Upstream work—the phase of a promising idea or initiative where the unknowns predominate—is a massive unstructured activity within companies of all kinds. Rafiq provides a system to embrace unknowns from the start of a bright idea, strategic problem or new initiative through the steps of alignment and decision making with sponsors and executives. 

Rafiq argues that while talent is vital to any company’s success, collaboration and decision making systems separate industry leaders from the rest—and that systems designed to embrace unknowns are the quickest, most enduring way to foster growth, continuous innovation and problem solving. 

In his journey from Silicon Valley into the top echelons of the Fortune 500, Rafiq is known for his ability to distill management theory into action. Told through a practitioner’s eyes, Rafiq shares pivotal stories from companies such as Amazon,  McDonald’s and Volvo about high stakes initiatives and key forks in the road.

Teams and the leaders who oversee them will immediately relate to the pitfalls of today’s approach—blindspots, inertia, watered  down ideas, small thinking, and endless alignment—and learn how Decision Sprint ensures avoiding them all together. 

In Decision Sprint,
learn about: 

• Moving Upstream—to feed and smooth the way for downstream execution 

• Establishing Decision Sprints—to tap into the power of questioning, gather the  right input and defeat the fear of unknowns. 

• Crafting Workflows - to bring Decision Sprints to life and streamline everything  from exploration to alignment to decision making. 

• Calibration over Control - a new mantra for leaders to unleash the power of  teams and bring out the best in their people.

• Landing and Expanding—to achieve adoption and drive change one initiative at  a time, starting at the team level. 

• CEO perspectives - hear from the CEO’s/ Presidents of H&R Block, Peacock, Volvo, Restaurant Brands, Orange Theory Fitness and others on the keys to innovation and growth.

• Preparing for AI - the game changing role of software, the goldmine of data it will unleash, and how AI will assist leaders and management with new levels of radar and signals about performance. 

• Case studies - including Amazon’s disruption in self-publishing, McDonald’s massive digital transformation, the secret launch of Apple Pay, Volvo’s push for sustainability and more.

Atif Rafiq has blazed trails in Silicon Valley and the Fortune 500 for over 25 years. After rising through digital native companies like Amazon, Yahoo!, and AOL, Atif held C-suite roles at McDonald’s, Volvo, and MGM Resorts. He oversaw thousands of employees as a global P&L, transformation, and innovation leader. Rafiq was the first Chief Digital Officer in the history of the Fortune 500, a pioneering role he held at McDonalds, and he rose to the president level in the Fortune 300.

While leading business units, teams, and growth for companies, Atif has built a large following as one of today's top management thinkers. Over half a million people follow his ideas about management and leadership, his newsletter Re:wire has over 100,000 subscribers, and he is a Top Voice on LinkedIn.

Atif is passionate about helping companies push boldly into the future. He accomplishes this through Ritual, a software app revolutionizing how teams innovate and problem-solve, and through his work as keynote speaker, Board member and, CEO advisor.