Speaking
Talks with practical takeaways.
Andy uses his sustainably-powered expeditions as a practical lens to explore how people are inspired to change, how they stay motivated, and how failure is a aid to progress.
"Sustainability is a distinct challenge — but it’s also the ultimate litmus test for how organisations handle change." - Andy Pag
With over 15 years’ experience on the speaking circuit, his talks have a practical impact on organisations and individuals facing a transformation, whether their focus is climate, culture, innovation, or performance.
Andy also brings his skills as a multiple-award-winning BBC journalist to understanding his clients’ needs, tailoring his talks and seminars to fit the audience and their business challenges. From academic to light-hearted, here are some popular themes he talks about:
Petrol-head to tree-hugger: Identity and motivation
For years Andy drove gas-guzzlers across the Sahara Desert, until an epiphany created a new set of motivations and challenges. At the start of the change journey you have to manage the conflict between who you are and the need to evolve. Building a foundation for your motivation by interrogating your identity is the key to keep you steadfast as you transform.
Sustainability as a Change Problem
Andy’s experiments in cutting carbon emissions while travelling the world came with a cost of abandoning familiar expertise, embracing uncertain endpoints and conflicting motivations. Sustainability is our era’s stress test for how organisations handle change.
When lightning strikes the boat. Rebounding from the bang.
A 300,000v lightning strike went racing through the mast just a few feet from Andy. The navigation electronics exploded, and within minutes the boat was taking on water through the holes the lightning had made in the hull. When recovering from a shock, the secret to success is how you make sense of the setbacks and reframe your situation to adapt to the new challenges.
What goes right when things go wrong: Failure as a companion to innovation and change.
A paragliding accident left Andy with a broken back and ended his career as a professional paraglider pilot. Rock bottom is a powerful place for rebirth, but failure isn’t just an iterative step towards progress. Allowing the space for failure enables you to enter the space where real innovation happens. Learning to make sense of the setbacks is the real ingredient for success.
Lessons from an Indian prison cell
Wrongly imprisoned and out of cash, Andy had to decide if and how to keep his round-the-world expedition on the road. When the transformation you planned stalls or takes an unexpected twist, sometimes you have to hold firm, other times you have to adapt, and sometimes the smart thing to do is throw in the towel and start again. All three take courage, but knowing which to do is the hard part.