The Vision Pioneers Blog

by Miriam Garvi

In our society, it seems as if the real winners are never those who take the first step. Most money is made by those deft enough to know exactly the right moment to move in and beat others at their own game. Business is for the survival of the fittest - those who have the stamina for playing the ‘gorilla game’.

But who defines winning? And who defines the prize? Chalking up a new sales record is an achievement, but then what? As shown by many a public company these days, it is no longer enough to be profitable - you need to keep exceeding expectations that are fueled by past successes. Expected growth is the curse of success.

It takes courage and conviction not to be drawn into this spiral. But if we are to see other qualities than short-term achievement we need visions that go beyond heeding to the loud demands and expectations of markets and institutions.

by Miriam Garvi

The other day I read about another initiative in alleviating world poverty. It seems that every new initiative these days involves the diffusion of some kind of golden recipe - as in ‘alleviating poverty through technology’ or technology saves the world. This time, the recipe was microfranchising: “The idea is to replicate sound business models and, consequently, to provide microentrepreneurs in developing countries with training and the necessary assistance for success.”

I could write about how such initiatives reek of a neo-colonialistic attitude where the Westerner knows how money is made and so our models of thinking are imposed on other populations without regard nor appreciation for their cultural settings. But today I will draw the parallel to what is happening in other areas of business life. In my study of venture capital, it became clear that a streamlining way-of-thinking is dominating business thinking today. By streamlining I mean these kinds of ready-made formulas, of ‘best practice’, of ‘business recipes for success’, of ’success factors’ - whatever we choose to call them - which are imposed on new ideas, snuffing the flame. As I wrote in the final pages of my dissertation, “it would be a loss indeed if venture capital [or micro finance for that matter or any other service aimed at promoting new initiatives] would mean the death of visions and ideas that can change our conception of the system. Without them, there would be little new to refine and we might never come to enjoy what we have yet to discover.”

It is time we start thinking about the implications of snuffing out the visionary flame with pre-made, easy-to-replicate business models that are designed with one thing in mind: namely how to streamline a business concept so as to maximize its perceived value on a financial market.

by Miriam Garvi

Look at this picture. Nothing but bare skies over a bare, snow-covered landscape.

But beyond what is captured by the camera lens is a moment rich in satisfaction and peace, a moment of untouched open space that awakens the hope of new beginnings. A breather from all the musts and the matters of course that frame our everyday life.

In our relentless pursuit of knowledge, we assemble everything we think we need to know about the ‘how tos’ and the ‘how not tos’. But this structure of fragmented pieces robs us of a quality so fundamental that it is known by the smallest child: that childlike innocence that allows us to believe in the unwritten page of new beginnings.

All too often what we see is blocking our sight. Unless we make room for the invisible qualities of life they will fall into oblivion, quenched by conventional professionalism. Vision pioneering is about unwritten pages and new beginnings: to start afresh by allowing fulfilling qualities to be brought out into the world. It is about new seeds taking form, germinating and growing so that we may be enriched not just monetarily but in a wider, human sense as we experience true fulfilment.

by Miriam Garvi

I spent part of this morning on the phone, taking care of some simple business. It turned out to be quite the interesting study of customer relations.

Call 1: I dial the number to my local bank.

Bank manager: - Elisabeth speaking.

Me: - Oh, is this not the … Bank?

Bm: - Yes, it is.

Me: - Aha. I am trying to figure out how to wire some money abroad over the Internet. Perhaps you could help me?

Bm: - I’m busy with a client right now. Can you call back later?

Me: - I thought I dialed your general number?

Bm: - Ehh… You did. But the call came to me nevertheless. Hm… let me see what I can do. Hold on, I’ll put you through to the cashier’s desk.

Question: Customer relations is about the client helping the service provider help the client?

Call 2: I call the swimming hall to book a massage.

- Welcome to … swimming hall.

Me: - Yes hello, I would like to book a massage for Friday morning if possible.

- Ehh, I don’t know if our masseur is in on Friday.

Me: - Perhaps you could find that out for me?

- Well the problem is that our binders with the scheduling information have gone missing. I’ll need to go look for them. Let me have your number and I’ll call you back.

(an hour later, an impatient customer tries again).

Me: I’m calling about a massage.

- Oh yes! That’s right! I’m very sorry about not calling you back, you see I haven’t been free to leave the cash-desk yet…

(massage eventually scheduled later in the afternoon).
…

Call 3: I need to reschedule a dental appointment…

Me: …I’d like to reschedule my dental appointment on the 25th.

Dental secretary: - Hold on a moment, please… Oh, that’s weird!

Me: - How’s that?

Ds: - You’re scheduled on both the 23rd and the 25th!

Me: - The notice I’ve received is for the 25th.

Ds: - Yes, but I have you in my computer twice! How can that be?

Me: - In any case, I need to reschedule for September.

Ds: - But twice the same week? Do you want to cancel both?

Me: - Eh yes, that would be good since I need to reschedule for September.

Ds: - Hm… I’ve never seen this before! What have they done here?

(customer still waiting…)

Ds: - Yes, so you need to cancel both? Ah! Now I know - we have training on the 23rd so they probably rescheduled everyone and forgot to cancel the initial date. [with a sigh of relief] OK! September, you said?

Question: if time is money, then how much should the customer be charging for lost time?

For some time now I have been wondering whether customer relations and customer service is in fact about clients coming to the rescue of bewildered service providers, as they offer suggestions out of sheer frustration on how to actually provide the service these organizations profess to offer.

Are we here for the customer or is it the other way around?

Philosopher Ayn Rand once said: “I don’t build in order to have clients. I have clients in order to build.” Well, if this is the dominant perspective in business, then perspectives have indeed been reversed so that we need think little about whether and to what extent the customer actually benefits from our ’service’ as long as we’ve gained a client - as long as clients add to our building.

by Miriam Garvi

The other day I was walking around among the glass skyscrapers of Hong Kong.

In business ideals of competition and growth have been put on a pedestal. Markets are redefined so we can claim to be the best or the biggest at something - but what that something is is of little importance as long as we can claim the position. We take great pains to belong to the beautiful people, that exclusive crowd of world citizens who can walk through life in luxurious air-conditioned gallerias with marble flooring where the daily pains of the unfortunate are far from sight. Great image, but what’s our contribution to the world?

Some fifty years ago, venture capital pioneer Georges F. Doriot raised a challenge as he was teaching future business leaders at the Harvard Business School: “Do we want to build or merely enjoy what others ahead of us have made possible? Really, how can one enjoy anything if one is not building for the future of others? Remember that our happiness is in direct proportion to the contributions we make.”

In the era of image, we seem to have forgotten all about legacy - forgotten about the strong imprint that is made when somebody is dedicated to making a difference even when there is no instant pay-off in sight. Such pioneering initiatives inspire us to find our own way of making an enriching contribution.

Image is exclusive and lies in the eyes of the beholder. Legacy is a challenge for each and every one of us and it is there for the taking.

by Miriam Garvi

The highlight of a recent event sponsored by the local business community was a half-hour lecture by a price-winning speaker on how to be creative.

The recipe he offered for creativity was quite simple. «Question everything! And when in frustration suggest the alternative way of doing things!»

Besides the obvious busybody label for those who do not take the time to understand the context, purpose nor setting before offering their tuppence worth on betterment, the generous round of applause that followed really reflects an interesting trend: creativity has become a commodity so streamlined that its practice can be self-taught in an instant.

By the end of this creativity crash course, the speaker appealed to the audience to contribute any thoughts they might have on the topic for his current book in writing. «It has turned out to be quite the challenging topic, you see, so any ideas will be useful.» All contributions to be sent by sms.

And I who thought creativity had to do with creating something rather than scouting for something to offer.