, Gordon now serves as an independent consultant, leading Gordon Withrow & Co.
He takes on delivery responsibility to move organizations from strategy to action to realize their strategic goals and objectives in a very hands-on, methodical way, exercising skilled organizational change management and business agility techniques.
A Sensemaking Metaphorical Tool You Personify:
The well-worn steps of a great cathedral. These were put in place years ago and made of the longest lasting materials (solid rock).
With years of service, they show their age with worn edges but are still there, loyal and faithfully serving others. Having been exposed to all the advances of the years since, the old-world values that made us successful are still useful and too often overlooked as old fashioned.
I believe we can best create new futures by honoring those truths and benefit from those foundations, rather than throwing them out or covering them up because they are worn (maybe the fact they are well worn is a clue to their lasting value) or as an exercise in fleeting fashion.
1. Who are you/ what makes you tick?
A renaissance man with unapologetic imperfections (Perfection is the enemy of Good Enough). Left and Right brain have hourly collisions where a carefully orchestrated and comprehensive circling of problems and solutions toward action takes place.
Gordon drives thought and engagement via collaboration with years of experience delivering world-beating solutions to problems of Fortune 100 companies. He’s a trained technical mind who values leadership and sensemaking as a pattern for living and maturing, both organizationally and at the personal level, humor in more things than I should. Need to be careful about that..
2. What are some of the important questions that you are making sense of nowadays?
I am most passionate in the early 2020’s about artificial intelligence.
- What can it do? What can it really deliver, and when? Where will it end?
- What are the implications of its application to business, individuals, governments, society, people groups, and our economies.
I see “once in a 100 or 200 years” kind of risk to all of these entities and am seeking to lead others through the coming changes that will be brought about by the realization of a true artificial general intelligence, and of the applications of it to our lives.
- How to create high value insights at pace with accelerating cultural & commercial cycles?
3. How are some of the ways you go about making sense of the world?
Sometimes the best way to make sense of things with an eye towards movement is to anchor to the current state and expand your vision from there, rather than start with a blank page or to go all “outer space movie” with our imagination. There are plenty of people, futurists who enjoy that — I value them, but will leave that part of it to them.
We live in that current state and build our hypotheses and test them based on that reality, not some envisioned future state we can’t actualize. In approaching the future from that perspective we “own” the future we create, have some controls over it, and aren’t a victim of some ambiguous conspiracy.
4. What is overhyped? What is underhyped?
Artificial Intelligence is overhyped, but the risks and reality of its coming impacts are underhyped.
Individuals and their greatness, both as influencers, and as people to follow are overhyped.Entire ecosystems have been built around the idea that you can become one too!
Dedicated work that yields measurable value is underhyped.
5. Who is at your sensemaker last supper? Four people?
- The Last Supper wouldn’t be complete without the ultimate sensemaker of all history, Jesus himself
- Greg Satell — Author, Change & Transformation leader (Cascades)
- William F. Buckley — Author, Intellectual. Polarizing yes, but unabashedly intellectual and interested in the right answer; no one’s yes man; took up conservative ideas post-WWII (National Review)
- C.S. Lewis — Author; C.S.was the sensemaker for the people of Great Britain during WWII along with Churchill via radio addresses. (Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity)
- P.S. If any of these 4 aren’t available for some reason, Winston Churchill can sub. Saved western civilization as an imperfect man and leader. Made the most sense of an unthinkable reality..
6. What big and small question would you love answered or solved?
Big question: What will be the thing that actually stops us looking at our own navels? How bad will it have to get, and when will it happen? Can we not look outward more?
Small question: Why can’t I get operating system and product upgrades to my 12 year old Apple computers? They still work.
7. When you are not thinking deeply about the world, what else are you passionate about in your day to day life?
- I am an avid music listener and amateur historian for Rock & Roll, Blues, Hard Rock, & Heavy Metal. I enjoy fishing, playing basketball, and watching hockey. I fancy myself growing old farming and giving away food.
8. What do you enjoy about being part of the Guild, and being part of the F+S Expert Squad and being 1,000 Day Radar?
The global reach of our team vividly captures my attention as a potential place for good things to happen. Society can strategize endlessly, but this crew has the potential to become the brand that is top of mind for what matters and what doesn’t in our changing world. The expertise and collective wisdom excites me to be associated with this group.
Find Gordon at:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordon-withrow/
Website : http://gordonwithrow.com/
Gordon Withrow — From the strategy-lined book shelves to the action-based staircases, Measurable Value-Creation | Stewardship | Empowerment | Calm, Sense Maker
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Interested in Joining the Grey Swan Guild:
Visit our website: https://www.greyswanguild.org/
Become a member: https://bit.ly/gsgsmemberform
Attend our next new member onboarding regatta: https://bit.ly/gsgregattaDec21
Join our Futures & Sensemaking Discussions: https://www.clubhouse.com/join/grey-swan-guild/gJ5MfbZv/maA88zZW
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This Week’s Events
We assemble Friday and Sunday on Clubhouse this week for these two mind expanding events :
Food for Thought, The Future of Food — Edition #45 of the News Wrap
Join us Sunday November 28th 11am ET:
https://www.clubhouse.com/event/M8wE5lvb
The Daily Habits of Futurists, Foresighters, Trendoids & Strategic Planners — Edition #7 of our Futures & Sensemaking Series
Join us Friday, December 3rd 1pm ET: https://www.clubhouse.com/event/mZgyRvlA
Grey Swan Guild — Our Mission
To Make Sense of the World’s Biggest Challenges and Next Grey Swans — curating and creating knowledge through observation, sensemaking, critical thinking, informed futurism, strategic foresight and analysis. www.greyswanguild.org
Grey Swan Guild
Making Sense of the World’s Biggest Challenges — curating and creating knowledge through observation, informed futurism, and analysis🦢
