OODAcast: Kevin Roberts Discusses Leadership, Decision-making, and Focused Action

Bob Gourley November 23, 2020

In this OODAcast Matt Devost interviews Kevin Roberts, noted CEO, creative thinker and author.

Kevin Roberts has had an illustrious career spanning many industries over numerous continents including serving as Chairman and CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the world’s leading creative organizations, where he had responsibility for the effectiveness of several of the world’s leading advertising budgets including for clients Toyota and Procter & Gamble. Today, his company Red Rose Consulting counsels business leaders and employees on creative thinking, marketing, and leadership.

Kevin is the author of several best-selling books, including an OODA Top 10 Book of the Year for 2017; 64 Shots: Leadership in a Crazy World. OODA CEO, Matt Devost has given away dozens of copies of 64 Shots and it remains a personal favorite of his for the insight and inspiration it provides.

In this OODAcast, Kevin provides his perspective on leadership, creativity, decision-making, and driving focus and action to be successful in business and life.

Are we living in a super-VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous)?
How no plan survives the first 24 hours and how to engage in adaptive decision-making.
The role data plays in decision-making and where data falls short.
How leadership is about creating leaders, not great teams.
The role focus plays in successful entrepreneurship.
How to expand your frame of reference by studying other fields.
How insights are not insightful.
The link between storytelling and leadership.
Hacking your way into the future.
Managing through a crisis.
Who inspires Kevin today and what is he reading.

OODAcast: Dr. Melissa Flagg of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology

Research Team November 18, 2020

Dr. Melissa Flagg is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University. Previously she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research, responsible for policy and oversight of Defense Department science and technology programs including basic research through advanced technology development and the DoD laboratory enterprise. She has worked at the State Department, the Office of Naval Research, the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Army Research Laboratory.

Melissa also ran her own consulting business and was the Chief Technology Officer of a small consumer start-up. She has served on numerous boards including the National Academy of Sciences Air Force Studies Board and the Department of Commerce Emerging Technology Research Advisory Committee; she is on the Board of Humanity 2050 and a full trustee with the DC Chapter of the Awesome Foundation. She holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a B.S. in Pharmacy.

In this OODAcast we ask Dr. Flagg about her approach to decision-making, her views on technology trends, and discuss the potential impact of a wide range of critically important subjects including:

Artificial Intelligence
Quantum Computing
Biological Sciences

We also ask for her lessons learned on mental models relevant for decision making and explore her eclectic reading habits.

Podcast Version:

Track Hot Topics in Enterprise IT and Business Risk With the OODAcast

Bob Gourley April 18, 2020

The OODAcast is a newly launched podcast and videocast by OODA.

Please take a moment to Subscribe to the OODAcast on YouTube

For insights into what we are doing with this new series see this short video by OODA CEO Matt Devost:

The OODAcast is available on any major podcast directory or player. See:

The OODAcast is available on YouTube

OODAcast on YouTube

We have a tremendous list of interesting people we have set up for interviews and will be publishing summaries on our site here at CTOvision as well as OODAloop.com. But we would very much appreciate you subscribing to the podcast and subscribing to the YouTube channel so we can keep you up to date as we release new interviews.

Episode List

Each OODAcast session and full show notes are posted on the OODA Loop site, see a full list under the OODAcast Tag.

Jim Clapper Shares Wisdom From A Career in Operational Intelligence

Ray Wang, CEO and Founder of Constellation Research, On The Business Impact of Technology

Lisa Porter On Innovation, Technology, Security and Lessons in Leadership

Nate Fick on Dynamic Leadership and Adapting to Change

Lessons In Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, and Geopolitical Trends From Retired LTG Robert Ashley, former Director of DIA

Lessons In Leadership From Ellen McCarthy and Her Journey From Junior Analyst To The Most Senior Echelons of the Intelligence Community

Robert Wallace on a Career in Intelligence and The Spy Sites Series and Spy Craft

Blake Bartlett, CEO of Janes, On Leadership and Decision Making In The Modern Age

Michele Wucker on Identifying and Confronting the Obvious Risks of Gray Rhinos

Vikram Sharma, CEO of Quintessence Labs on Leadership in the Quantum Era

Former CIA Officer Rob Richer on the Geopolitical Landscape, Leadership Lessons Learned, and Supporting Decision-makers

Camila Russo on Ethereum and the Future of Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Will Hurd on Skills For Success In The Modern Age

Kathy and Randy Pherson, Authors of Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence

Ric Prado on Intelligence Operations and a Legendary Career in the CIA

Matt Devost Provides Context on the Top 10 Security, Technology, and Business Books of 2020

Mischel Kwon, Founder and CEO of W@tchTower

Masha Sedova, Co-Founder Elevate Security on Human Risk Management

Bob Gourley on Operational Intelligence for Strategic Decision-making

CEO of Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu and Cybersecurity Leader Mari Galloway

Paul Kurtz, Iconic Cybersecurity Leader and Founder of TruSTAR

Rear Admiral Paul Becker, USN (ret) on leadership in the modern age

Dr. Melissa Flagg of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology

Mark Weatherford On Leading Change As a CISO

Matt Devost on Hacking Entrepreneurship and Identifying Threats and Opportunities

Kevin Roberts on Leadership, Decision-making, and Focused Action

Gary Harrington on Leadership Lessons from Delta Force to the CIA

Michael Kanaan, Author of T-Minus AI Discusses Artificial Intelligence and Global Power

Jim Miller on Managing Policy in an Age of Constant Disruption and Dynamic Threats

Chet Richards on John Boyd and applying OODA principles to the business world

Courtney Bowman, Privacy and Civil Liberties Engineer, Palantir Technologies

Kevin DeSanto On Due Diligence and M&A Transactions and Trust Based Networking

Bradley Rotter On The Future Of Work, CryptoCurrencies, Quantum Computing and Leadership

Andy Lustig On Legal and Due Diligence Support In The High Tech Era

Paul Pagnato, CEO and Founder at PagnatoKarp and Author of The Transparency Wave

Alsop-Louie Partner and Famed Tech Executive Bill Crowell on Technology Due Diligence

Brad Meltzer, Bestselling Novelist With Insights To Inform Your Business Strategy

John Robb on Global Guerrillas and Frameworks to Drive Decision Making

Bobbie Stempfley of Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute

A Conversation With Marc Ambinder of USC Annenberg School For Communication and Journalism

A Conversation with Peter Singer on Useful Fiction and the book Burn-In

Congressman Will Hurd on the future of technology and policy

Robert Fink of Palantir on Lessons Learned From Using Data In Crisis Response

JC Raby of Boston Meridian Partners

Renowned Business Executive Scott McNealy, Co-Founder of Sun Microsystems

CEO of Percipient Balan Ayyar on the business of AI

Expert Practitioner of Analysis Carmen Medina

Lou Manousos, CEO of RiskIQ

Operational Cybersecurity Leader Cameron Over

Cybersecurity Icon Phil Reitinger, CEO of the Global Cyber Alliance

Seasoned Industry Executive and Serial Entrepreneur Henry Harrison, CTO of Garrison

Quantum Security Practitioner Jane Melia of QuintessenceLabs

Former CIA CTO Bob Flores

Tony Cole of Attivo Networks

Technology Executive Lewis Shepherd

David Bray of the Atlantic Council Geotech Center

Dan Gerstein of RAND Corporation

David Bray Joins the OODAcast In A Discussion Of Geopolitics in the Age of Covid-19

Research Team April 8, 2020

This is the second of a two part interview of Dr. David Bray done as part of the OODAcast series.

With the need to postpone our in person “Future Proof” event, OODA is producing more virtual content to keep up an exchange of best practices and lessons learned in our community. This includes live web events (see the OODA Webinar – Managing Through COVID-19) and a new series of audio podcasts and web based conversations.

Decision-makers and analysts seeking insights into the future of work, the future of data, the future of trust and health will find Dr. Bray’s experiences, insights and his own continuous learning from a strong network of global thought leaders to be both informative and actionable.

This second of two parts covers:

Questions businesses should be asking about today’s global risk environment and approach to knowing the right information to drive decisions
Trends towards the rise of nationalism
What pressures are now on NATO because of this crisis? Is Covid-19 an Article 5 event?
Will the pressures on the EU lead to fundamental changes in the Union? Could members peel off? Will the EU dissolve?
What globalization got right and wrong
The impact of the current situation on intelligence and counterintelligence and national security missions
Disinformation and misinformation
Supply chains and dependencies on others

The first segment of this discussion examined businesses and how they can survive and thrive in and after the current crisis.

Podcast Version:

Related Resources:

- Atlantic Council Geotech Center
- A Decision-Makers’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence: A plain english overview with the insights you need to drive corporate decisions
- The Executive’s Guide to Quantum Computing: What business decision-makers need to know now about quantum superiority
- The Executive’s Guide to the Revolution in Biology: An overview of key thrusts of the transformation underway in biology and offers seven topics business leaders should consider when updating business strategy to optimize opportunity because of these changes.
- OODA COVID-19 Sense-making: A dynamic resource for OODA Network members looking for Coronavirus/COVID-19 information to drive their decision-making process. We’ll update it with new links as we encounter them. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but rather a compilation of the most useful resources.
- OODAcast on YouTube: OODA’s YouTube Channel

OODAcast

Episode List

More Content

Cyber War

SciFi