Thomas Koulopoulos

How NASA Used an Unforgettable Image to Brilliantly Communicate a Big Message
Inc
October 24, 2018

In Arthur C. Clarke's classic Space Odyssey Sci-fi series a recurring theme is the presence of a large back monolith built by an ancient civilization. The monolith has transformational powers that alter the trajectory of humanity, starting with our ancient cave-dwelling ancestors and then following our evolution through the modern day and into the future. While the questions of who built the monolith or why it was built are never clear, it has the power to bring about radical change which alters the trajectory of humanity.

How to Turn the Death of a Dream Into the Opportunity of a Lifetime
Inc
October 10, 2018

I am about to challenge you in a way that you will resist with every fiber of your being.
In her book, "The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life that Matters," Emily Esfahani Smith talks about a young man she interviewed, Emeka Nnaka, who had been paralyzed from a semi-pro football injury. According to Smith, "Immediately after his injury, Emeka told himself a story that essentially went like this: My life was great playing football. But now, look at me. My life is basically over.

Paul Romer's Nobel Prize In Economics Marks A New Era Of Innovation Driven By Ideas
Inc
October 09, 2018

Paul Romer let his phone ring on the morning of October 8th . It was early and he wasn't expecting a call. But when he checked to see who was calling he noticed it was from Sweden. When he called back he was put on hold.
It was a minor inconvenience, since, in many ways Paul Romer has been on hold waiting for the Nobel prize for nearly three decades. On Monday October 8 Romer and William Nordhaus, an economist at Yale, were awarded the Nobel for work both had done in helping us better understand the post-industrial era economy.

Tim Berners-Lee, the Inventor of the Web, Has Launched a New Startup
Inc
October 02, 2018

For Tim Berners-Lee the past is prologue, and not a very good one at that.
Several months ago I had the chance to sit down to dinner with Tim Berners-Lee at an event we were both speaking at in Sharjah UAE. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales was also at the table. The conversation meandered, but more than once came back to the topic of what it meant to have a free and open Internet. This was before Facebook's relationship with Cambridge Analytica had surfaced and our collective dismay with the state of data privacy made the headlines and found its way to Capitol Hill.

These 3 Indicators May Be Projecting the Next Financial Collapse
Inc
September 30, 2018

According to Ray Dalio, Jeff Bezos, and the Dalai Lama, This One Thing Is the Foundation of Trust
Inc
September 28, 2018

Some time ago, I wrote an Inc. column on the topic of trust. In the last few months, that column has started to get renewed attention. I wonder sometimes why an old column will experience this sort of sudden rush of new life. However, in the current political climate, with fake news being the most popular moniker of the past three years, I'm hardly surprised. So, I wanted to revisit the topic of trust and what creates it.

The Most Important Lesson Parents Teach Successful Kids
Inc
September 26, 2018

If you're a parent I'm about to push you outside of your comfort zone.
One day your child will look at you, with disappointment, perhaps even anger, and say, "Why didn't you force me to keep (fill in the blank_________) when I was younger?" Their regret may be not having learned to play a musical instrument, or not being more involved in a particular sport, or any one of a million things that they will wish they had done more of in order to further their sense of self-worth and confidence.

The Industrial Era Is Coming To An End. Here's What's Next.
Inc
September 18, 2018

Big transitions are fascinating examples of how desperately companies try to hold onto the past; driving by using their rearview mirror. That never works. Case in point, the transition out of the industrial era.
You don't need me to tell you that we're living through an era of tremendous transition and disruption for traditional industrial era industries. Tech behemoths such as Amazon and Google have radically altered retail, publishing, and advertising. Uber has decimated cabs, Airbnb is attempting to do the same with hospitality. Amazon has recently set it's sites on healthcare.

The Simple Phrase That Will Help In Almost Every Negotiation
Inc
September 16, 2018

Thug Life
I had a high school wrestling coach who loved to throw hypothetical scenarios at us during practice. They had nothing to do with wrestling. Instead they were life lessons that he tried to impart by way of asking us to unravel difficult problems, while we were bordering on passing out from the tenth round of spin drills.
One that has stuck in my mind for the past 40 years went like this:

You find yourself in backstreet alley with three tugs who want to get into a fight. There's no way to avoid the altercation. The only way out is through them and it's inevitable that you will have to take them on. One of them is much bigger and stronger than you, and far more threatening than the other two, who both appear to be easy enough for you to deal with. The question: In order to win who do you take on first, second, and third?
Think about it for a minute. Got it? Good, read on.

Remembering 9/11: This Is What True Leadership and Courage Sound Like
Inc
September 11, 2018

Seventeen years ago today the early morning Pennsylvania countryside near Shanksville was quiet. Its 245 residents--15 fewer than it had in 1920--were unnoticed by the world, going about their business, in school, or perhaps tending to errands in a downtown that would make Mayberry RFD look cosmopolitan.

Innovate A 4-Word Master Class in Leadership From Steve Jobs
Inc
August 31, 2018

I've got a leadership challenge for you. You can do better. Read on.
If the rift in popular sentiment around political leadership tells us anything, it's that we still value leaders, especially great ones. It is human nature to want someone at the helm to whom we can entrust the hardest decisions, even if we may vehemently disagree with him or her on them.

Forget Winning the Battle Against Fake News and Fake Influence. Instead, Try This
Inc
August 31, 2018

In his book Writing on the Wall: Social Media -- The First 2,000 Years Tom Standage writes about what may well be the earliest example of social influence, dating back to 59BC, when Julius Caesar decreed that a daily summary of the Roman senate and the people's assembly be published.

This Is Why We Keep Getting AI Wrong
LinkedIn
June 17, 2018

The challenge of artificial intelligence isn't so much the technology as it is our own attitude about machines and intelligence. In doing research for my upcoming book Revealing The Invisible: How Our Hidden Behaviors Are Becoming The Most Valuable Commodity Of The 21st Century I came across the poignant story of the doomed flight of Air France 447, which teaches a great deal about the deeply rooted cultural attitudes, perhaps even arrogance, that stand in the way of AI.

How Our Hidden Behaviors Are Becoming The Most Valuable Commodity of the 21st Century
LinkedIn
May 04, 2018

Excerpted from the upcoming book Revealing The Invisible. Download a free chapter HERE
To be human is to suffer from a peculiar congenital blindness: On the precipice of any great change, we can see with terrifying clarity the familiar firm footing we stand to lose, but we fill the abyss of the unfamiliar before us with dread at the potential loss rather than jubilation over the potential gain of gladnesses and gratifications we fail to envision because we haven’t yet experienced them.[i] – Maria Popova

The One Thing You Should Never Do When You Negotiate
Inc
April 26, 2018

Negotiating can be terrifying, emotional, and frustrating. But don't let that lead you to making this one crucial mistake.

This Is The Most Valuable Commodity of the 21st
Inc
April 23, 2018

The competition to capture and understand digital behaviors is just beginning. There's a dark side to that, but we should be just as vigilant in exploiting its value.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Entrepreneurship Nobody Wants to Talk About
Inc
April 20, 2018

I often liken the entrepreneurial journey to parenting; no matter how much you study it, observe it in others, ask for advice, prepare for it, or convince yourself you're ready for it, there is simply no substitute for doing it. And as with parenting, you soon realize you can't imagine not doing it, because it's simply part of who you are.

In Just 2 Words, Jeff Bezos Sums Up What Separates Winners From Dreamers
Inc
April 19, 2018

Few figures have captured our attention the way Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has. In just under 23 years, Amazon's revenue has soared from $500,000 to $178,000,000,000, from nine employees to over 560,000, and its stock has increased 1,000 fold since its IPO. You can't argue with that sort of success. But trying to put it into a formula is somewhat ludicrous.

Financial Advice For Elon Musk That You Can Learn From
Inc
April 17, 2018

We've all heard about how important it is to live in the moment and focus on the here and now. However, nobody ever built the future by just living in the present. There are some things that demand we step well out of the comfort of the present and far into the uncertainty of the future.

This Isnt the First Time Weve Gone Driverless. The Last Was 100 Years Ago
Inc
March 30, 2018

In the aftermath of Ubers's recent fatal crash in Tempe, which involved a driverless car, there has been a great deal of speculation about the future of the driverless automobile. As is often the case, trying to see beyond the near-term fear and natural trepidation, which accompanies handing over control of life and death decisions to machines, can be exceptionally difficult. Yet, this isn't the first time we've encountered the driverless dilemma. There's another example that's nearly 100 years old.

What Do You Do With $184 Billion? Heres What Elon Musk Is Likely to Do With It
Inc
March 23, 2018

A few weeks back, I wrote about the upcoming vote of Tesla's shareholders on Elon Musk's $2.6 billion compensation package. Well, yesterday put an end to that speculation with approval of a package that would grant Musk the $2.6 billion of equity based on Tesla achieving certain market cap, revenue, and earnings metrics. Over the next 10 years, the package could end up being worth upwards of $50 billon, potentially putting him in contention for the mantle of the world's richest person.

What Ubers Fatal Accident Means for the Future of Autonomous Cars
Inc
March 21, 2018

No doubt you've heard that on Sunday, an Uber in Tempe, Arizona, operating in autonomous mode with a backup safety driver, or supervisor, in the car, killed a pedestrian.

Yes, Elon Musk Might Really Be Worth an Outrageous Salary Package of $2.6 Billion
INC
March 09, 2018

If there are contenders for tech titan poster child, Elon Musk is clearly leading the pack. Unlike almost any other CEO in recent memory, Musk embodies the spirit of innovation, vision, risk-taking, fearlessness, and unbridled ambition while also having the popular appeal of a rock star--with ambitions to play on an interplanetary stage.

And The Oscar Goes To...
INC
March 04, 2018

On days like this predictions abound. And most often those predictions come from the pundits, the ones "in the know." But what if the real power of prediction is not in the opinions and the bias of pundits but in the data?

Revealing the Invisible: How Our Hidden Behaviors Are Becoming the Most Valuable Commodity of the 21st Century
Post Hill Press
June 05, 2018

Revealing the Invisible provides a front-row seat to the mind-blowing future, where businesses of the 21st century can read consumers’ minds and make informed decisions based on their behaviors and tendencies.

The Gen Z Effect
Routledge
December 01, 2016

Cloud Surfing: A New Way to Think About Risk, Innovation, Scale & Success
Social Century
June 18, 2012

When people hear "the Cloud," they think of cloud computing, just a sliver of what the Cloud is today. The Cloud has grown: it represents the consummate disruptor to structure; a pervasive social and economic network that will soon connect and define more of the world than any other political, social, or economic organization. The Cloud is the first megatrend of the twenty-first century, one that will shape the way we will address virtually every challenge we face for at least the next 100 years. It is where we will all live, work, and play in the coming decades.

The Innovation Zone: How Great Companies Re-Innovate for Amazing Success
Davies-Black Publishing
June 16, 2011

Innovation has become a mantra for organizations facing unprecedented market pressures and worldwide competition. But can it be taught or developed as a core competency? Are there rules for turning great ideas into breakthrough innovations that alter behavior and culture, change the company's customer relationship, and carve out a path to global business success? Profiling dozens of today's most innovative organizations, The Innovation Zone delivers a new playbook for creating a structured business model of innovation that focuses on process, not products, to generate sustainable value and competitive dominance.

Smartsourcing: Driving Innovation and Growth Through Outsourcing
Platinum Press
February 24, 2006

Outsourcing is the most popular movement of the new global business economy. In fact, the typical executive will soon spend one-third of their budget on outsourcing! Smartsourcing is the next evolution in outsourcing. Traditional outsourcing reduces costs by moving the work to where the least expensive workers are. While that may cut costs, it simply replicates the status quo. Smartsourcing goes a step further by showing companies how to partner with service providers to not only cut costs, but also increase innovation across the full spectrum of their business. Smartsourcing is the first book on the market to be ahead of the curve on one of the most important shifts in business today.

Executive in Residence and Professor of Innovation at Bentley University
Bentley University
September 14, 2010

Bentley University announces alumni Woody Benson and Tom Koulopoulos as executives-in-residence beginning in fall 2010. In this new role each executive will teach graduate courses, mentor students, work with faculty and staff on curriculum initiatives, and serve in advisory roles. A 1980 alumnus, Woody Benson is an investor with Prism VentureWorks and a high-tech industry veteran of 30 years. A prolific thought leader in innovation, globalization and information technology, Tom Koulopoulos founded Boston-based technology management and advisory firm Delphi Group, and is a 1981 alumnus...

Former Executive Director Babson College Center for Business Innovation
Babson College Center for Business Innovation
June 01, 2007

Jun 2007 - Jun 2008

TK Highlights
Vimeo
July 24, 2017

Public speaking highlights

Tom Koulopoulos on the Challenge of Predicting Behavior
Vimeo
January 09, 2017

Excerpts from Tom's Keynote about hyperconnected behavior

Short TK Keynote on Innovation and Surving the Future
YouTube
November 30, 2011

Excerpts from a full keynote by Tom Koulopoulos on the subjects of Innovation, building organizations that will survive the future, Hyperconnectivey and The Cloud

TK full keynote
YouTube
November 22, 2011

A full length video of a recent keynote TK gave on Innovation and The Cloud

Innovation Keynote - How to Survive the Future
YouTube
February 23, 2011

Tom Koulopoulos (TK) keynote excerpts from a presentation to 2000 attendees. TK talks about how we can build organizations to survive the future

TK Tom Koulopoulos Keynote on Building the Future
YouTube
February 12, 2011

TK Talks about the importance of building companies that can survive the future in his introductory remarks as part of his keynote speech to 2000 attendees at BICSI 2011 in Orlando

Tom K Keynote Intro 1 of 6
YouTube
January 08, 2011

TK's intro and opening remarks at his Keynote speech to 1000 attendees at the Technology Alliance of Georgia

The Uncertainty Principle 3of6
YouTube
January 08, 2011

Invention vs. Innovation 2 of 6
YouTube
January 08, 2011

TK Talks about the difference between Invention and Innovation at his Keynote speech to 1000 attendees at the Technology Alliance of Georgia

Build for the Unkown 4 of 6
YouTube
January 08, 2011

TK Talks about how companies and people need to build for the unknown at his Keynote speech to 1000 attendees at the Technology Alliance of Georgia

Tom Koulopoulos -TK- presents to ILTA on Innovation
YouTube
January 02, 2011

Tom Koulopoulos -TK- Innovation Keynote to 1000 attendees at the national ILTA (International Legal Technology Association in Las Vegas)

TK Media and Keynote Clips on the Economy and Tech Trends
YouTube
January 02, 2011

Tom Koulopoulos " TK" media clips and keynote excerpts on the topics of connectivity, tech trends, innovation, and employment

TK on Innovating in a Recession
YouTube
January 01, 2011

Innovating in a Recession may seem counter intuitive but it's actually a great time to innovate

TK Talks about Unemployment on WSJ Market Watch
YouTube
January 01, 2011

Unemployment is tough medicine for ailing economies - but there is a bright side. Listen as TK looks at innovation and Unemployment

TK Talks about Small Business and Innovation on Forbes
YouTube
January 01, 2011

Small Business is the engine of the economy. Listen to TK talk about what it takes to build a culture of Innovation and to be a successful Entrepreneur

TK talks about Innovation and tollerating failure on Forbes
YouTube
January 01, 2011

Every company has to innovate, but clearly some do it better than others. Listen as TK talks about how innovation can result from some basic principles, such as simplification and tolerance of failure

TK talks about the fate of the Titanic and lessons about innovation
YouTube
December 30, 2010

Tom Koulopoulos keynote excerpt from the IHAF event where he talks about how the Titanic is a great metaphor for how we deal with the future and innovation

TK talks about the future and why it's so hard to predict
YouTube
December 30, 2010

Tom Koulopoulos keynote excerpt from the IHAF event where he talks about the challenge in predicting the future.

TK talks about predicting the future
YouTube
December 29, 2010

Predicting the future is tough! Listen as Tom talks about some example of just how much the future changes us in ways we could never imagine.
Tom Koulopoulos presents to 2000 Attendees of ILTA

Tom Koulopoulos Innovation Keynote Intro 1 of 6
YouTube
December 29, 2010

Keynote Intro - part 1 of 6
Tom Koulopoulos Innovation Keynote
To 1000 members of the Technology Association of Georgia 1000 members of the Technology Association of Georgia

TK talks about the phenomenon of "re-employment"
YouTube
December 29, 2010

We are entering a new world with new rules about employment and work. Listen as Tom describes the life re-employed!
Tom Koulopoulos presents to 2000 Attendees of ILTA

Short TK Keynote on Innovation and Surving the Future
youtube
November 30, 2010

Excerpts from a full keynote by Tom Koulopoulos on the subjects of Innovation, building organizations that will survive the future, Hyperconnectivey and The Cloud

TK takes a funny look at the iPad and iPhone
YouTube
November 29, 2010

A fun look at how the iPhone and the iPad are changing as much as we are!
Tom Koulopoulos presents to 2000 Attendees of ILTA

Revealing The Invisible - Excerpt: The Story of Ill-fated Flight 447
SoundCloud
May 21, 2018

The challenge of artificial intelligence isn't so much the technology as this. Listen as Tom shares the story of ill-fated Air France 447 and how it can teach us about the deep cultural flaw that stands in the way of artificial intelligence.

Revealing The Invisible: How Our Hidden Behaviors Are Becoming The Most Valuable Commodity of the 21st Century
YouTube
May 06, 2018

A quick look at the book Revealing The Invisible: How Our Hidden Behaviors Are Becoming The Most Valuable Commodity of the 21st Century, by Thomas Koulopoulos / George Achillias ORDER on AMAZON http://a.co/6qHwMmr

Tom Koulopoulos Talks about Gen Z
Vimeo
April 22, 2015

Generation Z will be the most influential cohort the world has ever seen. But here is the one thing most of us don't yet realize; we are ALL Gen Z if we choose to be. Watch Tom talk about Gen Z, his thoughts and observations about how they behave and how you can build a brand and a business to attract them. From his latest book, co-authored with Dan Keldsen, The Gen Z Effect.

Visting Lecturer at Boston University School of Management
Boston University School of Management
January 01, 2018

BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Questrom School of Business
Rafik B. Hariri Building
595 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

How To Become (And Stay) A Thought Leader
Thinkers360
July 25, 2018

Nearly 20 years ago I had a meeting with Jim Champy, to whom, in an act of self-adulation I had sent a copy of my first book with a note saying that we had a lot in common. Jim had just published Reengineering the Corporation, one of the best-selling business books of all time.

During the meeting Jim graciously referred to us as Thought Leaders; a term I’d never heard before. I recall thinking that writing a book had somehow given me license to carry that moniker. I was only partially right.

Fast forward 20 years and 11 books later, and it seems that becoming a thought leader is the objective of every professional.

But if you are serious about doing that then you should also be aware of the most important aspect of thought leadership; embracing the perpetual pain and discipline of learning through writing.

First off, yes, I did say pain, specifically because if it’s not painful then you’re really not stretching yourself or learning. I know that most people reading this will say “But, I like to learn.” Sure, we all do. But I’d suggest that it may be closer to the truth to say we all like to “have learned.” Pretty much anything worth learning, is going to stretch and rewire your brain. It will create new neural pathways. That’s not easy and it’s not painless.

Second, I said writing. My advice to anyone who wants to carry the mantle of thought leader with integrity is to impose a discipline on yourself of writing constantly. This is not simply keeping a journal for yourself, but rather publishing. Writing something that you know will be judged by others is the best way to force yourself to truly understand what you think you know and then to expand beyond what you already know.

Personally, I write six columns of 1500-2500 words each for Inc.com every month. Every 2-3 years I write a 250-300 page book. Sure, this open doors, creates incredible visibility, and adds credibility to my brand, but its greatest value is that it forces me to explore, research, learn, and carry the mantle of TL with integrity.

The three touchpoints of digital transformation
Thinkers360
July 02, 2018

As with most labels that we use liberally, “Digital Transformation” means many things to many people – and much of that depends on where an organization is to begin with when it comes to creating, capturing, and leveraging digital assets.

However, there is one way to look at this journey that applies to any organization serious about competing in the coming decade. The simplest way to describe this is with what I call the three touch-points of digital transformation: product, service, and experience. Each of these needs to be part of an overall integrated digital system that allows an organization to work with its customer across all three touch-points seamlessly.

An excellent example of this, one that I use in my book “Revealing the Invisible”, is how Tesla responded to customers who were trying to evacuate Florida during the devastation of hurricane Irma in 2017.

Tesla used to offer its Model S with seventy-five kWh batteries that were locked by software to limit battery access just sixty kWh. This limited the effective range of the car to two hundred miles, about a thirty-to-forty-mile lower range than the seventy-five kWh option. A Model S owner trying to evacuate called Tesla to ask if they would unlock his extra fifteen kWh to provide the added range for his evacuation. Tesla not only unlocked his battery’s capacity, but also did the same for every Tesla owner whose battery was similarly limited. This is only possible with a digital ecosystem that integrates the three touchpoints into one view of the customer’s digital self, as shown in the illustration.

Can you imagine how that same scenario would play out with a traditional automobile manufacturer where the product, service, and experience touch points are orchestrated by different disconnected players, the manufacturer, the dealer’s service, and sales? What about a used car where there’s no attachment whatsoever to any of those parties? A traditional automobile manufacturer’s digital ecosystem is not only fragmented and disconnected, but it insulates the company from the customer.

The bottom line is that digital transformation means that you have a digital business ecosystem in which each touchpoint is integrated with the other two.