The Vision Pioneers Blog

by Miriam Garvi

When I was writing my dissertation just a few years ago about the world of venture capital and the financing of entrepreneurial ventures, it was a challenge to find a terminology that would adequately convey the purpose of a particular enterprise beyond the doctrine of profit maximization.

Today, however, this has changed. Yesterday’s oxymorons have become politically correct, and terms like non-profit companies and for-profit philanthropy reflect the on-going upgrade of concepts ascribing a sense of common good to the narrowly-focused, profit-seeking objective that has dominated our view of companies and corporations for far too long. Hybrid terms such as the «for-benefit enterprise» are promoted as examples of how capitalistic interests will merge with the idealistic into a harmonious compromise as long as everyone stands to gain from the alliance.

But behind the plethora of upgraded labels, what is actually changing? Bill Gates proposed a win-win scenario for all through the Gates foundation. Does this mean that he has left his strong-arm tactics behind, or has he simply found a way of practicing technology dumping on future markets in a form that is socially acceptable to the global community?

Many will say that we should settle for an upgraded version of capitalism that will allow for the continued pursuit of wealth and growth, where the costs incurred in that process are affordable to our conscience. A system of compromise that we can live with, and yet remaining the major beneficiary of it all.

But what legacy is it to leave behind, if all we do is minimize the damage of our lifestyle having realized that it is not sustainable?

A compromising alliance between selfishness and philanthropy is not what will bring our world meaningful progress and prosperity. Nor is the enticing language that offers what it does not deliver a satisfactory answer. It is time to raise the stakes and start aiming for visionary initiatives, where unlike the hybrids, the purpose is crystal-clear: fulfilment that will truly benefit mankind.

by Staffan Göranson

In Greek mythology, there was once a king named Midas. By Dionysos, god of fertility, wine and growth, he was offered the granting of a wish of his choosing. Greedy as he was, he cried out: Gold! Gold! Gold! And this was granted. Anything he touched became gold. He congratulated himself on all the riches within his touch. Everything around him - trees, bushes, palaces, servants - became gold. Never before had anyone had so much gold in their possession.

King Midas’ happiness was complete until he realized that he was hungry and thirsty. But as the cup touched his lips the wine turned into gold. When he put a grape into his mouth, his teeth cracked from biting into a grape of gold. Soon, the hunger and thirst became unbearable. His daughter reached out to help him get some food into his body. Foreseeing the danger, he tried pushing her away in order to save her. But also she was transformed into a golden statue. King Midas was distraught. He regretted his foolishness, begging Dionysos to make his wish undone.

In the last two centuries of industrialism, most of what we have touched has become gold. The generation of my parents bore in mind the poor, the oppressed - people in their immediate vicinity who had no social security when they fell ill or out of work. I was raised in a family business. My father’s greatest satisfaction was accomplishing good things together with his co-workers, where everyone contributed with their piece of a greater whole. In this way, the company grew into a larger organism. These are good memories that I carry with me still.

However, in the last 20-30 years, the flip side of industrialism has become all the more visible, as the drive for economies of scale leads to a mechanism of growth independent of the actual needs of people - a machinery driving man rather than the other way around.

In ancient times, there was another king who was offered a corresponding wish from his god; namely to wish for anything he liked and it would be granted to him. The king was Solomon and he was succeeding his father king David who had been a legend already in his own lifetime. Solomon wished for the ability to discern between good and evil so that he would be able to lead his people in a just way. Like king Midas, Solomon’s wish was granted. But unlike Midas, Solomon never had any reason to regret what he had wished for. He became the most powerful and the wealthiest man in his lifetime and his nation prospered in every possible way. And the legacy of his wisdom has outlived him.

There is an old truth that says that we will have what our hearts desire. My generation was born during the peak of industrialism, but we are now facing the need for a deeper assessment of its consequences. We are not doomed to follow the flow. We have the opportunity to think our own destiny through. Why not learn from history and start thinking about the kind of society that we really want to see? About what will give a good and meaningful life - for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.

May we be granted the wisdom that is needed to move in the right direction.

by Miriam Garvi

In When progress equals devolution, I wrote about how easily wisdom is lost in our pursuit of knowledge, as we discard the natural in favor of the artificially modified that will allow for production and consumption en masse.

Lately, there seems to be a common understanding that in order for our post-industrial knowledge society to become environmentally, economically as well as morally sustainable, we need to see some kind of change occur. How deep this change should go, however, is not clear: whilst some are talking about replastering the capitalistic system to make it more palatable, other voices are calling for a more profound and complete transformation of our way of living.

Through the eyes of a child, what beauty would we be able to see?

As we start out, life is rewarding in its simplicity and beautiful in all that it promises. But the precious innocence and playfulness of the young child is lost as we are socialized into the imperatives of modern society. So many of those treasures that are so easily discerned through the eyes of a child, become impossible to see once viewed through the lenses of what is socially correct and normatively acceptable.

People working with strategic change know that achieving transformation includes allowing the taken-for-granted to be shaken at its core. Yet unless there is truly a renewed mindset, any such «unfreezing» technique will only serve to build new walls on the same foundation. And, like the leaning tower of Pisa, it will matter little what we do above ground, if we do not concern ourselves with the fundamentals underground that will hold it all together.

More than change, vision pioneering is about reclaiming that childlike eagerness where life is yet an open book waiting to be filled and where what we make of our lives truly matters. And with the playful why we can rediscover the freedom that is ours to envision what is beautiful, useful, and helpful to mankind.

Let us be young again!