If strategic planning in the consumer goods sector feels different right now, you’re not imagining it. For the past 15 years, leaders in CPG categories have struggled to build plans that deliver the kinds of predictable, reliable profit of days past. Former General Mills Chief Strategy Officer, and a leading independent voice in long range strategic planning, Peter McDonald joins us to discuss the shifting expectation of corporate strategy, where it is necessary to provide a long range lens into the future beyond a short term fiduciary focus. At the heart of this strategy challenge today is a preoccupation with old playbooks in new competitive landscapes, prioritizing the shareholder at the expense of the consumer, and operating with false confidence - denial, even - that things will revert to the way they were.

----------

More:

• Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.com
• Connect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.com
• Learn more about Peter McDonald
• Follow Peter on LinkedIn

----------

⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!

----------

Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.

All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.

Fashion is a massive $1.8 Trillion industry. Within that two tales unfold: one of quality, timelessness and individualized expression, and another of wastefulness, shame and pride. On this episode of Looking Outside, we explore how fast fashion competes with slow fashion; where craftsmanship, carefulness and scarcity supersede fleeting trends. For this we’re joined by French fashion designer and YouTuber Justine Leconte. To her one million viewers around the world, Justine emphasizes the importance of choosing what we buy carefully. But not necessarily at the expense of style, which everyone has the ability to harness, particularly when we tailor fashion to us.

----------

More:

• Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.com
• Connect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.com
• Learn more about Justine Leconte & her label
• Follow Justine on YouTube, Pinterest & TikTok
• Check out Justine's guide for Timelines Style
• Request Justine's Fast Fashion Blacklist
• Watch 5 myths that fast fashion brands want you to believe

----------

⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!

----------

Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.

All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.

This podcast was not read by synthetic AI generated replicas … although it could be. Live from the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies in Denmark, together with three trained communications professionals, we discuss the future of their field. If there even is one.

FARSIGHT podcast host and Head of Publications at the CIFS Casper Skovgaard Petersen, Head of Communications Toke Hanghøj and new CIFS partner, and host Jo Lepore discuss the synthetification of what we create and what we consume.

Technology is rapidly upending the traditional media industry. As this happens, we see literacy rates declining and the increasing ease of outsourcing writing and thinking.

So too, all of this influences the stories we create and tell about the future. Whether we paint visions as warning for where our vices may take us, or as a mirror to reflect back what parts of humanity we do not want to lose. And of course, there are lessons in looking back at the past and the stories we told each other that no longer hold true.

----------

More:

• Looking Outside podcast www.looking-outside.com
• Connect with host, Jo Lepore on LinkedIn & X & jolepore.com
• Learn more about Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
• Listen to the FARSIGHT podcast & read the publication
• Follow Casper & Toke on LinkedIn

----------

⭐ Follow & rate the show - it makes a difference!

----------

Looking Outside is a podcast exploring fresh perspectives of familiar topics. Hosted by its creator, futurist and strategist, Jo Lepore. New episodes every 2 weeks. Never the same topic.

All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme songs by Azteca X.