UK law firm Taylor Vinters has unveiled its 12-month initiative called The Zebra Project - bringing together business leaders to spark ideas, collaborate and contribute in future focused discussions based on the real game changes that are shaping the future world of work. The project was launched to over 130 business leaders, creative thinkers, academics and visionaries at the Wellcome Collection Conference Centre in London with Matthew Taylor, CEO of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) as chair.

Postive conversation

Matt Meyer, CEO at Taylor Vinters, comments: 'I’m really excited about The Zebra Project; we are collectively doing something very special and I hope together we will create a dialogue and value for each and every one of us. We are coordinating a growing, positive conversation about the future of the business world and the communities we are a part of, whether that’s professionally or personally. This is just the beginning. It’s an opportunity for us all to work together and learn things we never anticipated. In that sense we are open to where the project takes us.'

Board level to-do lists

He added: 'What I am certain of is that this is the right conversation to be having right now. It’s a conversation which will question what the drivers should be behind the organisations we are building, and what the dominant hierarchies and structures of the future should be. It will also discuss leadership, workspace, relationships, governance, skills and ethics. The business landscape is changing. Organisations are evolving. So now is the perfect time to start building Board level to-do lists in response.'

Business leader platform

Matthew Taylor, CEO of the RSA,  commended Taylor Vinters on launching a much-needed platform for business leaders: 'Overall the modern world is a big challenge to traditional authority. Hierarchy is threatened and challenged by the vast changing and complex nature of the world. It becomes even harder for bureaucracies to thrive because they slow things down and act as barriers for information to flow. The unquestionable decline of trust in modern society means that leaders are less likely to rely on willing obedience. On the whole, organisations have more stakeholders, more tensions between them and higher expectations of responsibility meaning it is ever harder to balance the short-term and long-term. Some organisations now span across three generations which means we have a situation where the leaders struggle to relate to the younger people with their tech-infused world.'

Data and tech

He went on to say: 'Having said this, there are components which strengthen authority. For example, data and tech based processes give leaders a better grip on what is happening within their organisations. More fundamentally, is the growing demand within organisations for a stronger sense of purpose which is both a challenge to traditional forms of leadership and an opportunity for new forms.'

Sustainable strategy

Also supporting the initiative was a panel of experts who shared their views on how to shape and support businesses, people, culture, processes and drive a more innovative economy and sustainable strategy. The panel consisted of: Warren East, CEO at Rolls-Royce plc, Alex Jones, Director of Industrial Strategy at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,  Tim Minshall, Professor of Innovation and Head – Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge and Ed Turner, managing partner at Taylor Vinters.  Following the launch will be regular events covering key shifts and issues such as: ethical governance, AI, cyber strategy, the human cloud, skills, leadership and business structures.