Well the conference is finished and I am off to London for a further series of conversations. Let me just say (in case you don’t read all the way to the end) that I recommend this conference, and suggest you find a way to attend next year. And if you do, add a couple more days to your itinerary to take in the spectacular surrounds of Aalesund.
Overall a great experience, and I am glad I attended. One of the trends I have been observing for a couple of years is the emerging emotional economy, which will place greater emphasis on the meaning of work for the person. The combination of the conversations and talks over the last few days is coalescing around the concept of business as a movement, rather than business as an organization. In this world people will be united around purpose and dream, and contribute accordingly – eg as worker, supplier, customer, … The organization chart will no longer exist, because the movement extends beyond the enterprise. I will write more about this elsewhere when my thoughts are clearer.
Conference got off to a great start with Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice at London Business School, giving an overview of some of the forces at work and 3 key shifts we will need to make to thrive in the future: Being a master will replace being a Generalist, Connection will replace Isolation, and Quality will replace Standards. Lynda was followed by Chris Bangle, former chief designer for BMW, who spoke about the future of cars (as a model for the future of many things). For example in the future we will share car hardware (wheels, engines, wiring, …) and own personally the software, or outer shell, which will be made of cloth that you throw over the frame, and then put through the washing machine to clean. This will be highly personalized design, colour etc. Go to YouTube and search for BMW GINA and you will see this concept car. I had an interesting conversation with Chris about the convergence of design, thinking and business. This is an area of thinking that is ticking away in the background for me, and I am waiting for an insight that will draw a few things together.
Then heard a talk from Blake Mycoskie, the founder of Tom’s Shoes (they give away one pair of shoes to a needy child for every pair they sell). I was really looking forward to hearing him because he has successfully combined commercial business with social venture. His story was very inspirational. I am trying to figure out what this could mean for our business. How do we introduce an extraordinary level of generosity to a service business? Blake saw a need in Argentina – children who were not allowed to attend school because they had no shoes – and paid to get 250 pairs of shoes made which he sold in the US on the basis of giving away another 250 to the children. His business took off like a rocket and he has now sold (in 4 years) over 600,000 pairs of shoes! His message: “Giving is very good for business.”
Three standout speakers today. Firstly Jung Chang, the author of Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, and Mao: the Unknown History. Jung was the first person from the People’s Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British University. She told an extraordinary tale of growing up during Mao’s Great Leap Forward and subsequent Cultural Revolution. At one stage China did not have enough steel to build ships for its navy, so every person in China – bus drivers, teachers – was given a quota of steel they had to deliver. Jung was 6 at the time and had a quote like everyone else! People died fruitlessly searching for iron ore, constructing backyard blast furnaces, and through sheer exhaustion and hunger.
Chris Martenson delivered an insightful talk about the relationship between the Economy, Energy and Environment. One of the very interesting observations he made is that we need to start asking serious questions about the energy we expend to get energy out. For example, in the 1930s oil was relatively easy to tap and we pumped 100 barrels for the equivalent of 1 barrel to produce it. By the 1970s it was down to 25:1. But what really got my attention was the fact that the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that blew up in the Gulf of Mexico – one of the most modern platforms in the world, built at enormous expense to extract oil from 18,000 feet below the surface – would deliver a return of at best 3:1. The entire field they tapped into would deliver just 18 hours of global oil consumption. There is something shocking about that. How can we keep finding oil at ever greater expense just to feed a few hours of consumption? At what point do we say the expense is just too great? How is the total cost built into the supply chain and end use?
While he had a somewhat sobering message, the following speaker – Peter Diamindis – inspired us with the prizes he is creating to foster innovative solutions. This was the firm that sponsored the race to build a reusable, passenger carrying space rocket, and now have numerous prizes available for solutions to quite difficult problems. This concept could be replicated at a local level – eg the local authorities sponsor a $100,000 prize for a specified solution to waste management.
All in all, a wonderful, stimulating event in an enormously stimulating environment.
