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F*cked we are… so just carry on

This blog post looks at some of the author’s travel observations and outlines the actions he has taken in response.

Having traveled extensively over many years what struck me most was the following;

#1. People. We are a virulent virus across habitable space.

#2.  Waste. It is pervasive. Our legacy is plastic. Not the magnificence of Petra, or Antioch or Caesarea, but instead fields of plastic and rubbish.

#3.  Desires / Aspirations. I like talking to people, asking what are your aims/goals?  Inevitably responses are about Maslow’s fundamentals.  Makes sense. For those who are in the red (struggling to put food on table, roof over head, clean water, security and safety) it is impossible to be green, (unlike those in the top 8% who produce 90% of emissions), but behind the need lurks a strong desire for… stuff, more stuff, = success.

Sadly, this ‘more’, is, hey “good for business”.

Business becomes agile, leaner, embracing new technology, shedding jobs.  Profits rise and that helps the 1% get even richer.  Market capitalism is now saying business needs a vision beyond mere returns – it needs to have a social purpose – see NAB Chair’s latest revelations   (if you can, but you have to pay to read it). Even top-of-the-rung are now disenchanted with corporate and shareholder greed.

Muhammad Yunus, is a Nobel Peace Prize visionary and well worth listening to.  I have just read his new book – Three Zeros, which is inspiring. He is coming soon to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Read more at Grameen Australia. and attend his sessions.   His vision of everyone being a entrepreneur (god help us) has helped, but even if  social business’ were to rule the future economy; it doesn’t matter, f*cked we are.

Why?  Simple answer, too many, wanting too much and driven to instant gratification!

I saw a sign recently at a war memorial  in Malta; ‘we gave our today for your tomorrow’ They did,  but what are we doing to secure the future for tomorrow?

We talk about sustainability, give great speeches, focus on corporate values, customer centricity  and building ‘ecosystems’, while universities add new course on sustainability.  We now have social businesses. Great, part of our evolution you may think.

Truth is, we continue as we are; maybe now more aware and caring, but unable to influence the big ticket items because they are too big and too complex.  The basic unchanging bottom line is we need our economies to grow; so buy, make, sell.  Maybe our sign  will be ‘we’ve had ours, so you have none tomorrow”

That is why I wrote BECause... we need a revolution.  If we want to save our planet and ourselves we need real change, not a few cats tinkering with peripheries. Bec in my book represents real change.  And do you think it will be peaceful?

but if you decide to play a small part, what would it be?

I can’t talk for you, but I started small in 2009 and now attempt to do the following;

  1. Ride, run, walk, public transport
  2. Share my accommodation, services
  3. Buy stuff that lasts
  4. Fix, mend, reuse, recycle.
  5. AVOID PLASTIC;
  6. Don’t vote for morons (difficult to find candidates with current climate at home)
  7. Use solar and gas power – (No wind sadly where I live)
  8. I support our community bank (we developed our own community bank at our  eco-village, without recourse to the banks).
  9. We are planing a local currency so as to remove ourselves from the traditional banking system and its greed.
  10. Offset my travel by planting and growing my own food.
  11. I avoid global brands, supporting local business and community.
  12. I support a cause and try and do services that help the common good.

So what will be your legacy? Take action.

1 Comment Posted on BECause, Building Communities, Enough, Prime legacy blogs, Requisite Enterprise, Uncategorized

The mind once enlightened, cannot again become dark

During our lifetime we may be fortunate enough to receive lenses that provide deep understandings of how things work. Those insights provide models of continuous learning that inform, nourish and sustain us. As a Noble Peace Prize winner said, “It felt like god had revealed a small part of how the universe worked’ adding he was not a religious man.

The point is what has been seen cannot be unseen.  Such meta understandings help us on our pathway towards enlightenment.  Of course, humility and openness are key ingredients to ensure ongoing learning, otherwise we run the risk of becoming dogmatic zealots.

The meta model of understanding human capability, work and the evolution of human value systems were such lenses. What a fantastic journey that has proven to be –  it led me to interview and analyse the most interesting people, and allowed me to assist many and diverse enterprises.  These lenses have stood me instead over multiple decades.

I also know that those lenses have been shared when I hear others encouraging their teams saying these lenses will alter their worldview and help their careers.  Mark Milliner, Ian Stone and Jacki Johnson were the most recent. Thank you for the affirmation in understanding.  Now as Billy Boyd says, I must bid you farewell and in closing I would like to offer you the following insights;

  • Work is a treadmill, but with different and exciting carrots on offer. Fast, fun and challenging.  Our work journey is driven by our deep need to actualize.

    Our need to be of value is enduring.

  • Work can be very satisfying, but while our capability is the driver, our current mode of transport is an old outdated dinosaur called capitalism. There are no free rides, and no one is exempt from travel. It is not a felt fair system and is a value detractor. As Muhammad Yunus says, future business will need a social license to operate.
  • A consultant is a role with accountability and no authority.
  • Work that detracts from planetary, regional and local sustainability cannot be tolerated or supported.  Irreversible damage is caused by companies and governments that have lost their ability to regulate for the common good of all -we need right work.
  • Consulting has allowed me to travel and work in many different and exotic places.
  • As a road warrior I have been equipped with the latest tools of the trade as they evolved… but the problem is my e-wastage mound grows. Full value chain accountability is needed.
  • Consulting has given me time to lead a personally rich lifestyle and get to know my kids – a real blessing… there was a financial sacrifice, but it was worth it.

    “My partner (also a consultant) and I agreed that one parent would always be fully present for the kids (we now have three beautiful adults).  We took it in turns.”

  • It has allowed me to write and publish two books, the third an adventure which sits on the cusp of the new journey and provides a segue to the new future.
  • The right mentors come when the pupil is ready for them.  Gillian Stamp, Don Beck, Malcolm Hollick, Robin Mills – thank you for believing in me.
  • It has led me to renounce the “short-termism” of the free market system, especially greed.

     The word ENOUGH does not exist in business vocabulary.  There can never be ENOUGH!

  • I have lost faith in accountability. I see too many overwhelmed, overpaid and incompetent leaders escaping censure.
  • I am grateful to all my clients who believe in us and were willing to experiment with us.
  • Relationships are frail and need constant tending, trusting and sometimes clear tasking.
  • Look after your networks, friends and family.  Also members of the same family are often not born under the same roof.
  • Thank you to my current team, I am privileged to work with Adam Thompson, Tim Levett, Verena MacLean, Bruce Whitby, Samantha MacDonald, Tanya Brockmeier, Amanda Johnson , Brent Sheridan and Sam Wilkinson.
  • In retrospect, although it did not feel like it at the time, I have learnt more when I have failed or been in conflict.
  • My corporate consulting journey has driven my need to understand other ways we could better organise, for fairer and more just outcomes for all, not just a select few.

 The transition beckons.

I have seen a different world, running on a different operating system and that is now my Call to Adventure. What is seen, cannot be unseen.

Aluta Continua!!

 

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GEN=Plan B

A exciting, sustainable, and bold parallel universe exists in our current time and dimension.  And we can all find out about it and be part of it if we choose.

Have you heard of the Global Eco-Village Network  (GEN)?  Well I am an ambassador for this movement and I really value my role.  Why?

Because I am privileged to be able to offer another viable option to an overheated world that allows humans to live differently, sustainably and far more happily.

I am not an ex-hippie, nor do I even hail from a community background. Quite the converse in fact. Elon Musk offers humanity another option as well, a plan to colonise Mars, because we stuffed this up so badly.  Global Leaders have no answers to the wicked problems that overwhelm them.

Their mantra is the same;  growth and jobs (never mind business is cutting jobs and AI looks to replace 35%+ of known jobs).  Market capitalism and the consumer model is terminally ill and will never deliver what we so badly need which is not more jobs or more growth.

GEN is a global body, representing the regions of the world in a loose affiliation of networks.  It is a parallel world that has developed independently and runs counter culture to the consumer, market driven economy.  Its focus is not growth but about mindful living at a human scale and creating sustainable, resilient communities in the process. It is innovative, resilient and its teachings and practices are increasingly becoming known.

You may not know that GEN is a UN recognised body. Since 2000, GEN has had consultative status at the UN-Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) commission, and is represented at regular briefing sessions at UN Headquarters. GEN is also a partner of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, UNITAR.

GEN is concerned not only with supporting and developing ecovillages, but urban eco-communities. It represents a range of diverse communities, some very advanced and some still forming, some in the rich old millions and some in the hungry billions.  At its heart each community is bound in one or more ways to the following values:

  • food, water, energy access and security
  • sustainable environments – through restoration, management practices
  • Land use and permaculture
  • education for sustainable development
  • developing circular economies
  • community health and wellbeing
  • stakeholder participation and community management skills
  • women and girls empowerment
  • technology innovation
  • acting locally, reaching out

I  want to draw your attention to two powerful large scale change initiatives.  The first is the  Pan African Ecovillage Development Programme, a model to change the dynamics of developing regions, and the other an educational model, a true ecotourism opportunity.

My new book (Enough) is coming out in December 2017 and I mention this because, back in 2007 when I started to write it, I envisaged a programme for the rejuvenation of Africa, which I called the African Ecovillage Development Project (AEDP).  Little did I think then that in 2017 GEN would be asking for funding to help send delegates from the Pan African Ecovillage Development Programme to COP 33 in Bonn.

What a wonderful and powerful initiative.  Astute leadership in some African nations have seen this as an opportunity to build resilient and self sufficient communities. Let’s look to help it grow and to hope to see such programmes emerging elsewhere, rather then putting faith in the old broken paradigm of growth.

The other initiative emerging from GEN Australia is an educational initiative. We want to make our GEN member’s assets available to people to visit, to share, to be part of community and to experience a different way of living.  We are, with GEN International and our network, going to present a wonderful and thrilling GEN eco-tourism experience from a once off trip to a world tour from which you can return and start living differently, in a community or not, but as a member of a different human destiny.

Next steps

CHOOSE LIFE.

Think differently, take a dare to be different.

Life is short. Remember, we all have all the time there is.

Life LIFE!

 

 

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So you want to be an Agile Organisation? Some things to keep in mind…

So you want to be Agile.  The common criteria I have found to define an ‘Agile’ organisation are: –

  1. Fast moving, flexible, quick and responsive to changes, challenges, events and opportunities from anywhere, anytime.
  2. Built on policies and processes that facilitate speed and change, it aims to achieve continuous competitive advantage in serving its customers.
  3. Agile enterprises use diffused authority and flat, non hierarchical organizational structure with no single point of control.
  4. Short loop information flows among different departments, and develop close, trust-based relationships with their customers and suppliers.
  5. The connected and aware entrepreneurial organisation, with leaders as catalysts.

So, what to do to achieve these five points?  Firstly, all five points are connected; none stand alone. Lets unpack these five points;

1. Fast moving, flexible, quick and responsive to changes, challenges, events and opportunities from anywhere, anytime – In my last blog I mentioned how social genetics or memes evolve with society  and organisational design reflect both dominant and emergent memes.  Pathfinders/early adopters are expressions of the exciting and emergent value systems. That is why their value propositions are so powerful and there is a mad rush to emulate the few that are successful. Your ability to become Agile depends on your dominant meme system (culture).

Point 1 is about quick and effective exercise of judgment – i.e. decision making. And it is not short term ONLY; it needs to be long term as well (future focused work is a function of organisation complexity).  A recent article in the HBR illustrates how important long term thinking is and how it has worked well for companies taking the long view.

An ‘agile’ organisation must be both short and long term to be sustainable and as well as resilient. The necessary minimal conditions for this are;

  • an effective structure reflecting the company’s complexity and one that can delivers its intent;
  • authorised and flexible role relationships that allow decisions making to be done quickly and effectively,  at the right time and place;
  • A flexible structure with home-based roles accountable for ensuring different unique value adds – (ie accountable for long and short term).
  • Leaders with the cognitive capability and skilled knowledge to handle the complexity of differing types of decision making in all teams, functional areas.

2. Built on policies and processes that facilitate speed and change, it aims to achieve continuous competitive advantage in serving its customers. Organisation intent is delivered through systems of work which are both customer centric and whole of systems thinking.  This is where the speed and innovation of digital revolution has driven the need for agility.

Systems of Work (policies and processes) in the Value Added Domain of work (known customers, known products, known services, known markets) need to be so much faster, seamless and integrated – to delight and anticipate the customer.  Leading through the rear-view mirror in short time spans is to ensure captivity, opportunities and changing circumstances.  Many companies are locked into battle with adding new value through customer rear-view data analytics, aimed at short term gains (1-3 years).

However true agility requires a future focused customer windscreen as well.  Elon Musk commented that the customer (and governments) have no idea what the future is bringing and looking to the past is no guide in our fast moving, disruptive world.

Thus Strategic Intent at the longer, more complex work themes level requires different speed systems of work; mutiple ecosystems awareness; as well as the slower, deeper building of organisational DNA.  Thus a two speed system of policies and processes, where the shorter time spans are for decision making to adapt, change, innovate; while the longer time spans, stablise, integrate, learn and invest.

3. Agile enterprises use diffused authority and flat, non hierarchical organizational structure with no single point of control.

This is where I differ from the definition. I know of no long term successful company (survived and thrived for 15 years+) where there are no points of control.  Diffused authority in principle allows for effective, rapid and relevant decision making.  No accountability is a recipe for an organisational stuff up and failure.  Sorry, unpalatable I know, but there is it.  The naked truth.

If you do this, history will eat you and history has a magnificently illustrated cookery book.

Nature uses hierarchy for creating unique value add; no part is better then another, each part is accountable for different stuff.  We talk about hierarchy not as power based or centralised command and control of the red, blue or orange memes, but as yellow (or teal); themes of work, each with unique value adding based on increasing uncertainty and ambiguity, hence complexity.

Here we integrate structure with rear view mirror and the future focused windscreen. The ANZ CEO did not even know how many levels there were in his company, but ANZ ‘levels’ seem to be traditional hierarchy,  not complexity base work themes.

4. Short loop information flows among different departments, and develop close, trust-based relationships with their customers and suppliers.

Yes, yes, yes!!!!  Unfortunately so often a wish list. Organisations have a Bank of Trust in which deposits and withdrawals are made.  Sadly many operate in overdraft. Trust comes from building strong trusting two way relationships over time.  It happens when point 1 to 3 are in place and emerges from saying what you plan on doing and doing what you say, and by leading in a consistent, collaborative way.  Trust has a corollary, it needs to be felt fair.

An agile organisation is not the sum of a specific technique or team based approach; it is the entire way we design, operate and lead the enterprise. It is a culture of how we do things here.

5. The connected and aware entrepreneurial organisation – Organisations go through cycles of growth, equilibrium and growth, as their complexity increases. Failure or death exist at any-point, especially at points of transition and emergence. Different memes may become dominant drivers.

Agile is also a term that can apply to an organisation’s ability to move rapidly into and remain in Prime;  I refer readers to Izchak Adizes pioneering work in regard to corporate life cycles

Many references are made to hiring ‘smart people’ but smart is left vague, up to general interpretation. Each phase requires different leadership skills;  so I have avoided ‘the list’ and rather say characteristics are adaptability, skilled managerial leadership and ability to work at the theme of complexity they are leading.

Therefore a key operating principle is one of individual cognitive capability being matched to work challenge – and consistent studies show people grow or shrink work according to their ability to exercise judgement (when they do not know and cannot know what to do).  Success comes from stocking high potential individuals into the organisation envelopes of change, with a clear mandate to lead major initiatives, turn things around or head up successful startups. Fact.

So in conclusion – An Agile Organisation is many integrated things, with no silver bullets.  It is the Yellow Meme, doing what works and doing what is requisite…

References

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The Most Influential People in the World – Stranger then Fiction

I FINALLY submitted the manuscript of my new book ‘Enough’ yesterday.  I started it in 2007 after a dinner conversation about how each person’s unfolding capability was the secret engine that provided the energy for their working journey.  And this happens without most of us having a clue about how it works.  One of Nature’s best kept secrets.

The conversation moved to high mode individuals whose working journey’s impact others (like our boss maybe) and to those, whose journey impacted increasingly larger groups (political leaders of substance) and to those fewer still,  whose actions affected and impacted millions.

Finally we ended up chatting about that tiny, tiny group who create legacy, so powerful, so pervasive, so strong;  that their names endure through history and are today household names. Be it for good or bad.

It was then the idea of my fiction thriller book began to grow. What if one such person was born in the 21st century? What would they be like? What would they do?

My work as a Career Path Appreciation practitioner had provided a rare and wonderful insight into how people’s cognitive capability grew and the science behind actualization (we call it flow).  Elliott Jaques Growth Curves gave me a rational, logic tool for understanding and predicting.  I could  explain why,  how and when. I was not only intrigued, I was hooked on how high potential individuals manifested

Over the period 2005 – 2016 I reached out to some well known leaders and was fortunate enough to be able to chart a number of work journeys from a capability growth perspective – (Muhammed Yunus, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Nelson Mandela, Ayan Hirsi and James Lovelock) and I even did an historical piece (Evils vs Good: Similarities between Adolph Hitler and Nelson Mandela). These individuals were on Growth Curves that marked them as unique, extraordinary human beings.

I avidly read  ‘The 100’ – a ranking of the most influential people in history by Michael Hart – and he drew up his list according to some criteria – influence the key one;  not only rear view mirror but windscreen as well and influence NOT through  a movement or event, but individual, personal influence. Hart goes on to say influence is ranked by their individual particular achievements. This is not a general condition applied and he disregards the argument, ‘it would have happened anyway.’

I think Michael Hart missed out one other factor, and that is their creation of a new language, symbols, and practices that forms with their legacy.

Evidence is that many of the people in his list did create a new language for large parts of humanity  – for example – Muhammad (1), Isaac Newton (2), Jesus Christ (3), Buddha (4), Confucius (5), Albert Einstein (10), Euclid (14) and Darwin (16), not to mention Karl Marx (27), Adam Smith (30) and Henry Ford (91). They all created a new language.  Interesting the first five slots are occupied by thought leaders on religion and spiritual development.

So the new book is about a small girl from West Africa who is one of these leaders destined to make it into the first five slots of Hart’s book and I have made her a Mode XVI on our Growth Curves.

She is possibly a human mutant and  may be a force for good or evil.  I originally called the book ‘Prime Legacy’ but changed it to match the name of the movement she would go create – ‘ENOUGH“

I hope you will enjoy it… it was one of the toughest and most challenging, yet humbling commitments I have undertaken.

 

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Org Design Evolution – (Hierarchy, Teal, Agile, Sociocracy, Matrix and Requisite) shaped by Memes (culture)

As my company works in the field of organisation design and navigate through the milieu of Agile, Lean, Matrix, Sociocracy and Requisite, I thought a blog on the evolution of structure might be a good idea for providing a balanced view on this topic.

Before starting an evolutionary journey I just want to say organising to get stuff done is a very old human past time.  Structures have evolved over time and mirror our culture.  Culture itself is shaped by human memes, the social equivalent of genes.  The first person to understand this was Dr Clare Graves and his ideas were picked up Dr Don Beck who clearly enunciated in the work Spiral Dynamics. Ken Wilbur later also climbed onto this band wagon.

Culture evolves over time and memes are packages of cultural information (containing templates of fashion, social etiquette, art, design, laws, work, customs, beliefs etc) – our social DNA. We as individuals all carry our social meme package. We can shift between our meme package, but normally have a dominant operating set of values. Not unexpectedly, this has a major impact in business.

The ideas of memes shaping organisational design have reemerged thanks to  Laloux’s book and the so called ‘Teal’ Organisations. While sadly a gross over simplification of the actual evolution of design, it is a step towards understanding how memes shape structure. So here is our journey (thanks Don)

Millions of year to present…

1 – Band – beige. Maslow’s base of his pyramid – survival – food, water, shelter – Maslow and Graves were contemporaries who argued bitterly about what actualisation meant.  – Organisation here was protection and duties assigned by stronger members to ensure food, safety, warmth, procreation. Hunter-gathering – band moved with seasons and food availability.Technology evolved slowly and bands were primary form of structure to get work done and survive.

Transition to next value system took place over millions of years, as we evolved culturally and technologically, but arrived with domestication of plants and animals and first permanent settlements.

2 – Tribe – Purple.  oldest of values systems – organising for safety. Circular around clan, tribe.  Decision making guided by elders, shaman or chief.  Seen as distinct group or tribe – best to deal with threats and focus on survival of tribe / group. Roles determined by age, gender, kinship and power.  Ritual important for coherence and protection. This meme is still very active and has evolved into sport. nationalism etc .

3. Empire – Red.  power gods – leader is all powerful, organised on favour, fear, domination.  emergence of strong egos, self more powerful then group, confront dangers and conquers, struggles over niches, exploitative systems.  Big boss rules through other bosses; communication downwards only, relationships governed by ‘how can I gain?” Modern glimpse – mafia, motorcycles gangs, warlords, despots/dictators.

18th Century to present…. Transition to next value system took place with arrival of industrialsation;   People needed in cities and development rapid as we evolved culturally and technologically. Huge conflict as memes battle for dominance – eg US Civil War, Russian Revolution, Anglo – Boer War, China.  Agricultural Waves vs Industrial Ages.

4.  Authority Structure – Blue, order and progress.  First memes of the Industrial Age. Arrival of the hierarchy – ability to organise on huge scale and assemble resources for mass  production.  Hierarchy brings scalability  – communication downwards and across, people in role – occupy rightful place, wait turn and obey orders.  Person with appropriate positional power makes decisions.  Efficiency and production, but rigid rules for structures, roles and rank.

Figure I: The older but still very active memes and their structures for getting stuff done

 

4. Strategic Enterprise – Orange – Materialistic/Achiever – Strive Drive.  Bureaucratic and status / power  orientated; delegated authorities, communication up, down and across, but evolves… drives results and outcomes, highly competitive. Seeks best solutions, but resource intensive and wasteful. Hierarchy evolves into adaptable and flexible structures.  Status orientated – allows for quick upward mobility and creativity. Durable and powerful Org design structure, gains global popularity for getting stuff done.

1960’s to Present…

5. Social Networks – Green – Sociocentric –  Human Bond – this meme burst onto the stage with the failure/successes  and excesses of consumerism and materialism (Orange meme).  Excesses of hierarchy gives rise to experimentation with this new egalitarian meme which values community, sharing, inner harmony, the team, well-being, balance and collaboration.  New  org models, concerned with equals working for mutual benefit; deny concerns with status and benefits; matrix, sociocracy, holocracy, self managed teams;  ‘the people’.   Leadership and hierarchy not in favour;  group consensus, flat structure and the team are in.

1980’s to Present…

  (TEAL of Laloux’s organisation sits between Green and Yellow.)

6.  Systemic Flow – Yellow – integrative – Flex Flow – this new meme arises due to Green’s inability to resolve and deal with complexity.  Org seen through systems lenses.  Structure as needed; according to task at hand;  Project based; changing functional leadership with decision making.  Connected, fluid, adaptable, intensely pragmatic, technological savvy, does what works – including partnerships, alliances;  walk away from what does not.  Agile and Requisite evolve, now based on natural organic hierarchy of complexity. Shared values sought with ecosystems.

7.  Holistic Organism – searches for holistic solutions (ecosystem) and guiding principles, the order underneath apparent chaos. blends consensus, competency in global perspective, focus information for insights and greater good.  Able to move quickly, each entity is microcosm of larger system.  Shared values require no harm, zero waste, circular, share.  Social businesses with global thinking and collective actions. Structure as required by the nature of things…

Figure 2 : Active and Emergent Memes and their structures for getting stuff done…

 

Lessons

  1. All org designs have aspects that work; some are robust, principles understood and do work; spot the evolutionary growth of each and don’t discard the good stuff.
  2. Ascertain your culture by looking at what memes are dominant (easy, check the CEO and executive; that’s the windsock to your structure).
  3. Digital transformation depends on yellow, orange and green memes, but mostly yellow.
  4. Oh and of course; people choose products and services according to their dominant memes, but how many marketers know this instinctively? Sort your products and marketing to meme segments
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My Defining Moments

Defining Moments. My friend has a blog called defining moments. They are profound words.  To me  they mean “a sharp,shaping event; one that alters your view of the world – an unforgettable learning experience”  It can be for good or bad. I have been thinking about some of my defining events and what I learnt;

1. Sunrise and a New Day – as a young officer, I remember sun rise after a long and harrowing night in enemy territory. It was a defining moment.  I promised myself to celebrate each new day, acknowledging it as an opportunity to live fully. I sometimes think of the words of John Cougar Mellencamp describing how life becomes grey, blurred, slipping past – same old, same old; – “life goes on but the joy of living is gone” An extract from my journal was “If it will not kill or wound – fear not, be brave.” LIVE while you have LIFE. WELCOME EACH DAY.

2. Physical Well-Being – I had a quadriplegic girlfriend. She broke her neck diving into a wave and had not ventured back into the sea until one morning, I took her out on my surfboard – a calm, glassy day and we surfed together. It was a tremendously emotional and a healing time. That relationship was a defining moment because being physically healthy is as good as it gets. There should be nothing else to complain about. Being really sick or physically challenged puts trivial worries into perspective. HEALTH IS NO 1.

3. I CAN do it – in 1997 my company turned over its first million. That was a defining moment. Many said I was mad to go it alone, and yes, the economy was shrinking, the country in revolt and hey, as the naysayers said; what did I know about business? Being successful is great, but it involves trade offs and a never ending commitment. My diary at that time had a note –  “Funny, the harder I work the luckier I get”   COMMIT FULLY TO WHAT YOU VALUE AND DREAM, BE BOLD.

4. Shit, this is NOT as good as it gets – in 2009 I discovered a completely different way to live life. It was a struggle for me to embrace at first, being diametrically opposed to how I have been programmed from birth to live – A defining moment. I realised another much finer world exists and I am moving fully into it.  What that defining moment taught me? BE INQUISITIVE, TAKE RISKS. DON’T LIMIT YOURSELF… as Mulder said in the X Files;  “The truth (for you) is out there”.

5. Betrayal – A strong, trusting business relationship shattered some years ago, almost landing in court. It cost me my company, dear friendships and almost my marriage. I was bitter and trusted no one for many years. A defining moment for me, although it shaped a dark journey. Time is a great healer.  TRUST IN YOURSELF. ALWAYS. 

6. Manifestation – you get what you wish and the clearer your wish is – the better your chance of getting it. I have been practicing this for years without realising it.  When I twigged that this stuff ACTUALLY works; it was a defining movement.  I learnt to be mindful in its practice – if your wish  is unclear, you get an unclear outcome; sort of, not quite, often with unwelcome and unexpected side effects.  If  it is a dark picture; beware. My first manifestation was dark and shook me to my core. BEWARE WHAT YOU WISH FOR and DO NO HARM IN YOUR WISHES.

What are your defining moments and what did you learn? 

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HBR – providing proof that managing for the long term pays off, but displays Requisite ignorance

A recent Harvard Business Review (HBR) indicates researchers have finally proven a critical Requisite concept – that complexity, work and time are linked. Good piece of work. The article claims:

* Companies deliver superior results when executives manage for long term wealth creation and resist focusing on market quarterly earnings (eg Unilever, AT&T, Amazon)
The article talks about a long term mindset – in Requisite terms the companies they describe are all operating in Work Themes of Corporate Citizenship (Work Level VI) that requires a mindset of up to 10 – 15 years. The leadership themes for these types of companies is wealth creation and tolerance (we need value creating outcomes.
*Executive feel balance between short term accountability and long term success are out of whack– The world needs long term thinking because long term thinking is by definition connected up thinking and this drives out short term gains to please the market. Requisite is clear – the more comlex the work, the longer the time required to judge the outcomes.
*Resilience – during the 2008-2009 GFC, these companies not only saw smaller declines in revenue, but also continued to increase investment in R&D- on average 8.5% – compared to 3.7% for others. Economic profit increased by 64% in comparison to peers over 15 years. Long term companies added 12,000 jobs on average from 2001 – 2015.
*Unable to measure the cost of short-termism – the article believes an additional 1$1 trillion has been lost in the US economy – but this is a bargain at the prize. Think of the true picture of short term gains and long term losses – think biodiversity, limits of growth, poverty and climate change!

Thinking long term is not ONLY good for business, its good for the entire PLANET.

This graphic, from my 2003 book, shows how Work, Civilisation and and Nature interact -the linking factors are time and decision making and how few companies work in the long time.

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Local Governments and Communities need to take a bigger role in the future

A HUGE shift is coming in society – like that of the Industrial Age. I did a public talk recently and spoke about coming job losses as technology wreaks havoc on industries (while governments desperately seek job creation). In the Australian this week was an article on expected industry job losses through technology. Grim reading. Elon Musk is right, do we want the future we are creating? In my talk I asked how will local governments create conditions for prosperity in their communities when employment and meaning (‘flow’) from work dries up? Certainly not from the old economic model. Yesterday, The Australian (pg 2), Ken Henry starts to hit the right notes with article "Locals urged to DIY big projects" – right next to article of keen youngsters wanting apprenticeship, but there are NO jobs. We need to recognise there are NO answers coming out of the broken, squabbling political system, here and globally. Local Communities need to reinvent and reinvigorate themselves!! There is much work to do – a huge transition is coming.