Industry Magazine Grand General Agency Fall 2016 | Page 19

SO WHAT IS IT
THAT MAKES AN
EXO?
THREE THINGS:
1. Massive Transformative
Purpose
2. S.C.A.L.E.
3. I.D.E.A.S.
essential that the change starts at the top
and works its way down. If people are not
on board, they will have to be replaced.
Inspiring ExO changes at the very
edges of the company is another key
aspect. Partnering or investing with
already existing ExO’s can be a good
way to do this. By changing some of your
processes to better leverage or expose
data lines, you can put yourself in a
position to change the rest of them in that
direction as well.
Salim suggests, also, hiring a “black
ops” team, which stays both stealthy, and
at the edges of the company which can
then find ways to attack other industries.
Apple has made good use of this. Though
they were a computer company, they
have snuck their way into mobile phones,
tablets, and the music industry. They
did not do this by accident, they did it by
having a dedicated team working on their
own to see what they would be able to put
together for the long run.
Your business is, of course, your
business. With that being said, there
are always ways to improve. Reaching
a state of exponential growth and
creating abundance in your industry
is just as far away as your imagination
will allow you to go. All you need to do
is have a vision of what is possible and
be willing to do what it takes to get
there. Just keep in mind that companies
which have already stood the test of
time are also the companies which will
ultimately be the most resistant to
change. Overcoming that resistance
through inspirational leadership and
vision is the key to becoming an ExO.

FALL 2016

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Salim
Ismail
is
the
best-selling
author
of
Exponential Organizations
and the Founding Executive
Director of Singularity
University. He is also the
former
Vice
President
and Head of Innovation at
Yahoo!, where he built and
ran the company’s internal
incubator, and he sold his last company to Google
in 2010.
Salim consults with governments and the world’s
top fortune 500 companies on innovation and
growth, and his work has been featured in premier
media outlets like the New York Times, Bloomberg,
BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, Wired, Vogue,
and BBC.

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