Recently I was asked to deliver the closing keynote at an intimate SAP public sector new product launch conference. SAP was announcing a massive, years in the making, new suite of technologies that included a strategic relationship with DataBricks and user specific AI functionality. During the pre-briefing call, they wanted me to help bridge the gap with their customers (all major US agencies) using legacy systems versus taking advantage of their new suite products.
When I craft a keynote, I develop it as if I am on the client’s team. I want to view their challenges from their perspective. This can help me better communicate and in turn connect with the audience. Like all my keynote speaking, I use a fusion of stories and frameworks to inspire the audience to take a specific action and drive a certain emotion. In this case, the action was opening their minds to learning how to better optimize their legacy systems with SAP’s new product offerings.
Furthermore, one of my recent coaching clients had just finished implementing a new SAP system.
My 18 month coaching assignment gave me firsthand insight into the trials and tribulations (concerns) that my audience members were experiencing along with an idea to help connect my content with audience.
Before I share the idea, I had one more constituent that I needed to weave into my keynote, third party implementers, in this conference’s case, the SAP implementer and teammate was Deloitte Consulting. They were seated in the front row (literally) during my presentation and were a co-host of the event and an integral part of helping an SAP client maximize their product solutions.
Today’s technology is so good and the response time so fast, that the limiting factor in maximizing technology is no longer the technology itself – it’s the people receiving the outputs (the data). Often times the data outputs from cutting technology, such as SAP, will require the user to make a change. That change could be ordering different amounts of inventory or setting up new processes to track events and then tack pre-determined actions (AI agents).
The challenge is taking the action to embrace the change, and this became my theme to bridge the gap between letting go of legacy systems to embrace new technologies.
I have spoken at to all kinds of audiences around the world, and typically, the greatest challenge I have seen time and again is helping people open their minds to change. It might sound easy, but it is not, especially when people have grown accustomed to doing something a certain way.
This level of comfort in doing something “the way its always been done” is habit forming. This is natural human occurrence. When we take repetitive action enough times, our brains go on auto-pilot to form a habit so when can use our brain power to work on other things. Remember that practice makes permanent in habit formation and this is especially true when it comes to developing habits that will help you pursue your goals.
Habits can be a double edged sword, they can be empowering or limiting depending on what we’re trying to accomplish. When change comes along – as it often seems to do after we have mastered an action – we must learn to re-wire our brain to take new actions. This “re-wiring” is creating a mindset shift. To create an nimble organization, one needs a culture of flexibility to embrace change not avoid it. All cultural shifts begin with a mindset shift at the individual leadership level first. When leaders demonstrate a mindset change, then their teams can emulate the change which will eventually lead to a cultural change.
This process of embracing change was how I used my content to make a compelling closing keynote. We conducted a personalized autographing session of my book UNSTOPPABLE MINDSET after my keynote which enabled me to hear first hand how my messaging was received.
The feedback was very complimentary, but nothing proves the point more then when the SAP executive who hired me came up to me after the signing and said “Alden, I just had a client commit to implementing our new suite of products specifically because of your speech!” Now that's what I call bridging the gap and making connections!