Welcome to the October issue of The Exponential Executive.

In this Issue

	Your Main Job
	You Don't Know as Much as You Think
	The Future of Education is Converging All Around Us
	Businesses Newest Tool: The Personal Supercomputer

In Other News

This past month, I have traveled the country speaking to a variety of businesses and trade associations, including the construction, defense, education, health care, insurance and retail sectors. To get a brief overview of the insights I have been sharing with my audiences just click on the associated link.

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Your Main Job

Recently, I came across this informative article, "Intel Reboots for the 21st Century.” It’s an interview with Intel’s CEO, Paul Otellini. Two quotes jumped out at me. The first one was: “A CEO’s main job is to see the need to change before anyone else does.”

In the second quote, Otellini paraphrases Intel’s old CEO, Andy Grove, who once said, “You won’t believe how long it takes for the change you’ve started to work its way all of the way through the rank and file.”

The reason both quotes are important is because it is not enough “to see the need for change.” It is vital that executives also “work” the need to change. And to achieve real change, the CEO must not only be a part-time futurist (in order to see what is coming next), he or she must also become their organization’s “chief unlearning officer.”

One of the big reasons that change takes as long as it does is because employees, customers, institutions and even leaders must often first unlearn what they think they know before they can change and incorporate a new idea or adjust their practices to a new way of doing things.

You Don't Know as Much as You Think

As long-time readers of this newsletter know, I’m a big fan of the unconcept of unlearning. (See the above post). I recently came across this wonderful 12-minute presentation by Jonathon Druri entitled “You Don’t Know as Much As You Think.” I’d invite you to watch the full video here. If, however, you don’t have the time, I’ll leave with this quote from his presentation:

“Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out.”—Thomas Cardinal Wolsey

The Future of Education is Converging All Around Us

One of the biggest and most exciting trends in technology is that of “convergence”—or how different technologies will combine with one another to create entirely new devices. These devices, in turn, will go on to influence human behavior in unique and unexpected ways.

Convergence, as a trend, is nothing new. The printing press did not materialize out of thin air. First, paper, and then ink, and ultimately moveable type had to be created before Gutenberg could create his historic device. The radio, television, computer and Internet are also the result of a convergence of various technologies.

To this end, I recently came across three articles on three different technologies which, when they converge, could change everything from how we educate and entertain ourselves to how our economy operates. Interested in what the three technologies are? Click here to find out.

Businesses Newest Tool: The Personal Supercomputer

Late last month, Cray, the self-described “supercomputer company” officially moved into the personal computing realm when it announced it’s new personal supercomputer, the CX1.

For years, supercomputers have been considered indispensable for large corporations. For example, using supercomputers, Boeing was able to reduce by seven-fold (from 77 to 11) the number of aircraft wings it needed to physically construct for its new “787” Dreamliner before finding the right one. In much the same way, the automotive industry has used supercomputing to reduce from 5 years to 18 months the time it takes to move a new automobile design from the drawing board to the showroom floor.

The relevance of Cray’s news is that now a number small and medium-sized businesses will be able to avail themselves to the power of supercomputers. And what might these supercomputers help businesses do? For starters, they have already saved S.C. Johnson $1.6 million. To find out how Pringle's, Ping, Proctor & Gamble and Whirlpool are using supercomputers to save money, design their products and create better packaging, read on.