The world is going through a turbulent time of rapid change and huge technological advancements, and the events of 2016 are evidence of just how unpredictable it can get.

British voters stunned the world by deciding to leave the European Union. Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump has scared the global community with the prospect of the intolerant and belligerent administration he would likely oversee if elected. And who would have thought the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, once championed as the gold standard of free trade pacts, would have little prospect of being ratified in the U.S., as it does now?

The theme of the G1 Global Conference last week — Leadership: Thinking the Unthinkable — was timely, as the global community is experiencing, and is currently perplexed by, a paradigm shift in which traditional ways of running governments and companies no longer seem valid.