More and more business concepts these days are focused on accelerating the pace so as to generate returns as swiftly as possible to keep the wheels spinning. As we become more and more skilled at streamlining production in view of controlling the outcome, natural diversity is lost to the benefit of a few «gorilla ideas» that turn all attention towards the harvest.

As nature changes with the season, we are reminded that there is still a time to sow, a time to grow, a time to reap. With the sowing of new seeds we may come to discover new potential. While things grow and mature we may take on and learn to address new challenges. And with the harvest comes the contentment of a job well done as we enjoy the fruits of what we have planted.

There is something both inspiring and comforting about the changing of seasons as we are awakened yet again to new life.

I am often fascinated by the artwork that comes alive on the celestial canvas where thunderstorms come and go, displaying their strength and power.

Large organizations and institutions pride themselves on size or resource abundance. But there is a strength that goes beyond numbers. When people and vision are interwoven into one organism with different members, an entity - as small and insignificant as it may seem - will come alive with the pulse and the heartbeat that provide a continuous source of strength as the world changes.

The ensuing satisfaction is a priceless sense of meaning.

This week I am writing from the red sands of the Sahel.

Coming to this part of Africa is like traveling to distant times where life was about sustenance and survival, with no advanced technology to govern our existence. It brings out what I take for granted in everyday life, reminding me again of the framed existence of my Western mind.

In order to conceive of anything that is truly new, we need the courage to go beyond our realities framed by technology, culture and experience and move up to a level where there is freedom to ask a simple question: if nothing existed, how then would we like things to be?

Vision pioneering is about starting from the invisible where there is freedom to envision the qualities we are looking for. It is with such clarity that we can use our knowledge and potential to achieve something that will enrich our existence.

“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)

Of all the research interviews I have done, one particular conversation still stands out in my mind. A serial entrepreneur, founder of a VC company and keynote speaker at many a growth event described himself as an «enlightened despot» whose leadership style was based on a fondness for what he called «doers» - meaning people who would execute strategy. Needless to add that in his world there were clear boundaries between «thinkers» and «doers», between the elite who could read the strategic game and lay out the next move and those who were to implement decisions and report back on their effect.

In other words, any real thinking should only be done by those behind the scenes?

As I was tracing the origins of the venture capital phenomenon, I became aware of how easily something is labeled «the solution», endorsed by those institutions which will give it credibility, and of the strong impact that such labeling will have on business and policies (see chapter 7 in my dissertation).

It is interesting to note how little attention is given to understanding a problem and the real causes of observed symptoms in favour of cure-all remedies. The promotion of microcredits, laureated with a Nobel peace price, illustrates this trend in a different setting.

Are cure-alls becoming the new religion? As long as someone is conveniently labeling the solution no one is asking us to think for ourselves. We are urged to buy into «inconvenient truths» and endorse whatever is promoted as the next panacea for growth, world poverty or for saving the planet.

But if we choose to put our faith in ideas and technologies that are placed on a pedestal, we will inevitably be deceived. Because real solutions demand that we go beyond the symptoms and ask ourselves why a particular choice is important and what goals are fulfilled in the process. There is no easy way out for true progress.

Last night I was listening to a seminar on modern leadership and the importance of setting magnetic goals.

Nowadays we look to the world of elite sports for leadership guidance and inspiration, a world where years of hard work and training are directed towards that single moment where everything must come together in an outstanding performance. So much of leadership practice seems to be bent on «pumping up our emotions», trying to create a positive emotional balance so as to motivate people to achieve pre-set targets.

When business is defined as climbing new peaks, then what we need from leadership really is quite simple: making people believe in the attainability of the seemingly unattainable and motivating people to stretch themselves so as to reach that target. With the help of visualization techniques and positive thinking, it becomes a matter of pumping up emotions as we push for new records.

But where is the guidance in the emotional magnetism of «feel good» targets? Such coaching cannot help us find the right direction, but it can boost our performance once we know where we want to go.

As I wrote in my previous post Sheltered moments, true progress can never be achieved unless we know the whys of where we are heading. And it requires the kind of dedication to a vision that transcends the volatility of our emotions, where people are committed to making a difference even in the face of adversity because they value the sense of meaning that is generated in the engagement.

The other day my landlord company sent me and every other tenant the annual 10-page survey on customer satisfaction. I sighed as I opened the thick envelope, thinking about how readily companies will make use of the customer’s time and how seldom this seems to lead to any improvements.

Well, besides your typical customer satisfaction survey, this company wanted to know our housing wish list…

«How do you want to live?» This question should really be rephrased into «What are you willing to pay for?» to reflect its true meaning. A display of quasi-concern that is used like a thermometer in order to determine which future course of action is chargeable on the customer’s account.

When business is reduced to sterile transactions, then ‘customer care’ has little to do with taking pride in providing a product or service that is good, useful, purposeful for the client. Instead it takes on the meaning of effectuating what will directly impact bottom line.

So many qualities are lost in a visionless, penny-counting world. Is this a price we are willing to pay?

There is a tune that is played quite frequently these days. It is the anthem of social responsibility.

Basically, the lyrics go like this:

• start off by condemning child labor
• then enter a few couplets on environmental concerns
• end with a chorus of «we make the world a better place…»

This pleasant song celebrating high-standing codes of ethics and morals confirms the virtues of the global corporation and dispels any doubts or uneasiness that we might feel about the globalization of production flows and the concentration of power in a few nodes - reminiscent of a «space of flows» à la Manuel Castells.

Outsourcing has become a global application of the «law of supply and demand in self-regulating markets». Multi-national corporations assure us of their high-standing social responsibilities. But beyond codes of ethics is a reality that seldom corresponds with what we profess. In the new ‘hinterlands’ overseas, away from the public eye, production is outsourced to production facilities which take us back to working conditions of the pre-industrial era - times where one man’s life and well-being carried little value because there would always be another individual ready to take his place.

The recent example of Bangladesh and GrameenPhone raises important questions. Is our consumption pattern sustainable in the long run? Or does it rely on other people’s desperation to work in countries which have little industrial history - such as Bangladesh - and where production costs can be kept at bay with minimal concern for security and environmental issues?

Sometimes when codes meet reality even the most pleasant of tunes rings false if you listen more intently, blurring the lines between corporate social responsibility and corporate social hypocrisy.

For some time now there has been much talk about a knowledge economy where the intellectual and creative capabilities of human beings are a key resource.

When people are our main resource, then communication really becomes our main problem. So much time and energy is wasted on miscommunication and pseudo-conflicts simply because of a basic misconception that other people tend to think the same way I do and that their minds work like mine. And so it is tempting to breed a culture where everybody takes care of their own business just for the sake of avoiding all the non-constructive friction.

Leaving an era of industrialism behind has far-reaching implications for our ways-of-thinking, notably in terms of leadership and management. It challenges us to find effective ways of interacting so as to bring out the gold in the people around us.

It is time to bring an individual perspective to our ways of leadership and management. Only by viewing human beings not as aggregates but as individuals can we start thinking progressively about how to put in place organic structures that will allow people to flourish.

How rare yet precious it is to find a moment of quietness in-between the pressures and expectations of everyday life.

I often find myself wondering where we find room for contemplation and reflection in our hectic everyday lives. It seems that on most arenas we find ourselves in motion, caught in the urge to move things forward. But do we know where we are heading and do we know where we really want to go?

There are so many messages out there pushing the fear buttons; fear of standing alone, fear of a tainted reputation, fear of loss of investors’ confidence, fear of saturating markets, fear of loss of competitiveness etc. Juggling all these pressures and expectations makes it very difficult not to lose track of what really matters, as we are thrust into the mainstream direction.

Once in awhile there is that rare but precious moment where we are sheltered from all the noise of what we ought to do and how things ought to be done. And in that sheltered moment we may rediscover the freedom of thinking anew. True progress can never be achieved unless we know the whys of where we are heading, unless we step back and contemplate the future.