It’s a journey I myself have travelled in the last few years; both in experience, learnings, global trends and noticings.
Only 5 years ago, our generation and our parents’ generation had experienced times characterised by wealth which was almost unprecedented compared to previous decades & generations. A few lone voices began to talk of sustainability - a term that had been put to the wayside whilst free-market economics & capitalism were championed and wealth was amassed.
2008 brought the world to reassess just how some of that wealth was being amassed. Slowly, out of an economic crash, came the realisation that free-market economics and unchecked capitalism may not quite be as self-sustaining as we thought. However, the lure of that wealth seems to have blinded us to the throws of a dying economy.Three years later, we see Europe’s economy in ruins, and America’s not far behind. Banks were bailed out to the tune of trillions, CEO’s are still being paid multi-million dollar bonuses, but we still can’t find it within ourselves to end extreme poverty.
Check out this quirky run down of what it would take to deal to some of the bigger problems in pure economic terms;
Facing the Future
So lets consider that perhaps what we’re seeing is not a recession, or even a double-dip recession. What we’re seeing is the failing of a major system.
We’re seeing a new normal emerging. At the moment, the creation of this new normal is being hindered by the vested interests in retaining the paradigm which amassed extraordinary amounts of wealth, very quickly, and to very few (with the promise of trickle-down).
I will throw in a mention of the Occupy movement as it embodies much of the distrust, anger, concern & hope that relates to this collapse and reinvention.
If you think Occupy is anti-capitalist, vague, leaderless, confused, angry, or any other negative emotive, I caution you to look a little deeper, and listen. What will you will find, is a movement not concerned with demands. They are not terrorists. They are people who are creating a platform for discussion; people who are concerned with creating that new normal, naming the vested interests which are hindering its creation, and modelling what civilisation which works for the 99% could look like, and inviting others to join.
Their actions have already created a global awareness; a shared consciousness that others think the same - an important first step in effective social change.
Consider Gandhi’s work in India. He didn’t issue demands, or form leadership structures, create strategies for change. He stood up, began conversation, and catalysed a nation’s shared consciousness that they were the 99% and the British were the 1% who oppressed them. Thus, I liken Occupy’s tactics to Gandhi’s approach.
Recently I’ve been buoyed by hearing and seeing much more talk, understanding & action in relation to living systems. In my mind, this approach to understanding complex behaviour, relationships and interactions is key to moving us forward as a global society; my first exploration of the concept was through observing nature and learning more about biomimicry.
We need to understand complexity if we are to truly move forward - our attempts to simplify economics, community, environment & culture has led us to a ‘common denominator’ approach to these facets of our society, which has caused incredible destruction of the richness and diversity to all of them.
Simple rules can massively guide how our world emerges, so it’s hugely important that we consider deeply what those are.
A simple example we could use is how corporations externalise costs. As they are able to pass the costs of production and disposal, there has been a trend toward finding the lowest costs of labour possible - sometimes that can mean working conditions tantamount to slavery.
There has also been a trend toward shifting the costs of production onto the environment - take the extraction of oil, creation of climate polluting gases, or use of fresh water by intensive dairy producers. Or perhaps take the example of globalised businesses which buy up incumbent companies, change the imagery or product to a homogenised version, thus destroying part of a country’s culture... then perhaps add the sucking of profits out of those nations, back to the ‘global base’ of the organisation, thus destroying the economies of those nations too.
This is tantamount to some of the worst behaviours of empire building which characterised the 18th Century, and most people would agree is unacceptable in today’s world.
So lets flip this - what would happen if we changed the rules? What happens if we had rules which would force business to recognise these costs?
A price on carbon creation has been touted as a way to change the energy industry quickly. Business would be forced to evolve energy generation techniques which have lower carbon footprints, or perhaps even sequester carbon - helping redress the debt we have to our climate. Or perhaps a change for our food systems in line with permaculture principles could cause agricultural practices which create soil fertility, cleaner water, and prise animal health. You get the point I hope?
We don’t have to wait for governments to legislate. We don’t have to wait for policy change. It begins with us.
For me, it is the difference between creating value and stealing value. When I started educating myself, I found that a large amount of our economic growth of the last 50 years seems to have come from simple stealing value from other economies, communities, cultures and the environment. I see very little other way of explaining it, but am always willing to listen...
It leads me to wonder whether we need to change the discussion about c21st business away from simply being less bad - sustainability, corporate social responsibility, regulations... all of these conjure up images of drudgery to me... something to which I am beholden - debt is still a means of control. I would like to see society breaking through this to rejoicing in working positively, collaboratively and with purpose. I’d like to see a worldwide movement of people who delight in being more good instead of just less bad.
So, despite the unprecedented challenges which befall us as we tick onward into another decade, I am remarkably upbeat about what is coming. The beauty of a shared consciousness is it can lead to collective action. This is the Opportunity Generation.
Our opportunity could be described as this:
“I see a problem. I can do something to make it better. I will start doing it today. I will talk to others, tell them why I’m doing what I’m doing, and get them to join me. We will make things better together.”
So what can we do? What part of the solution can I play?
Well, we can start with where we put our energy every day. We can start with the businesses we work for, or the businesses we create.
Here’s some principles of how we need to begin to change our ‘growth engine’ to begin to drive things in a direction which goes beyond simply being ‘less bad’, and aims to start being ‘more good’.
- Purpose (startups that matter)
- Flexibility (adaptive to change)
- Resilience (lasting value)
- Eco-systems (resource cycles)
- Communication (socialise ideas & visions)
I would like to see us break down this idea that business is for economics, pure & simple. I want to break down the idea that not-for-profits / NGO’s / charities are for ‘good’ or social/environmental benefits only. We need these to begin to merge much more as the c21st moves forward.
Here’s a couple of case studies to show you what I mean:
Creating micro-solar powered products for the developing world - training young people in those countries in entrepreneurship & business management, and distributing these products to enable young children to study into the evenings, improving their chances of escaping the poverty cycle. This is a startup that matters; sometimes we call it social entrepreneurship, and it connects Purpose with action. www.barefootpower.com/about.html
Flexibility is built into the DNA of Threadless; they engage with a community of graphic artists (or anyone with an eye for design) to crowdsource designs for T-shirts and then using voting mechanisms to decide what to produce. By doing this, they’re highly adaptive to change, and create a lot less unwanted products which they would have to try to push onto the market.
www.threadless.com
Creating lasting value is certainly something Dr Yunnus was aiming for when he began to micro-finance women in extreme poverty with small loans and mobile phones. His vision was to break the poverty cycle through entrepreneurship and access to capital. Whilst Dr Yunnus is no longer with Grameen, his vision, drive and actions have helped thousands out of poverty, lifted up families, and created viable businesses serving communities.
http://www.grameenfoundation.org/
Industrial Symbiosis. A term not all that regularly used, but a casestudy I came across whilst at a biomimicry gathering recently. In the ancient harbor town of Kalundborg, Denmark, various processing companies, a waste handling company, and the Municipality of Kalunborg participate in industrial symbiosis. All participants exploit each other's residual or by-products mutually. The symbiosis co-operation self-organized over a number of decades and today comprises some 20 projects. The main resources circulated among the partners are steam, gas, cooling water, and gypsum. Excess heat is used for fish farming, heating of nearby homes, and greenhouse agriculture. Other by-products not usable within the industrial park, such as sulfur, fly ash, and sludge, are sold to companies in the vicinity. One company's by-product becomes an important resource to one or several of the other companies. The outcome is reduced consumption of resources and a significant reduction in environmental strain. This mimics the resource cycles of a mature ecosystem. This is where c21st is headed if we’re smart.
http://asknature.org/product/b08979c20b2d379a8af64fa83826db34#changeTab
Escape The City
Communicating your vision and sharing it is really important. Not as important as your actions, granted, but to grow, stay relevant, and connect up with all kinds of other people & opportunities - sharing is good. Escape The City are a great example of socialising your ideas, and what is possible because of it - their dream of escaping corporate jobs turned into a thriving business when they started sharing their idea with their friends, blogging about it, using social media, and engaging in conversation. Take a look:
http://blog.escapethecity.org/some-things-were-learning/5-made-up-rules-for-starting-a-business-with-little-money-no-relevant-experience/
There's a good read on this theme written by Umair Haque who recently published The New Capitalist Manifesto, which delves deeper into how you can create a 'disruptively better business' (published by Harvard Business Press).
So, as many of you will know, I am currently pursuing the idea of social business & social enterprise here in New Zealand.
At Enspiral we’re creating social ventures, with mixed models of ownership, rewards & incomes. One of our furthest advanced projects is Bucky Box : Tools for a better food system. We’ve spent time creating a software for the local food movement; high quality enterprise software to manage the ins & outs of vegetable box schemes & food hubs, to help make local food enterprises viable against ‘industrialised food production & distribution’. We’re using a large chunk of our revenue to give back to the educators, advocates & researchers who work on creating a better food system with us. I hope this is a good example of how we can spend our energy building businesses which matter for the c21st.
The ground swell of people in this generation who want to spend their time working on projects that will make a difference in the world is wonderful to see.
All over the world, there’s entrepreneurship competitions, incubators & networks which are working towards positive impact, here’s just a few:
- Ashoka Start Up Scramble
- Social Innovation Camp
- Unreasonable Institute
- Sidekick School
- Transformative Action
Well we all have a choice. We can choose to spend our lives working on something that matters, or we can trudge on just making money.
It’s time to choose wisely.
Finally I would like to leave you with a little motivational RSA Animate:
And check out this write up from Escape The City - good people doing good things in the UK. This article is about starting a values based business with little time & money!
**UPDATE**
I just watched this TEDx talk today and had to share - totally hitting the same notes:
**UPDATE**
I just watched this TEDx talk today and had to share - totally hitting the same notes:
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