San Francisco summary
Digitalization, innovation and the invisible capital
Introduction and reflection
The San Francisco seminars were never experienced as courses or training in the traditional sense. Rather, they were periods of concentrated exposure to a mindset that contrasted with much of what we were used to back home. Not because the American way was necessarily better, but because it was clearer: clearer requirements for implementation, clearer connections between strategy and practice, and clearer consequences for failure.
Over time – from 2004 to 2011 – the seminars became a kind of professional pulse-meter. They did not come as one coherent narrative, but as repeated meetings with the same basic questions:
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Why do some organizations succeed with digitalization and innovation over time, while others constantly start over?
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Why do some businesses remain relevant, even when technology changes dramatically, while others lose their footing even with access to the same tools?
What gradually became clear was that the answer rarely lay in technology. The platforms changed, the methods evolved, the concepts changed names – but the core remained the same. Those who succeeded did so because they had invested in something that could not be easily copied: people, interaction, culture and leadership. What I have later chosen to refer to as the invisible capital.
These seminars coincided with different phases in my own professional life. Sometimes they confirmed what I already experienced in practice. Other times they challenged established truths. Often they did both at the same time. In retrospect, they appear not as isolated learning experiences, but as a continuous point of reference – something I still return to when discussing digital initiatives, whether in highly commercial enterprises or in the public sector.
Main academic topics
Digitalization as a long-term discipline – not a project
A consistent and clear professional point in San Francisco was that digitalization cannot be handled as a project with a start and end. Yet that is precisely how many organizations still try to work: with time-bound initiatives, clear deliverables and expectations of quick results.
The seminars showed time and again that the businesses that succeed over time have abandoned the project logic. Instead, they treat digitalization as an ongoing discipline, on par with financial management, HR or quality work. This means that digital choices are not made because the technology is new, but because they support a long-term direction.
This contrasts with what I often refer to as skipper-tackle management – where digitalization is only prioritized when there is external pressure, whether from competitors, the media or political signals. Such jerky initiatives may provide short-term improvements, but rarely lasting value. On the contrary, they often contribute to wear and tear in the organization and increased change fatigue.
Innovation without culture is just noise
Another clear theme was the relationship between innovation and organizational culture. The San Francisco communities were far less concerned with individual “innovative” ideas than with the organization’s ability to absorb, test, and further develop them.
Here it became particularly clear how vulnerable innovation becomes when it depends on:
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individual enthusiasm
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managers with a short time horizon
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random occurrences
The seminars showed that successful organizations build structures that make innovation less dependent on people. Not because people are unimportant – quite the opposite – but because people need frameworks to be able to create value over time.
This perspective has been crucial to my own understanding of leadership. Innovation driven by self-willed bosses may work for a while, but it rarely creates robust organizations. In contrast, leadership that invests in competence, trust, and collaboration creates a foundation that can withstand both replacement and failure.
Data as a basis for decision-making – not as a facade
The use of user and customer data was a recurring theme throughout the years. Not as an end in itself, but as a means to better understanding. A clear distinction was made between organizations that collected data because they could, and those that used data because they knew what they were looking for. The seminars revealed time and time again that access to data is rarely the bottleneck. The challenge lies in:
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the ability to formulate relevant questions
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the willingness to let insight influence decisions
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the courage to change course when data shows something different than desired
This perspective is just as valid in the public sector as in the private sector. Whether it concerns customer data, audience data or citizen data, the principle is the same: digitalization without a real user focus is at best ineffective – at worst harmful.
User focus as a common denominator.
The most striking academic finding across all the seminars was how universal the user focus was. Not as a slogan, but as a practice. The businesses that were highlighted as examples of long-term success all had one thing in common: they took the user seriously – consistently and over time.
This was true regardless of sector. The difference between private and public was less about principles and more about framework conditions. The basic logic was the same: services that are not relevant to users lose legitimacy – whether they are financed by the market or the community.
Here the connection to the invisible capital became particularly clear. User focus is not something that can be adopted in a strategy document. It must be lived in the organization, anchored in leadership and reflected in everyday priorities.
What did we take home with us?
What I took home from San Francisco were not ready-made answers, but a set of working principles. These principles have proven remarkably stable over time, even as technology, markets, and organizational forms have changed.
First, it became clear that digitalization and innovation must always be anchored in management – but not as detailed management. Management in this context is about:
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set direction
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stay the course over time
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Resist the temptation for quick solutions
This contrasts with leadership based on whims, “snap decisions” or continuous reorganizations. Such actions may give the impression of drive, but they often undermine the long-term ability to learn and develop.
Second, the importance of user focus became increasingly clear. Not as an ideal, but as a practical management tool. The organizations that succeeded were those that systematically used user, customer, audience or citizen data to understand how services were actually used – and who were willing to adjust their course accordingly.
This perspective has followed me throughout my professional life. Whether it has been about commercial customer journeys or public services, the fundamental question has been the same: Does this actually create value for those it is intended for?
Third, I took away a deeper understanding of the importance of invisible capital. The San Francisco seminars confirmed time and again that sustainable value creation is not primarily about investments in technology or property, but about investments in people, skills, and culture. These are values that cannot be bought overnight, nor can they be imposed from above.
Relevance today
Today, more than ten years after the last San Francisco seminar, many of the insights seem almost self-evident. At the same time, I see daily how demanding it is to put them into practice. Digitalization is often described as something new and disruptive, but the fundamental challenges are the same: leadership, culture, prioritization, and the ability to stick to a long-term direction.
As artificial intelligence, automation and data-driven services dominate the public debate, it is easy to forget that technology itself is never the solution. Without people who understand, use and develop the technology, it becomes either ineffective or downright harmful.
This is where the connection between the San Francisco seminars , the Oxford seminars , and my studies becomes most apparent. Taken together, these experiences have shaped a holistic view of digitalization and innovation as long-term societal projects, not short-term efficiency measures.
For me, this is the core of The Invisible Capital: values are created in interaction. Between disciplines and experience. Between management and employees. Between organizations and users. And between the public and private sectors.
This understanding is not only historically interesting – it is highly operational in daily work. It serves as a compass when considering new technologies, when prioritizing, and when the temptation for quick fixes arises. The San Francisco seminars have therefore been not just a chapter in the learning journey, but a continuing point of reference – a reminder that the most important investments are often those that are not immediately apparent.
From international learning to Norwegian reality
When the lessons learned from San Francisco and Oxford are compared to Norwegian business and the public sector, one thing becomes particularly clear: The lack of digitalization and innovation is far less due to a lack of money than we often like to believe. Norway is one of the world's most capital-rich countries. We have high education, high trust and strong institutions. Yet many businesses – both private and public – struggle to convert knowledge into lasting value creation.
The most important explanation lies not in budgets, but in mindsets. What really determines whether organizations succeed is what happens between the ears of people – in management, in boardrooms and in the organizational culture. The ability to continuously learn. The ability to ask new questions. The ability to prioritize the long term over the short term.
All too often, digitalization is reduced to a question of funding, support schemes or government incentives. When results fail to materialize, the blame is quickly laid on “framework conditions”, “regulation” or “the state”. At the same time, it is striking how little time and space many companies actually give their own employees to learn, explore and understand their users better. They invest in technology, but not in insight. In systems, but not in people.
The San Francisco seminars clearly showed that those who succeed do the opposite. They allow the organization to take time. Time to analyze user data. Time to understand customer journeys. Time to experiment – and to fail. This is not inefficiency. It is the prerequisite for lasting effectiveness.
Short-termism as a structural obstacle
A particularly Norwegian – and European – problem is the strong emphasis on short-term delivery. In the private sector this is often driven by investors with expectations of dividends “now”. In the public sector by political cycles, budget years and the need for quick visible results. In both cases the consequence is the same: long-term learning is downgraded.
This creates a kind of skipper-tackle logic also at the strategic level. Digitalization becomes something you “do” when the pressure becomes great enough, not something you work on continuously. Innovation becomes a project, not a trait. Management becomes reactive, not directive.
San Francisco showed that businesses that can withstand this pressure build a very different kind of resilience. They allow themselves to be unpopular in the short term in order to be relevant in the long term. They understand that value creation is not a moment, but a process.
This is not about the absence of discipline, but about a different kind of discipline: the ability to prioritize what does not yield immediate returns, but is absolutely crucial over time.
User focus is not “soft” – it is demanding
In Norwegian debate, the user and customer perspective is often referred to as something "soft". Something that is taken into account when there is room for it. The San Francisco seminars showed the opposite. True user focus is demanding. It requires that the organization is willing to let data challenge established truths. That decisions are made on the basis of insight, not hierarchy. That leaders can tolerate receiving conflicting information.
This applies equally to the public sector. Using citizen data, audience data or service data in a systematic way requires courage. It requires leadership that allows for professionalism, and that does not perceive critical insight as disloyalty.
Here the connection to Invisible Capital is absolutely central. The values that determine whether organizations succeed are rarely visible in the accounts. They lie in competence, trust, interaction and learning. This is capital that is built slowly – and which can be quickly demolished if short-term considerations are allowed to dominate.
A Norwegian choice of path
Norway is not faced with a technological choice, but a cultural and strategic choice. Should digitalization and innovation be treated as costs that must be justified every year, or as necessary investments in future value creation? Should employees be given time and space to learn, or are they expected to deliver more – faster – with increasingly less room for maneuver?
The San Francisco and Oxford experiences point in one clear direction: Those who succeed are not those who have the most capital, but those who manage it the wisest. Those who understand that money alone does not create innovation. People do – in organizations that allow for long-term thinking, curiosity and prioritization.
This is not an argument against responsible financial management. It is an argument for mature leadership. Leadership that is able to look beyond, resist short-term pressure, and invest in what really yields returns over time.
The most important capital: people meeting people
The most important capital in any business is not the technology, not the buildings, and not the balance sheet. The most important capital is the employees – and their daily encounter with another absolutely crucial capital: the customer, the user, the citizen.
It is in this meeting that value is actually created. Not in strategy documents, not in boardrooms and not in presentations to investors, but in everyday life – in the moments when people help people. The better equipped employees are to manage this customer capital, the greater the likelihood that the business will also create long-term value for owners, communities and society.
This applies across industries and sectors. It applies to the waiter in a café or restaurant, who through presence, knowledge and attitude determines whether the guest will return. It applies to the employee in a physical store, who translates the assortment, systems and campaigns into an actual experience. And it applies equally to employees in the public sector, who daily represent the community in meetings with citizens who need services, guidance or help.
Customer capital is managed – it is not consumed
Customer capital is not something you “have.” It is something you manage. Every interaction builds or breaks trust. Every experience adds or subtracts value. Over time, the sum of these encounters determines how your business is perceived—and its relevance.
Here lies one of the most underrated connections in both the private and public sectors:
Long-term value creation for owners and society is directly dependent on how employees are enabled to succeed in meeting with users.
Yet all too often we see the opposite. Employees are forced to run faster, deliver more, and deal with ever-changing systems – without being given the time, space, or tools to better understand their users’ needs. Customer data is collected but used to a limited extent. Insights exist but rarely reach those who actually meet customers.
This is not a technological problem. It is a management and prioritization problem.
User data, user experience – and service without quotes
In many contexts, service is referred to as a tired or outdated concept. Perhaps because it is often reduced to politeness or superficial friendliness. In reality, service is something far more demanding.
Service is the sum of:
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insight
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competence
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system support
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room for maneuver
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and culture
Good service requires that the organization is governed by user data and user experience, not just internal processes and short-term goals. It requires management to take responsibility for connecting strategy and everyday life – so that employees can actually do their jobs well.
When this succeeds, something interesting happens: efficiency and quality do not become opposites, but reinforce each other. When it fails, frustration arises – among both employees and users.
Customer capital is managed – it is not consumed
Customer capital is not something you “have.” It is something you manage. Every interaction builds or breaks trust. Every experience adds or subtracts value. Over time, the sum of these encounters determines how your business is perceived—and its relevance.
Here lies one of the most underrated connections in both the private and public sectors:
Long-term value creation for owners and society is directly dependent on how employees are enabled to succeed in meeting with users.
Yet all too often we see the opposite. Employees are forced to run faster, deliver more, and deal with ever-changing systems – without being given the time, space, or tools to better understand their users’ needs. Customer data is collected but used to a limited extent. Insights exist but rarely reach those who actually meet customers.
This is not a technological problem. It is a management and prioritization problem.
Long-term value is created from below – not from above
The businesses that succeed the most over time are not necessarily those with the most charismatic leaders or the most aggressive strategies. They are those that are able to build a culture where employees:
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understands users' needs
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trust that insight will be taken seriously
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feel that their expertise is valued
In such organizations, digitalization and innovation become a tool to enhance human encounters – not replace them. Technology is used to remove friction, provide better overview and free up time for what actually creates value.
This applies as much to the public sector as to the private sector. The difference is not in the principles, but in the context. Whether the financing is through the market or the community, the mechanism is the same: Value is created through interaction between people.
The invisible capital – in practice
This is the very core of Invisible Capital. Not as an abstract concept, but as a practical reality. Value creation does not occur primarily through capital flows, but through human interaction. Through employees who are allowed to use their heads, hearts and experiences in meeting other people.
When businesses – private or public – understand this, their priorities also change. Then investment in expertise, learning and insight becomes not a cost, but a necessity. Then user data becomes a management tool, not a decoration. And then service becomes again what it has always been: an expression of professionalism, respect and long-term thinking.
Capital is necessary – but never sufficient
It is important to be clear about one thing: Capital is crucial. Without capital, there are no jobs, no investments, no development, no room for action. To overlook the role of capital would be both naive and ahistorical. The problem only arises when capital is given the leading role alone, and people are reduced to a cost or an implementation mechanism.
What is too often lost in the debate about value creation is the human interaction that actually gives capital value. Capital does not create value in itself. It only gains value when it is put to work through people – and especially in the encounter between employees and customers, users or citizens. This encounter is not a soft addition to the business model. It is the very engine.
Value creation happens in relationships – not in spreadsheets
When employees meet customers, something happens that can’t be fully captured in KPIs or quarterly reports. Trust is built or broken. Expectations are clarified. Needs are understood – or misunderstood. Over time, the sum of these meetings determines whether a business:
• retains its customers
• develops relevant services
• builds a reputation that can withstand adversity
Yet it is precisely this relationship that often receives the least attention in governance and management. Investments are made in systems, processes and efficiency, while the interaction between people itself is treated as something that "takes care of itself".
The San Francisco and Oxford experiences clearly showed that the businesses that succeed over time are those that understand this interaction as strategic capital. They invest not only in technology and structure, but in the expertise, culture and room for action for those who actually meet customers.
When the time horizon of capital becomes too short
The challenge arises especially when the time horizon of capital becomes shorter than that of value creation. When returns are measured quarterly, while relationships are built over years. When investors reward quick cuts over long-term learning. When management is pressured to prioritize visible deliveries over invisible quality.
In such situations, human interaction often loses out first. Employees have less time for customers. User insights are pushed aside. Service is reduced to procedures. In the short term, this may yield improved numbers. In the long term, it undermines the very foundation for value creation.
This is not an argument against capital, but an argument for mature asset management – where investments are assessed in light of human sustainability, not just financial.
The invisible capital is the bridge
Here lies the core of Invisible Capital: the bridge between economic capital and human value creation. When businesses are able to see employees and customers as co-creators of value – not as separate entities – a completely different dynamic arises.
Then the employees will not become an intermediary that must be optimized away, but a strategic resource that must be strengthened. And then the customer will not become a number in a system, but a relationship that must be understood and managed.
Capital is needed.
But it is human interaction that gives capital meaning, direction and lasting value.
Conclusion – the journey ahead
The San Francisco seminars were never meant to be answers. They were meant to be questions. Questions that challenged established truths, short-term explanations and an overly simplistic understanding of what value creation really is. In the meeting with the technology communities, researchers, companies and people who were in the middle of the changes, one thing became increasingly clear: Those who succeed over time are not those who run the fastest in the moment – but those who go the furthest in the direction of what they believe in.
Digitization and innovation never appeared as a technology project. It was – and is – a management project. A culture project. A people project. The most impressive organizations we met were not those with the biggest budgets, but those with the greatest ability to learn, listen and adjust course. Those who understood that data without understanding is noise, and that insight only arises when numbers meet people.
In retrospect, the seminars have become something far more than memories from a study stay. They have become a compass. In the face of new projects, new organizations and new issues, the experiences from San Francisco have been silent but clear references in daily work. When the pace increases. When the demands for deliveries push forward. When short-termism tempts more than long-termism. Then these experiences have reminded me why direction is always more important than speed.
The bridge between technology and value is not built by systems alone. It is built by people who are given the space to understand their users, the trust to try – and leadership that is able to stand the slow work that is actually changing an organization. This is where the invisible capital lives. In the interaction between employee and customer. Between insight and action. Between strategy and everyday life.
When I look back on those seminars today, it's not just the lectures I remember. It's the conversations. The observations. The unspoken community of people trying to understand where we were going – and how we could get there in a way that actually created value.
Therefore, it is also natural to end this journey where it often begins in the form of reflection: with our gaze turned outward.
The Golden Gate Bridge is not just an icon. It is a reminder that great connections take time to build. That it takes courage to stand in the gap between the known and the unknown. And that it is only when we dare to look both forward and inward at the same time that real value creation occurs.
Peder Inge Furseth
Peder Inge Furseth was a central academic driving force behind the San Francisco seminars and helped make the meeting with Silicon Valley relevant for Norwegian and European businesses. Through his role as professor at BI and as academic director of the program, he helped the participants put the lectures into a larger context – where technology, innovation, business development and people had to be seen in context.
In San Francisco, participants met entrepreneurs, researchers, technology leaders and investors from some of the world's most innovative environments. Furseth's strength was his ability to connect these experiences to practical challenges and opportunities in Norwegian businesses. He helped translate Silicon Valley's ideas and working methods into a Nordic context where collaboration, trust and long-term value creation are strong.
Throughout the entire seminar series, he was an important bridge builder between research, business and technology. For many participants, he therefore became more than a professional leader – he also became a mentor who inspired new thinking about innovation, digitalization and commercialization.
