Page 100 - The Fourth Industrial Revolution

readiness to engage with all those who have a stake in the issue at hand. In

this way, we should aspire to be more connected and inclusive.

It is only by bringing together and working in collaboration with leaders
from business, government, civil society, faith, academia and the young
generation that it becomes possible to obtain a holistic perspective of what
is going on. In addition, this is critical to develop and implement integrated
ideas and solutions that will result in sustainable change.

This is the principle embedded in the multistakeholder theory (what the

World Economic Forum communities often call the Spirit of Davos), which
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I first proposed in a book published in 1971. Boundaries between sectors
and professions are artificial and are proving to be increasingly
counterproductive. More than ever, it is essential to dissolve these barriers

by engaging the power of networks to forge effective partnerships.
Companies and organizations that fail to do this and do not walk the talk by
building diverse teams will have a difficult time adjusting to the disruptions
of the digital age.

Leaders must also prove capable of changing their mental and conceptual
frameworks and their organising principles. In today’s disruptive, fast-

changing world, thinking in silos and having a fixed view of the future is
fossilizing, which is why it is better, in the dichotomy presented by the
philosopher Isaiah Berlin in his 1953 essay about writers and thinkers, to be
a fox than a hedgehog. Operating in an increasingly complex and disruptive

environment requires the intellectual and social agility of the fox rather than
fixed and narrow focus of the hedgehog. In practical terms, this means that
leaders cannot afford to think in silos. Their approach to problems, issues
and challenges must be holistic, flexible and adaptive, continuously

integrating many diverse interests and opinions.

Emotional intelligence – the heart

As a complement to, not a substitute for, contextual intelligence, emotional
intelligence is an increasingly essential attribute in the fourth industrial
revolution. As management psychologist David Caruso of the Yale Center
for Emotional Intelligence has stated, it should not be seen as the opposite

of rational intelligence or “the triumph of heart over head – it is the unique
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intersection of both.” In academic literature, emotional intelligence is

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