I woke up one morning in March 2001 with a clear vision. I saw, in my mind’s eye, two light beams intersecting, with each beam representing a different field or culture. It stayed with me for less than a minute, but I felt that perhaps my whole life had led up to this vision.
When I reflect on it, my entire life had been spent at intersections. It’s hard not to be, growing up in Sweden with my father’s Swedish culture and my mother’s southern (North Carolina, to be exact) African-American and Cherokee cultures. The Sweden I grew up in was much more homogenous than it is today—quite different from New York City where I have spent most of my adult life. I loved fishing and writing, thanks to my father who combined both into a career. I wrote and published a fantasy novel in high school, and fell in love with quantum physics after seeing a diagram of the double-slit experiment.
I left Sweden for college, studying environmental science at Brown University. After college, my cousin and I started a company based on my aunt’s pain measurement tool, and brought some of the practices around this to Sweden. It was remarkable how quickly we became seen as experts by simply intersecting existing knowledge with a new geography. I applied for a doctoral program in Marine Biology, but one of my recommenders did not send his letter in on time. So instead, I applied to Harvard Business School. This was something I would have never considered a few months earlier, but a decision that ultimately led to the publication of The Medici Effect in 2004.
The book launched my global speaking career and, later, my consulting firm, The Medici Group. The Medici Effect and its follow-up, The Click Moment, have had an impact on industries, fields and leaders way, way beyond my expectations.
Companies today, need to become faster and far better at innovation — or risk obsolescence. The key to this shift is transitioning to a new model of fast-moving, diverse and inclusive teams that can rapidly uncover new, innovative pathways for growth.
“Absolute knockout!”
“One of the most dynamic presenters I’ve every experiened…. bold, creative and fun. Engages his audience and taps into individual creativity in a new and exciting way. His energy is contagious!”
“Captured the tremendous business value of cultural diversity and its impact on innovation—in a very fun way! Frans’ presentation was one of the highlights of our conference.”
Engaging, inspiring and very thoughtful!”
An outstanding speaker. One of the most compelling cases for diversity that I have ever seen.”
“Frans has a unique and captivating way of looking at things. He led my organization and one of my ideation teams through high-energy innovation sessions. In just one session, he took our team from: struggling with no direction or ideas to: fully developed ideas with a process and plan… I highly recommend his approach—truly one of the best corporate development experiences I have ever had.”
“I once again want to commend you on doing a superb job presenting at our Professional Development Conference. The evaluations are in and this is the response: 1) The speaker was motivational and informative 100%. 2) I learned something new from the speaker that I can apply to my business 99%. We have never received a 100%, on speaker evaluations. You are awesome!”
“Frans Johansson is an exceptional speaker and thought leader. I brought him to speak to my leadership and his powerful message and memorable delivery helped change how we thought about innovation.”
“Unlike any other speaker I have ever seen. Incredibly high-energy and able to surprise the audience and keep them at the edge of their seats. Excellent insights and … remembered for years.”
“Frans delivered an inspired talk where he urged us to continue our efforts in adapting, learning and pushing boundaries. It was energizing and tailored to our organizational goals and identity.”
