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The art and science of the possible

~ A celebration of non-zero sum thinking

The art and science of the possible

Category Archives: society

What does an “innovation economy” really mean?

22 Friday May 2015

Posted by lnedelescu in human capital, innovation, management, Organizational Development, society

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Agile, Economy, Independent judgement, Innovation, Knowledge Economy, Knowledge worker

Prosperity

We have entered the knowledge economy, but are only dismally realizing its tremendous potential for accelerating human progress and prosperity. While we acknowledge human talent as the chief resource of the 21st century, we fail to utilize the creative potential for a majority of the workforce. In fact, the portion of the employed workforce which utilizes independent judgement has remained stagnant for decades [see Nilofer Merchant]. Regarded from this angle, our state of the art economy is only marginally efficient at turning knowledge into innovation.  Progress is only achieved painstakingly and convolutedly. The lost opportunity cost is tremendous [see David Nordfords].

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The end of the “check-the-box” era

20 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by lnedelescu in business, human capital, innovation, management, society

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????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

In my 2013 Global Peter Drucker Forum winning essay, Post-Causality: a Quiet Global Revolution in the Making, I made a compelling point that the world is moving away from an “if-then” paradigm. We are indeed moving away from the simple causal credo of the “if you find yourself in this situation, then check this box” type. But it is a slow, protracted transition. According to Nilofer Merchant, between 1950 and 2010 the percentage of the workforce that utilizes independent judgement has been left flat at 33%. But what is independent judgement you might ask? A fair question.

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Big Idea 2015 – we have NOT entered the knowledge economy

13 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by lnedelescu in business, human capital, society

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fur-trading

The modern financial system traces its beginnings to the Middle Ages. As commerce passed a certain sophistication threshold that extended transactions beyond “right here and right now”, bartering broke down as an effective means for exchanging value. Since that inflection point, the world embarked on an ever increasing liquidity quest. As ever more sophisticated financial instruments emerged, they in fact substantially increased the mobility of assets.

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Communism is dead. Long live (corporate) Communism!

05 Tuesday Aug 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in business, capitalism, future, human capital, knowledge, management, philosophy, society

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business, Charles Handy, Communism, Corporations, human capital, Knowledge Economy, Peter Drucker, Progress, Society, Talent

Communism

The sensible consensus is that communism became all but extinct with the end of the Cold War. I say it may be so, but the mindset that fueled it continues to live unhindered. Your next thought may be that I am referring to North Korea. But I have something much closer to home in mind: the U.S. corporate sector. Yes, you didn’t misread. I will dare to say that the mindset of the corporate sector in 2014 is eerily reminiscent of communist thinking.

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Business – a form of human expression

30 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in business, human capital, society

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business, Human Expression, Humanity, Progress, Prosperity, Society, Spirit

Image

The tagline “people are our most valued resource” has been so abused by the corporate world that it no longer means anything to anyone. I suspect that in the near future it will be eventually qualified as an offensive truism, and rightfully so. The sooner it disappears off the face of the planet, the better of humanity at large will be.

The debate on the humanism of business continues to be part of a public discourse infused with various degrees of political innuendo – see the 99% movement, the shareholder value argument, etc.

I propose a simple new take on what business is: a form of human expression.

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The greatest risk to democracy is intrinsic

29 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in democracy, society

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image

If democracy should eventually fail, it will be by popular vote!

No totalitarian or fundamentalist regime has the means to challenge the military might that results from the wealth generated by free enterprise. What crazed ego-maniacal self-proclaimed leaders opposed to freedom and free enterprise might be unable to do, advanced societies might still achieve on their own.

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Do you still make mistakes?

27 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in learning, society

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Aliens, Ancient Alien Theory, Erich von Daniken, evolution, Extraterrestrials, Humanity, Learning, Shared Fate

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I’ve taken my aliens seriously ever since I was twelve. As a kid, after reading a good Von Daniken ancient alien piece, I would open the windows to the house wide open in the dead of winter – in case “they” came, I would always have an escape route. They fortunately never came.

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Don’t fix Capitalism; realize its opportunities!

09 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in business, capitalism, human capital, innovation, knowledge, society

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Capitalism, creativity, daydreaming, economics, Global Peter Drucker Forum, Harvard Business Review, human capital, Imagination, Industrial Revolution, Invention, Marxism, non-zero sum thinking, Peter Drucker, Prosperity, wealth

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Despite what you may be led to think when listening to heated political debates and cable news wise men, things are not that complicated when it comes to humanity’s predicament.

In a time when common folk and elites alike decry Capitalism and seem intent on going after it with pitchforks, I say we have yet to achieve it.

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Facebook vs. Nicolay Kardashev: the sustainable economic growth argument

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in business, capitalism, democracy, future, human capital, innovation, Investment, science, society, technology

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capital, Clay Christensen, Cosmos, economic growth, Facebook, Innovation, Investment, Kardashev's scale, Knowledge, Prosperity, social networking, Unknowns, Zuckerberg

Image

I’ve often wondered whether social networking companies like Facebook qualify as innovations driving sustainable economic growth, i.e. fueling human prosperity.

As more of the world’s discretionary capital (equity, venture, etc.) is sunk into social technologies we should I think explore the link between virtual technologies facilitating human connectivity (i.e. social media) and vibrant economies conducent to democratic political systems, invention and human prosperity.

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Modern society as an inertial machine

18 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in Crisis, future, human capital, learning, society, technology

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Answers, Conspiracy Theory, effectiveness, Efficiency, Idiosyncrasies, Machine, Questions, Recruitment, Skills, Society, Talent, Technology

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Conspiracy theories vs. idiosyncrasies

I for one am no big fan of conspiracy theories. I see them as the construct of minds unable to grasp modern life’s intricacies. The fact that few of us manage to agree within the same family leaves me suspicious as to the proliferation of occult groups with the coherence to pull the world’s strings – that is assuming they would possess the means. I have however become convinced that society doesn’t need conspiracies to create its own self-imposed idiosyncrasies which in turn come with a hefty price.

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