Alan wong

Stay informed by being interested in the key trend of technology ( Gen AI ), climate related projects and the geopolitical landscape Actively connect with professional networks, social and community networks. Actively seek up new insights on travel with the local community. Be open to other new sources beyond just Western media to understand the other side eg chinese, russian and india new sources for key items to be presented in another perspective

What would be useful is to track early indicators of demand in the selected products and services. Eg the volume of production of semi-conductors that would go into electronic products as an indication of demand. The volume of container shipment of toys out of Asia to the USA for Thanksgiving and Christmas would provide earlier indication of retail sales for Black Friday etc

At the extreme end of the spectrum is to have the company responsible for saving the planet. Most would agree that this cannot be the only mission of the company to the exclusion of the interest of the other stakeholders. So, responsibly, we should also ask who is willing to pay for the sustainability endeavors and how to balance out the core carbon footprint reductions versus the lastest fad coming onstream. Also, reducing existing consumption would natutally result in a smaller carbon footprint and how we do engrain this as a core prinicple corporately and individually.

Always remain curious about things and people around me. Learn from other perspectives. Appreciate the craftmanship that goes into art and creative endeavours. Inquire from domain experts around us and allow them to share their insights. Reverse mentor with the younger ones in terms of their social media engagement and their go-tos. We stay relevant and engaged always and ever ready to be in a place to value add new perspectives when needed

In the Asian context especially those from high powered distance culture, it is perhaps deemed to be rude to be asking difficult personal questions or those that may imply not "face saving" in doing so. Therefore, we may want to employ technologies that allow for anonymous questions to be raised. Alternatively, schedule subseqent one on one discussion time with various members of the audience to allow for them to ask questions in private.

My training to be a constant problem solver requires me to place more effort in active listening especially when it deal in areas that have high human emotional interests. What seems to be a logical path has be layered with the emotional lens that it is being viewed. Only when we are able to understand the perspective of the other person and have their confirmation would this be the basis to builld the next conversation. Also, i found it almost impossible to have a meaningful conversation when the other party is in the fits of anger. It would be better to defer discussion till the person is in a calmer state.