Sally Dominguez

Singularity Expert: Innovation Strategist, 10X Mindset Catalyzer, Moonshot Thinking

Sally Dominguez is a thought leader in resilience, sustainable innovations, and exponential mindset. A futurist and inventor with seven international product awards, Sally pioneered two new product categories that are now mainstream, and has been named one of Australia’s “50 for the Future” entrepreneurs in the USA. Sally coaches Fortune500 Companies in moonshot thinking and 10X leadership, and has worked most recently in the innovation areas of green hydrogen, electric transportation, and the convergence of work, transport, home and decentralized green energy.

Sally’s book, EPIC Resilience, is a strategy for developing a creative resilience suitable for success in the Fourth Revolution.The EPIC corporate strategy addresses and strengthens culture and inclusive innovation. The EPIC Resilience is currently being developed as a free online education series. Sally’s innovation strategy, Adventurous Thinking, uses five diverse lenses (Negative Space, Sideways, Backwards, ReThinking and Parkour) to help people think outside expertise and into the realm of possibility and  moonshot thinking. Adventurous Thinking was developed as an education initiative in Australia, then a business strategy at Stanford, and is now used by forward-thinking organisations around the world including NASA, Sony, Roche and Citi.

Sally has over ten years judging invention, innovation and Car of the Year awards on TV and in person, giving her a unique perspective and deep understanding of the mental bearable discomfort required to work outside expertise and knowledge while breaking new ground.

As Program Director for Innovation,Strategy and Design at Singularity University in 2019 Sally wrote several future reports examining the role of trust, transparency and resilience in the next ten years. She constructed Diversity and Inclusion workshops and bottom-up inclusive corporate innovation scaffolding remains one of her specialities. Sally’s passion is in inspiring optimism and creative confidence in others. Her purpose is to help every human creatively embrace the change and uncertainty of the FourthRevolution.

Speaking Topics

Synergizing Minds and Machines: Unleashing Human Innovation through AI

Examining a collaborative and enhancing relationship between human creativity and artificial intelligence, where proactive Adventurous Thinking (AT) is augmented and enabled by machine learning. Always ensuring a human-centric focus, Sally discusses bleeding edge technologies that might re-address trust and idea-sharing, and Adventurous Thinking tools that facilitate future-forward solutions and optimism.

​Outcomes:

  • An understanding of how to approach the inclusive implementation of AI
  • A reconsideration of future workplace, our roles and positive strategies
  • Defining the role of creative thinking and machine learning within an organization

The WORKSHOP has the same title – but involves co-creating AT and AI strategy using new tools, including my new Trust Triage tool to pinpoint obstacles for innovation and transaction.


10X Leadership: Leading with Vision and Inclusion

Never has it been more important to lead with hope, and with vision. Purpose and Trust are fundamental in guiding strategy through exponential change. This keynote first explores the role of Purpose - how it can provoke moonshot thinking as well as strategy - then moves into inclusion and how every stakeholder might be part of consistent growth. Using case studies and challenges around unexpected convergences, this keynote is fast-paced, thought-provoking and effective.

Outcomes:

  • An understanding of the new metrics around strategy in the Fourth Revolution
  • An understanding of how to work with Purpose to build platforms, trust and new markets
  • Tools to provoke and then develop moonshot thinking
  • Concepts for developing inclusive culture throughout the workplace

Options:

  • Adjacency Mapping Tool, exploring moonshots with 10X tech (+15-minutes)
  • Maximizing GenZ in the Workplace (+20-minutes)

A Bright Green, Circular Energy Future

Sally works as an inventor working at the bleeding edge of renewable technologies, including wave energy, current energy and - her particular passion - affordable green hydrogen. This keynote includes her insights on new battery technology, affordable energy storage options, Circular economy innovations and future directions in transportation and building energy systems. Exploring resilience and decentralized energy solutions, Sally also poses the question: if we have abundant renewable resources for energy generation, can we remove the focus on efficiency and thus serve more people?

Outcomes:

  • An overview of current research in green hydrogen, wave energy, offshore wind
  • An overview of current thinking around energy storage options with an emphasis on either circular lithium, or Li-alternatives
  • Insights into designing circular systems at various scales
  • Insights into the potential of decentralized systems and micro-factories

Options:

  • ReThinking, exploring a reconsideration of scale in energy innovation (+30 mins)
  • Adjacency Mapping Tool, exploring circular systems (+15-minutes)
  • Thinking Backwards, mapping a robust, economical, accelerated pipeline (+30 mins)

Adventurous 10X Mindset activated talk

Covers intro to Exponentials and the mindset needed for an exponential world, uses Adventurous Thinking lenses (Parkour for short talks, Parkour plus often ReThinking for longer) plus the Innovation Quadrant tool for mapping innovation. This talk not only describes the difference between linear and exponential thinking, it activates the 10X mindset using the extreme disruption lens of Parkour.

Adventurous Thinking workshop

Adventurous Thinking workshop: runs as a 2 x 5 hr at Stanford each semester (1 credit course) and tailors down to a 1 or even 1/2 day workshop depending on whether one wants overview, product pipeline development or other insights. Presents the Five Lenses which use the theory of multiple intelligences to provoke users into a state of bearable discomfort and enable them deeper understanding and insights into their issues, and a plethora of unexpected possibilities and solutions.

Exploring Exponential Systems 2022 and Beyond

Outlines the fundamental difference between linear and exponential thinking, the importance of Purpose for strategizing in exponential change, and the evolution from exponential organizations to larger systems. Examines proactive strategies including pretotyping and prosumer models, and convergence of B2B and B2C in the reach for consumer data.This keynotes provokes thinking around unexpected and accelerated convergence, and emphasizes the importance of authentic purpose and inclusive innovation for any individual or organization seeking to flourish with impact.

Outcomes:

  • An understanding of exponential systems
  • An understanding of how to pretotype
  • An understanding of frugal innovation and prosumer outreach
  • an experience of possibility thinking

Options:

  • Adjacency Mapping Tool, a tool for exploring convergence (+15-minutes)
  • GenZ Behaviors and Expectations (+20-minutes)

Exploring Exponential Systems and Accelerated Convergences

Outlining the fundamental difference between linear and exponential thinking, the importance of Purpose for strategizing in exponential change, and the evolution from exponential organizations to larger systems. Teams will learn, discuss and practice proactive strategies including pretotyping and prosumer models.

Future-Forward Resilience

Explores modern resilience as a system for finding opportunity in the chaos of constant change. This keynote covers decentralized systems, exponential systems, co-creative ecosystems and a rethink of how we define work, home, travel and comfort. Examines the convergence of many of the life and business verticals we take for granted, to find opportunity for growth, for new businesses and for new communities.

Outcomes:

  • Activation of 10X Mindset
  • A state of play overview of converging life and business verticals
  • An understanding of how decentralization might look for industries and businesses
  • Insights into the future of Work and Life at Home
  • Understanding of how EPIC works as a scalable strategy for confidence, growth and inclusion.

Future of Mobility keynote

Based on the NextBillionCars podcast interviews and research as well as my 10 years judging cars and researching design, sustainable materials and alternative energy drivetrains and trends. Why are we trending away from car ownership? is that trend a real reflection of the enduring expectation of families and older generations to own vehicles and fill them with stuff\? Where does the WUN (Working Urban Nomad, a new growing demographic identified by me during my IKEA 2030 research) fit into cities? A talk looking at the less talked about bleeding edge human side of future vehicles and technologies.

Future Visioning

Future Vision is a custom workshop designed to inspire organizational leaders by teaching them about coming technological disruptions, reframing their mindset about the future of their industry and organization, and guiding them to apply a possibility mindset as they explore moonshots, unexpected convergences and adjacent opportunities created in our rapidly changing world. This Workshop is fast-paced and full of new, hard thinking, as befits the disruptive era we are experiencing.

Intro to Exponentials

Outlines the fundamental difference between linear and exponential thinking, the metrics we need to focus on in the Fourth Revolution, and the common characteristics of exponential technologies and exponential organizations. This keynotes provokes thinking around unexpected and accelerated convergence, and emphasizes the importance of authentic purpose and inclusive innovation for any individual or organization seeking to flourish with impact.

Outcomes:

  • An understanding of exponential systems
  • an experience of possibility thinking
  • Adjacency Mapping Tool, a tool for exploring convergence

Options:

  • Innovation Quadrants, a tool for tracking innovation, and guiding explosive vs incremental growth (+15-minutes)
  • Parkour Inversion, a disruption tool for new systems and possibility thinking (+20 minutes)

Leadership in the Digital age keynote/activated talk

Leading through transparency. Includes the CV of Failure exercise and how to model transparent leadership and incorporate failure into expectations and performance reviews.

Moonshot Thinking

What does it take to lead in an era of unrelenting change? What does it take to become a dealer in hope when so many people fear these waves of new technology? Moonshot thinking is the human mind at its best, working in the zone of bearable discomfort to bring imagination to life. In the words of Astro Teller from Goole Ex, “Making a moonshot is almost more an exercise in creativity than it is in technology”. This workshop first frees up the mind by exploring bearable discomfort and possibility thinking, then introduces a range of exponential technologies through convergence exercises and prompts. 10X technologies empower us to work at our own mental and physical cutting edge. Man is still the measure of all things, and the Fourth Revolution heralds a renaissance in human creativity and potential.

Next Generation Expectations & Behaviors

Sally works on disruptive digital strategies around next generation expectations with organizations including IKEA, Rockwell Automation, PepsiCO and Citi. Sally is Generation X, with a keen interest in GenerationZ (25 years and under). Sally’s book, EPIC Resilience, has unexpectedly resonated with GenerationZ readers in their 20s, resulting in wide-ranging, first-hand feedback on what these consumers are looking for, and what they expect in a job and in a product or service. Sally’s expertise in GenZ expectations is based on research from around the world, and first-hand feedback and interaction with teenagers and 20-somethings in Latin America, Australia and the USA.

Outcomes:

  • Insights into the particular demands of GenZ
  • Exploration of prosumer and co-creation models inside and outside an organization
  • Concepts for a rich, interactive, online environment serving all generations

Resilience

Resilience, a new one covering sustainable cities and resilience at personal and building level as a necessary future competency. Still working on this but its born of my IKEA 2030 research and my background as architect and designer of tiny houses, modular living and decentralized energy.

The 10X Human: Resilient, Transparent, Ingenious

This new era of relentless exponential change has left many people feeling powerless, overwhelmed, even inconsequential. In the rush to celebrate 10X technology the human element has been neglected. But in the Singularity, Machine Intelligence is met with Human Ingenuity. Human ingenuity is that unique, underexplored ability that every human brain has to make unexpected connections and imaginative leaps and to delve in the realm of possibility. Human creativity is unparalleled. Modern business has generally valued knowledge and rational thinking over imagination, possibility and moonshot thinking. As the Fourth Revolution upends traditional business practices around the world, unleashing the creative power of our human capital is the key to consistent growth. The future of work is not prediction and analysis, it is imagination and creation. The future of leadership is not control and hierarchy, it is trust, transparency, and inclusion. Living with relentless change means cultivating the personal resilience, mental and physical, to constantly work at the edge of chaos - and flourish. This new era requires a new way of thinking and a new way of being. Every person deserves the chance to level up their ingenuity and creativity, and to reignite their curiosity. 10X Humans wielding 10X technology will achieve incredible things.

Outcomes:

  • Activated 10X Mindset
  • Optimism
  • An understanding of how inclusion and innovation will drive growth
  • An understanding of frugal innovation and prosumer outreach
  • Best practice in failing forward
  • An outline of how to structure for inclusive innovation

Options:

  • Thinking Sideways: the Meyer-Briggs inversion to reveal the importance of including both introvert and extrovert thinking (+20 minutes)
  • Thinking Backward: Backcasting to create cultural change in an organization

The Future Of.....

As a multi-award-winning inventor, and a futurist, researching and practicing innovation, Sally’s work places her firmly at the convergence of many future-forward industries. She has pioneered plastics innovation, co-created Diversity & Inclusion frameworks, co-hosts TheNextBillionCars, wrote a Circular Green Hydrogen Roadmap for the Caribbean and recently designed a hydrogen-fuel cell house/vehicle hybrid transporter. Sally adds new information to every keynote to ensure that the content is immediate. Importantly, Sally ensures that her audience understands their active role in creatively envisaging future uses for exponential technologies.

Outcomes:

  • Overview of exponential technologies, systems and directions
  • Optimism
  • An understanding of frugal innovation’s “creativity before capital”
  • Many ideas

Options:

  • Product Pipeline workshop to extend the thinking into ideas exploration and future-forward product/service development (+60-180 mins)
  • Thinking Backward: Backcasting to plan robust, accelerated delivery

The Future of .......Water/Green Energy/Transport/Food/Health/Retail/Work/Cities

A customized workshop designed to provoke exponential thinking around a particular topic, explore adjacent opportunities and technologies, and ultimately produce a diverse, future-forward pipeline of impactful products and services. This workshop examines not only internal innovative thinking, but how to harness the power of GenZ and other proactive consumers with prosumer outreach and co-creation opportunities.

ADVENTUROUS THINKING Innovation CatalyzerJune 2017

Dubai is set to be at the fore of exponential thinking

MULTIFARIANS EP 1 Jay Shuster HD

Innovation Catalyser 2017

Publications

Finding the Big Idea: 5 Ways to Approach Innovation From Different Perspectives

Leveling up Human Potential

External Links

Aussie Inventions That Changed the World (History Channel)

Video: News on Reverse Biomimicry Program in Australian schools

Sally Dominguez | The Inventor’s Mindset, Scaling Innovation, Singularity University

Podcast: The Next Billion Cars