The Vision Pioneers Blog

by Miriam Garvi

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.

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.