CEOs from a variety of companies old and new gathered in San Francisco for Fortune's 13th Global Forum. By the end of the meeting, four key takeaways emerged that are relevant to healthcare leaders.
Entrepreneurs sat side-by-side with CEOs of companies that have been around for more than a century, including IBM, Wells Fargo, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Campbell Soup and Levi Straus. IBM CEO Ginni Rometty said the key to survival is to "always disrupt yourself," while Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser said his company has remade nearly half its product offerings in the past decade to stay relevant, according to the report.
Here are the takeaways:
1. Every company is a technology company. Every company must embrace technology to stay relevant, and those that leverage technology most effectively experience the greatest success. For instance, Hugh Grant, CEO of Monsanto, a multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation, was at the forum the day his company announced a new deal with tractor company John Deere. Under the deal, John Deere will stream real-time data on soil and crop conditions back to Monsanto's headquarters. If John Deere is a technology company, everyone is, according to Fortune.
2. Competition can come from any direction. With a society that is increasingly digitally connected, traditional boundaries between disparate industries will dissolve. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf said, "The people who are influencing us the most are outside our industry — the Apples, the IBMs, the Amazons."
Similarly, hospitals and health systems are seeing increasing competition with retail pharmacies and clinics. As consumers create a bigger foothold in the healthcare environment, hospitals and health systems will have to change to satisfy their demands for convenience, timeliness and affordability, as the retail clinics do.
3. People remain the biggest challenge. Leaders from Salesforce, Yahoo and Aetna agreed: Creating the right culture is the most substantial challenge for organizations in a technology-driven era. While "only a baby with a wet diaper likes change," according to J.C. Penny Chairman Mike Ullman, organizations must cultivate an attitude among their workers that embraces it anyway, according to Fortune.
4. Keep a positive outlook. Forward-looking executives know not to get bogged down by worry and fear. J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon told attendees of the forum to look for opportunities, rather than dwell on the potential downside of challenges. "Don't be so damned depressed. We have all become risk experts and are afraid of our own shadow. Move on. The world is going to be fine," he said.