Gillian Tett is chair of the editorial board and editor-at-large, US of the Financial Times. She writes weekly columns, covering a range of economic, financial, political and social issues. In 2014, she was named Columnist of the Year in the British Press Awards and was the first recipient of the Royal Anthropological Institute Marsh Award. In June 2009 her book Fool’s Gold won Financial Book of the Year at the inaugural Spear’s Book Awards.
In this episode, Gillian discusses how tools from anthropology can help leaders see future trends more clearly, avoid unnecessary shocks and much more.
Success can lead to ‘tunnel vision’:
Most professional training or progression can lead to tunnel vision. The more specialized and senior you become in an organization, the greater the danger that you don’t see outside of your professional silo.
Importance of ‘lateral vision’:
Anthro-Vision is about surfacing blind spots. The value of doing this is 1) gaining empathy for another point of view and understanding how the world works a bit better and 2) it allows you to think outside of yourself, look back and see yourself more clearly. Why is this important? You’re much less likely to face surprise shocks and ‘lateral vision’ can help you make smarter, more innovative decisions.
Zeitgeist shift behind ESG:
Anthro-Vision can help you see trends before others. A critical tool is to watch for ‘social silences’ or obvious questions that are not being asked within a team, business or industry. For example, just before sustainable investment went mainstream, Gillian noticed that the narrative around ESG had shifted from ‘save the world’ to businesses focused on protecting themselves from ESG-related risks. Self interest in ESG is what made the trend go mainstream. For those using ‘Anthro-Vision’ this zeitgeist shift could be spotted when it was still a ‘social silence’. For those of us with ‘tunnel vision’ we noticed the ESG shift when it became unmissable.