This year’s Retreat theme was “Doing something amazing tomorrow?” – a real call to action for the ambitious CxOs. The theme suggests that great triumphs and breakthroughs are often preceded by moments of openness and reflection. In that light we invited clients to use the innovation retreat as a precursor to the amazing things they plan to do in the near future.

We advised the guests in advance that they would not be governed by any agenda nor by the clock. Responding to a series of provocations the group moved between topics, including:

1. Covering your base…The rise and rise of a risk management culture – surprisingly the group concluded that a lot of the risk management activities actually increase the risk of business failure – this undoubtedly requires a major rethink of how Boards deal with risk and compliance issues – specifically a move away from ticking boxes to real ownership and accountability.


2. Staying ahead of the crowd…The challenge of making Innovation part of business as usual – especially in constrained times – the conclusion here is that the failure of Innovation is often down to a failure to understand and manage all the parts of the Innovation chain – ie you can have an organisation that creates lots of ideas but has no ability to prototype, pilot, launch or manage innovation.


3. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide… How to deal with the challenges posed by the “transparency culture” (technology, regulation, public appetite) that is laying open the inner workings of our UK businesses to public and competitor scrutiny – the conclusion was that how you deal with this issue is a key part in maintaining a competitive edge – you can either embrace it or fight it but you ignore it at your peril. Some organisations are using transparency as a competitive edge, others are pursuing a deliberate policy of being opaque.


4. The value of Retreat… If lunch is for wimps surely a Retreat is organisational suicide – unsurprisingly, given the setting, the conclusion was that the ability to slow down, switch gears and think long term is an essential part of our humanity. The alternative, “don’t stop, can’t stop” mindset is akin to the rat in the wheel or the manic machine. The group agreed that the evidence for the benefits of Retreat is overwhelming – a bit like the benefits of healthy eating and exercise. However, like those of us who are addicted to greed and sloth, there are as many who are addicted to manic activity.

If you would like a longer discussion on any of these topics contact Rick Freeman at rick.freeman@capgemini.com

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