Chris Kutarna is co-author of Age of Discovery: Navigating the Storms of Our Second Re-naissance, a best-selling, internationally acclaimed book published by Bloomsbury and St Martin’s Press in eight languages. Among other predictions, Chris publicly foresaw Brexit and the election of Donald Trump.
In late 2018, Chris launched the Renaissance Expedition: a global journey to find, con-nect, support and challenge the pathfinders who are leading society and business into the new world. The non-profit Expedition convenes invite-only “basecamps” around the world. The first, held in North America, brought together Nobel Laureates, award-winning artists and singers, billionaires, disadvantaged youth and other leaders to shake up their own paradigms and make new maps together.
Chris is the lead-off presenter for two of the three flagship Executive Education pro-grammes at Oxford Saïd Business School—the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme and the Oxford Advanced Management & Leadership Programme. (Oxford’s flagship pro-grammes are currently ranked #2 in the world by Financial Times.)
Chris’ monthly essays (published at www.kutarna.net) are read by thousands of senior ex-ecutives, journalists, academics, policy makers and business leaders.
He has been a two-time Governor General’s Medallist, a Commonwealth Scholar, and a Fel-low of the Oxford Martin School at Oxford University. Chris consulted with BCG in New Zea-land, Australia and China. Chris holds a doctorate in Politics (of China) from the University of Oxford, started a business in Beijing, and speaks Mandarin.
Testimonials:
“At a recent event launching the International Business Festival, Chris gave a fascinating presentation on the ‘Future’. Such a broad concept would be difficult to explore over the course of several books, but Chris managed to do so in a matter of 15 minutes and in a way which was both enthralling and enlightening. I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Chris as a speaker and look forward to welcoming him as one of the hosts of our Festival main stage this June.”
Chairman, The Riverside Group
“I attend and speak in a lot of conferences. I can say that yours was one of the most interesting and thought-provoking keynotes that I’ve seen recently. I personally have worked on the megatrends, and the way you presented takes people out of their comfort zone.”
Executive Board Member, EDP
“Chris was a huge hit. Our industry is very focused on the major trends you predicted and how we can better serve our customers. Thank you for your tremendous insights.”
President, Edison Electric Institute
“Chris was fantastic! We were really happy and his talk fit our conference theme perfectly.”
John West Seafood
BOOKS
Age of Discovery: Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Our New Renaissance
The present is a contest between the bright and dark sides of discovery. To avoid being torn apart by its stresses, we need to recognize the fact—and gain courage and wisdom from the past. Age of Discovery shows how.
MASTER CLASS
Are You Renaissance-Ready? Thriving in an Age of Discovery
The first Renaissance confronted leaders with a stark choice between two strategic attitudes: wait-and-see, or audacity. Hesitate until the chaos of the age settled into some new order - or be liberated from conventional caution by existential threats and historic possibilities. And today, we face the same stark choice. The vast majority of today's corporations have dropped anchor rather than brave the biggest storm in living memory. Instead of investing, companies hoard cash and buy back their own shares. In this unique masterclass, Chris will help you assess your readiness for the second Renaissance. What is covered: 1. A primer on the 'second Renaissance'. What better way to stretch our expectations for the future than to explore what has already happened under similar circumstances? Chris will help you to put on the same glasses that helped him to foresee the biggest political shocks of the 21st century. 2. Are you Renaissance-ready? Chris condenses the chief corporate wisdom of the first Renaissance into six categories of behaviour that together inform your team or organisation's capacity to magnify flourishing genius and mitigate flourishing risk. 3. The Renaissance Readiness Index™. Chris charts the strengths, vulnerabilities and development priorities of your team or organisation against all six categories via a proprietary survey of 47 specific indicators (administered to all participants prior to the masterclass). Chris interprets the results and facilitates a dialogue on their implications.
