In today’s fast-paced world, where change can feel like a whirlwind, Mark Adams’ insights stand as a beacon of clarity—during his conversation on the Applied Intelligence Podcast, Mark, a trailblazer in digital transformation with over 100 global brands under his belt, shared his heartfelt views on creativity, leadership, and innovation—all with a deeply human touch.
1. The Journey Through Creativity and Influence
Mark’s story is full of vivid contrasts: his beginnings in electronic music and his transition to working with global brands. He beautifully describes the dance between left-brain logic and right-brain creativity. “The left brain imposes order,” he says, “but the right brain explores.” This balance fuels groundbreaking ideas, like Lady Gaga’s “Little Monsters” campaign. What started as a genuine connection with fans grew into a cultural phenomenon.
2. Human Needs: The Heart of Innovation
Mark believes true innovation comes from understanding and addressing human needs. “Only compassion can create,” he emphasizes, quoting Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings. Whether it’s transforming a live music experience to prioritize connection over spectacle or something as simple as installing mirrors in elevators to improve the user’s experience, the secret lies in empathy.
3. Culture as a Catalyst for Transformation
“All transformation is cultural transformation,” Mark declares. For businesses to evolve, their cultures must evolve too. He speaks passionately about how infusing fresh perspectives can spark meaningful change. One shining example is L’Oréal’s digital transformation, which saw a global beauty giant become agile and future-focused—all thanks to bold leadership.
4. The Power of Networks in Digital Transformation
“Your network effects are your destiny,” Mark states. Social, corporate, or personal networks have a profound impact on success. He highlights how understanding the dynamics of these networks can amplify growth and opportunity, but doing so requires a clear strategy and vision.
5. Overcoming the Modern Trap: Mastering Self-Command
Mark doesn’t shy away from discussing personal struggles, like ADHD, and how they’ve shaped his approach to productivity. He shares practical advice on maintaining focus in a world filled with distractions. Strategies like pre-commitment—creating boundaries and limiting options—help individuals and organizations achieve long-term success.
6. The Ethical Side of Innovation
Mark passionately advocates for ethical innovation, warning of the dangers posed by unchecked corporate power and the addictive nature of social media. He calls for leaders to prioritize long-term societal benefits over short-term profits, urging them to be stewards of trust.
Key Takeaways
- Creativity fuels innovation: Balance structured thinking with fearless exploration for groundbreaking ideas.
- Empathy drives progress: Understanding and addressing human needs is at the heart of successful innovation.
- Culture is transformative: A company’s culture sets the stage for lasting change and growth.
- Networks amplify success: Leveraging the dynamics of networks creates powerful opportunities.
- Discipline is vital in a digital age: Mastering self-command helps individuals and businesses thrive amid distractions.
- Ethics matter: Leaders must prioritize societal well-being and long-term impacts over short-term gains.
Closing Thoughts
Mark Adams’ insights are a refreshing mix of inspiration and practicality. His emphasis on empathy, creativity, and ethics reminds us that successful innovation isn’t just about technology or strategy; it’s about people. As he wisely puts it, the future lies in rediscovering compassion and staying grounded in what truly matters. For leaders and dreamers alike, Mark’s wisdom offers a powerful guide to navigating the complexities of our modern world.
Hosted by: Imteaz Ahamed
Video Transcript:
Imteaz Ahamed [00:01:34]:
Mark, welcome to the show.
Mark Adams [00:01:36]:
Thanks buddy.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:01:37]:
The way I love to start my show is I ask this question to everyone which is if there was an autobiography of your life and it had five chapters.
Mark Adams [00:01:46]:
Whoa.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:01:46]:
What would the chapter titles of each chapter be in your autobiography?
Mark Adams [00:01:51]:
Wow. Chapter five would be Disgraced Death. Fully intend to die in a utterly disgraceful way. I just don’t know how yet.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:02:04]:
Okay.
Mark Adams [00:02:04]:
Trying to figure it out. Dubai is a good place to figure it out. The first one would be thank God for mum, because I have a wonderful dad who’s one of the smartest guys in the world, but I also have a mum who’s got the kind of spiritual intelligence.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:02:17]:
Okay.
Mark Adams [00:02:18]:
And it’s that classic like divine mother. I think my dad gave me a lot of get it done and that was good. And my mum gave me a lot of love. And then I guess the second chapter would be adhd. Kind of realizing that when you get to your teenage years and you’re just realizing that like you’re a bit different. And then the third one would be electronic music because by completely committing and obviously we’re in the studio here, like just being obsessed with electronic music was the only reason I ended up doing anything. It was never about business or money. And I guess then that leads the fourth chapter would be where we are now, which would be the.
Mark Adams [00:02:57]:
I refer to as kind of the new world. It’s a new world for me, like being in the Middle east, traveling. I’m going to be in India next week. I was in Pakistan last week. Like, for me that is by far this is the most exciting period of my life just because I’m just being immersed in so many new things. And yes, I’m very grateful for that.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:03:18]:
So you work with so many incredible brands, so many incredible celebrities. When you’re working with all these crazy people.
Mark Adams [00:03:25]:
Yeah, they are crazy as well.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:03:28]:
And you know, you have this past as well where you’ve gone through so much struggle, so much learning, so many ups and downs.
Mark Adams [00:03:36]:
Yeah.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:03:37]:
How do you take all of that and work with such high profile people who, you know, seemingly from the outside in, it looks like they have their together. But you know, when you get to know them and when you understand how human they are, everyone’s got issues and problems. So how do you take that learning and knowledge that you’ve had in yourself and then apply it to your work?
Mark Adams [00:04:01]:
I think the best thing I’ve ever heard is in a meeting that I had really early in my career with Usher and he said, dude, everyone’s just making it up as they go along. And that is so liberating because they really are like nobody. Honestly, I almost down to the point where, like, I like to think I’m a strategist in some ways and we all like to think that. But sometimes I think not having a strategy and being honest about it is the strategy.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:04:30]:
Do you know what I mean?
Mark Adams [00:04:31]:
Yeah. And I think honestly to God, one of the things I noticed, you know, when I was in Hollywood for nearly five years, six years, I swear to God I would not you. There’s no amount of money you could pay me to be a famous person in the music industry or the film industry. Like, it’s a mind destroying journey and it mostly damages you more than it does anything else. So I think if you’re like anyone listening to this who like really wants to be famous, like, trust me, you don’t. You don’t. Yeah.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:05:04]:
So let’s dive into that deeper, making it up as you go along and not necessarily always having a strategy for everything.
Mark Adams [00:05:10]:
Yeah.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:05:11]:
I think when we live in a, at least in a business world where everyone expects you to have a plan, everyone expects you to have a plan on a page, a strategy document, a mission statement, all this stuff.
Mark Adams [00:05:22]:
Yes.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:05:23]:
And you’ve been doing it day in, day out, especially for companies that have existed for decades. The strategy that you had 10 years ago, 20 years ago, can’t keep reapplying that right now. So how do you think about, or what do you think the essential qualities that a leader needs to have to drive digital transformation within a company today?
Mark Adams [00:05:46]:
Yeah, I think this is kind of the if you think about business in so many ways, and I think Silicon Valley is a really good example of this because Silicon Valley has somewhat of the kind of artistry of the right brain, you know, but it also has the kind of fundamentals of business on the left-hand side of the brain. It’s the same in Hollywood. You know, people are first and foremost, they like to think of themselves as artistically, you know, imbued with something. But on the other hand, it’s a big business. And so one of the things I noticed was that maybe what the left brain tries to do, which is, you know, impose order on, on the world, Right. It’s okay to do that, but I think there needs to be a pretty deep exploratory right brain face where you get to go, right, we’re just gonna try this like with Lady Gaga. No one said, oh yeah, we’re gonna create this thing called the Little Monsters. Like we did one post saying, you little monsters.
Mark Adams [00:06:44]:
And people went nuts. And we went, oh, maybe we should call it that, you know, like, so we’re always kind of testing the fence, right? Like everyone’s just like, you came up with a little Monsters. And now the junior intern person, social media just typed it one time and that was the answer, you know. So I think the right brain Is really good from an artistic point of view of like, I would call it like low cost, low investment. Testing, just fucking testing. Like reiterating. Testing, testing. And then the left brain goes, aha.
Mark Adams [00:07:14]:
I’ve seen the five things that work. Now I’m gonna go deeper.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:07:18]:
Measuring this all out is, you know, where a lot of companies go wrong. Right. So like if in terms of making investments in innovation hubs or innovation centers etc.
Mark Adams [00:07:28]:
Yeah.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:07:29]:
So many people just throw money at this thing, have a very short expectation for when it’s going to deliver roi. But you don’t just create value because you had a whiteboard session, right?
Mark Adams [00:07:42]:
Yes.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:07:42]:
So how do you kind of coach people to think about innovation specifically? Not just as a thing that you do as part of a planning cycle or annual training cycle.
Mark Adams [00:07:53]:
Yeah.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:07:53]:
But a muscle that you develop so you. That you can do it at the right time when the opportunity or, you know, the opportunity or like the market signal is there to do it.
Mark Adams [00:08:04]:
Yeah. Well, you nailed it with market Signal. I mean, I think in a way, if you think about that difference in the right and the left brain, again, like, I’ve probably got it here. Like I probably wrote it on a sticky note somewhere. But only, you know, this, this is my ADHD brain. But when you really look at it, there’s something a little bit spiritual about innovation.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:08:25]:
Yeah.
Mark Adams [00:08:26]:
Right. And that’s like potentially just gonna sound nonsense, but I really believe this. The thing about trying to create something from zero. Right. Like something that is unmanifest, that becomes manifest.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:08:37]:
Yep.
Mark Adams [00:08:37]:
Is ultimately you can. You can hang your hat what you’re trying to do on any peg you like, but eventually, once you’ve experienced enough trauma and pain of getting it wrong, you’re going to start to hang your hat on human needs. And the beautiful thing about human needs is it doesn’t matter. I have a need for things. And you might have a need for different things, but actually underneath is the same human need. Right. So there’s something really universal about human needs. And I think when you start, when a company.
Mark Adams [00:09:12]:
I’ve seen it, we’ve all seen it. Right. When it’s like, we’re gonna put things into the world and we’re gonna do this and you’re like, you’re fucked. It’s not gonna work. But when people start with, okay, we’re really trying to find human need. And the bigger the need, the more pain, in a way, the bigger the business opportunity. And so you end up with this quite interesting thought, which is kind of Lord of the Rings. Right.
Mark Adams [00:09:38]:
Like Gandalf says to the other bad wizard guy, you don’t understand. Only compassion can create. So only understanding somebody else’s unmet need can create something that’s worth creating. And so that’s kind of that synthesis between the left brain, like, business world, and the right brain, art world. That people needed that catharsis. They needed to see that, they needed to hear that. They needed to. So I kind of always come back to that.
Mark Adams [00:10:06]:
And I wish I’d learned that earlier. I spent so long luxuriating in ideas I thought were great. There was no human need for them. They might have been really good ideas, but there just was no human need for them. And all innovation, that fails kind of the same for sure.
Imteaz Ahamed [00:10:24]:
And there are so many people, you know, building so many hammers, but there are no nails to hammer those nails completely, or you’re thinking.
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