A few weeks ago, Kinesis hosted Catalyst PDX — our annual summit bringing together visionary leaders to share ideas, explore emerging trends, and catalyze growth and impact. Our theme this year was Design the Future: Over a memorable and energizing two days, we met dozens of owner-run businesses looking to move into 2023 with a spirit of creativity and innovation.
As we kick off the New Year, we’re reflecting on some of the incredible insights that came out of our time together.
Tia Coachman, Founder of Affirma Consultancy
When thinking about Designing the Future, it’s easy to get wrapped up in opportunities: What’s possible? Where are we headed? But often, we leapfrog an essential part of the conversation: What should we leave behind? What do we need to let go of, in order to make room for what’s next?
This can mean conceptual departures, like letting go of our need for perfectionism or fear of failure — or more literally, it can mean realizing that a product line or business practice has reached its expiration date. In this panel, we explored how to identify and abandon what’s no longer serving us:
Our panel of visionary leaders (left to right): Ken Tomita, Anna Madill, & Amber Kelel
Parting ways with the “old” can be uncomfortable when you don’t yet have a “new” to replace it with. That’s where imagination comes in. Creativity is where we find differentiation and potential, and helps to make ambiguity energizing. In this session, we heard from visionary leaders who are charting new paths forward and proving that another way of doing business is possible.
In order to let go of the past and design the future, we need engagement — from ourselves as leaders, from our team, and from our clients and partners. To close the day, we broke into smaller groups to discuss engagement through each of these lenses.
Some folks had experience to offer around the effectiveness of different leadership styles, while others reflected on whether surveys are the best way to measure employee engagement. In one breakout session, there was a rich discussion about when to let go of a client — and where to draw the line between "difficult to work with" versus actively harming your business.
There were so many fruitful conversations and intriguing questions posed that it would be impossible to capture them all here. Thank you to everyone who brought your perspective and made the day so engaging! We couldn’t have done it without you. And if you missed out this year, don’t worry! There are still plenty of opportunities to get involved with our Catalyst Community:
Each month, we invite business leaders to join us for a roundtable discussion centered around a pressing topic, inspired in part by the insights from the summit. We call them Catalyst Labs, and they’re a dynamic space where you can share lessons learned, or even workshop your next big idea. Interested in joining a future Catalyst Lab? Sign up here to be notified about our next event.
And of course, we’re already gearing up for next year’s Catalyst PDX event! Tickets sold FAST this year, so keep an eye out for details so you can claim your spot early.
Onward!
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