i3 - January/February 2019 - 91

By Curtis Kincaid

Business

CT R E P O RTS

Ninja CEO: A Conversation with
Gary Shapiro About His New Book

 B 

uilding on the success of his last two bestsellers - 2011's
The Comeback and 2013's Ninja Innovation - Gary
Shapiro offers readers a roadmap for the future in CTA's
new book Ninja Future: How to Thrive in the New World of
Innovation. By combining years of experience as head of the
Consumer Technology Association with the most cutting-edge
research and analysis, he empowers readers to confront the future
with confidence, creativity and clarity.
The book gives an overview of three
key topics. First, innovation past and
future - how evolving technology has
changed our world and how the
innovative technologies in development will impact our future. It moves
on to discuss the large-scale conditions we must implement to bring
about this future. Lastly, the book
offers concrete advice to companies
and individuals that seek to thrive in
the ninja future. By highlighting the
core values and strategies that power
innovation, readers will gain insights
into what they can do to succeed
amid rapid change.
Shapiro is an ideal guide in this
transient, transformative age. His
humor and candor make even the
most complex ideas accessible and
the wildest ideas seem possible. We
sat down with him to get a little
more perspective on the book and
why he wrote it.

Q This book shares a theme with your
last book - the ninja. Why did you come
back to this idea?
A In my last book, I outlined the qualities of ninja innovators - their flexibility,
fearlessness and love of freedom. But as
I continued to observe, read and think, I
realized these qualities wouldn't be necessary for only the innovators we support
at CTA - they're the qualities that will drive
our global future. I wanted to expand the
ninja model beyond the tech industry to
C TA . t e c h / i 3

include individuals and organizations of
all different shapes and sizes.

Q What made you think this was the moment for the insights in this book?

A With every year, the pace of innova-

tion accelerates. Five years ago, we
couldn't have imagined the connectivity
provided by smart speakers such as the
Amazon Echo or the Apple HomePod.
Ten years ago, ridesharing services such
as Uber and Lyft were in their infancy.
Twenty years ago, only 41 percent of
American adults were online - and now,
smartphones are integral to our lives,
connecting us to news and information
anywhere, anytime.
And innovations in technology don't
show any sign of slowing down. Selfdriving vehicles, artificial intelligence,
virtual reality, digital health - these
trends will power our future and change
our lives for the better, along with
dozens more we haven't even imagined
yet. Waiting for the right moment, for
stability, for technology to settle into
place - it's just not going to happen. We
have to accept we're in a moving, mobile
moment and go with it. The longer we
wait, the more likely it is that we'll fall
behind and other nations will speed on
ahead. When it comes to technology,
there's no time like the present.

Q What's your favorite part of the book?
A That's a tough one - I tried to make

Waiting for the right
moment, for stability,
for technology to settle
into place - it's just not
going to happen.

every word count! One thing I'm particularly proud of is the section that gives an
overview of the countries that are most
innovation-friendly. At CTA, we've developed a unique tool - the International
Innovation Scorecard - that allows you
to click on a country and find out how
welcoming it is to innovation. Each
country is unique, and no one country is
doing it perfectly. I really enjoyed being
able to build on this research and give
readers a concrete sense of how countries around the world are getting ready
for a global ninja future.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

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https://www.cta.tech/
i3 - January/February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - January/February 2019
