The Vision Pioneers Blog

by Miriam Garvi

Ten years ago, as I was busy interailing across Europe, interviewing Scandinavians abroad for my master’s thesis, I was fascinated by how the Internet was providing new opportunities for people to settle down and work from a location of their own choosing. In my business studies, I had seen little or no room for the individual, and I embraced the idea of «quality of life» as something that would acknowledge the diversity of people’s driving forces.

One common notion these days is that quality in life equals work-life balance, translating into expectations of success on all arenas including the professional, private/family, private/social and private/hobby spheres. And there are many consultants and life coaches out there offering their recipes for successful self-realization.

Juggling career and family, life for most really seems to be about give and take rather than balance. About choosing between the quality moment with the kids or the important meeting at work. About taking time for oneself, or investing in one’s closest relationships. Amidst all these internal and external expectations, we prioritize and we compromise.

Success has a funny way sometimes of leaving an unsettling aftertaste.

There is little life quality in conforming to the funky mold of successful being, when its achievement comes at the price of what may actually matter most. Finding a purpose that makes it all worthwhile will reveal a pathway that, though much less traveled-by, brings a meaningful dimension to life as we know it.

by Miriam Garvi

I am one of those who have been following Barack Obama’s rise to power with interest. Especially, I am intrigued by how a simple electoral message consisting of one single word seems to be touching the right cord with so many people out there:

CHANGE

Thanks to the political and rhetorical strategy that has brought Obama to power, change is becoming synonymous with progress, i.e. with the belief that things will inevitably be better if only they are different.

But where is this change taking us?

It is quite evident that changes are occurring both on national and global levels. Climate change, terrorism, a financial system in collapse, massive unemployment on the way are all reports of threats to our existence. And amidst such perceived anxiety, a desperate call for strong leadership emerges.

This year’s G20 summit has been quick to respond, displaying an unprecedented spirit of global cooperation, coordination and collaboration, as the U.S. joins ranks with the EU, and even Russia calls for strong leadership on the global level. As emphasized by Obama at the press conference following the summit, “We all have responsibilities to work together.” And these days such responsibilities are summarized in a global deal to boost world growth, a tantalizing vision that should take us away from the insecurities of a «boom and bust economy» towards globally sustainable economic growth.

There is nothing new about the human mechanism that turns towards strong leadership in order to dampen anxiety. Our responsibilities, to paraphrase Obama, are not to abdicate our own freedom of action, placing our salvation in the hands of those people behind the scenes pulling the strings of influence on the global arena. Our responsibilities are not to buy into an enticing vision of a New World Order, putting all our trust in the panaceas offered by our world leaders without considering what costs will have to be paid in the process. This has been done before, and the result was oppression, genocide, and world war.

What good is change, if it comes at the cost of freedom? We cannot sell out our freedom to a change agency as it promises to take us out of the crisis, only to realize the price of it once there is no turning back.

As change agents, the opportunity is ours to bring about the kind of change that leads to meaningful prosperity. It is time to recognize that greed as a motor for prosperity has faltered. No longer can prosperity be narrowly defined as economic wealth. I have seen leprous people in Africa much happier than people in the West. Meaning, not dollars and cents, is the currency that motivates people to change the world for the better.

by Miriam Garvi

Imagine for a second that you have this beautiful Idea. A cure for breast cancer. A new solution for waste-handling. A brand of cookies made the old-fashioned way with real ingredients rather than artificial ones. Maybe your Idea was triggered by something on the evening news. Maybe it came to you as you were facing a problem, pondering on how to solve it. Maybe you were frustrated with the lack of good options available on the market. However it came to be, you’re full of excitement at the prospect of launching into business. Family and friends lend you the money for office space and you start working prospective clients.

Gradually, it all takes form. Yet it’s a slow start. After a couple of years, you’re still struggling to make ends meet, waiting for that major breakthrough that will awaken people to the beauty of your Idea.

Then someone comes along with an offer to invest in the business and a market plan that makes everything sound so simple.

Five years later, loans to family and friends have been repaid, with interest. Thanks to new resources and competent fellows on the board, the company has grown considerably and you’re working your way into the Chinese market. Sure, the journey has been slightly different than you imagined and things might have had a different outcome had you been the one making all the decisions. A new CEO has taken your place and you’re now in charge of research and development. But you’ve always considered that to be the most enjoyable part anyway!

But one day life’s not all peachy anymore. Your solution for waste-handling needs  improvement but there is no patience for that. Your investors give priority to sales and marketing – but there is no way of reaching the milestones that have been set whilst pushing quality to the right level! Angry customers are calling in, they feel cheated. Employees are coming to you for advice, imploring you to resolve the situation. Fatigued and frustrated, you try raising your voice at the board meetings but you seem to be speaking a foreign, quite exotic, language. Keep pushing is the message; we’ve got a prospective buyer for the company that will move things to the next level!

And one day, when someone close to you asks you about what happened to that dream of yours, it hits you. In the effort of turning your Idea into a lucrative service, it is becoming just another one of those things that promises far more than it delivers. Where are those beautiful qualities that you could not wait to share with the world? Longing for the passion for what you once saw, you ask yourself if it is ever too late to go back to what initially sparked the desire to do something that can make a difference.

No, it isn’t.

by Miriam Garvi

The other day I was surprised to read that fructose makes you fat. Only fruit doesn’t. However, fruit juices, soft drinks and jams are sweetened with so much more fructose than what is found in a natural package (meaning fruit). Even the dietary amateur can see how tempting yet detrimental it would be to put too much of the good stuff into our processed foods in order to «improve» on nature.

We live in a world where we are overwhelmed by images drawing us into consumption. The politician’s favored term is growth, and for that to happen, there must be a steady stream of more people willing to buy more goods. In its 2008 mid-year update of the World Economic Situation and Prospects, the U.N. expresses its concern over slowing global growth rates, and, as a response, urges richer countries such as Japan and Norway to boost consumer spending.

I recently learned that saccharine, the first artificial sweetener, was discovered by accident during a chemical experiment in the late 19th century. I wonder who felt the need to consume artificial sugar before such substances were marketed as ultra sweetening but non fattening - in other words, have all the benefits without the downsides.

But what kind of fulfillment is there when market demand is created in order for the industry to diffuse its products?

The consumption society looks to awaken an insatiable appetite for more, playing on our more primitive impulses. The instant gratification that is offered in a consumption world is no long-term satisfaction. Nor is such a way of life sustainable if we were to extend our level of consumption to the rest of the world population.

There’s a thought.

…

“Has the venture capital industry grown and become so institutionalized that partnerships with founders are no longer possible? If so, then where do Innovators go to find capital to support radical product innovation?”

- Lee Tom Perry

(from PERRY, L.T. The Capital Connection. In: Academy of Management Executive, 1988. Vol II. No. 3. pp. 205-212)

by Miriam Garvi

I recently came across this article in the Boston Globe (November 2007) entitled:

“Pursuit of meaningful work blurs the business, nonprofit culture gap”

And so I thought today that I would post this simple question:

Do you know what makes your work meaningful and fulfilling?