Session 3, is a reflection of reality. The world has changed, and it has gradually shifted from a linear operating system to a cyclical system. The linear system is one which brings about economic well-being at the cost of the environment. Alarms are ringing, and the world knows, the linear system results in wastage and focus on high energy consumption with fossil fuels. Not surprising, if we follow the rate of consumption of an average American, we will need around 3 to 5 of planet Earth. There will be no true sustainability where the truth lays over the fact that future generation cannot survive at the rate we are depleting the finite resources.
We need to shift away from the linear model, where economic well-being is brought about at the expense of the environment, to a cyclical system which considers about both economic and environment well-being. Although environment and economic growth always grew in lockstep, this conventional argument is now dangerously naïve and society has proven it.
Look at Natural Capitalism, a new system introduced by a frugal cornucopian, Amory Lovins; a visionary who made the world saw the importance of resource efficiency. The focus of his school of thought was based on the core principle of looking at the demand-side solutions, narrow down to what we really want, finally, look at better and cheap ways of producing the product. Ultimately with all these, increase productivity of natural resources by changing both production design and technology to develop ways to stretch the same amount of natural resources five, ten or hundred times further than they do today. An “End-Use/Lease-Cost approach”, reducing waste and accounting for the environment, lowering cost of production, hence, allow profiting.
Indeed, the ignorance of history of resource exploitation should come to a halt now! We should stop waiting to achieve scientific consensus, stop discounting the future, take a step back, look at life, and free ourselves of this illusion. Laziness has caused us to rely on scientist to recognise problems and hopelessly hope that an invisible hand will descend from the sky to remedy. Let’s stop pointing fingers, and with baby steps, slowly change the world. One just need to understand, one less plastic cup use, is one less plastic cup to bury. If everyone starts to reduce wastage, look for environmental alternatives, we are at the very least attempting to path a different road away from the bleak future. Build a next generation responsibly.
The shifting trends only meant one thing, we need to manage innovation, and innovation is all about change. How we manage change was the second part of Session 3. The society today was about Technology Push and Market Pull. We either reinvent existing product to suit market demand or be a creator of a tipping point, where we design and shape new consumer behaviour. Indeed, innovation is no easy feat. The translation of an idea to an innovation is a 3 part process. It begins with research over an idea, a dream, followed by development, the nightmarish processing of the idea, before it reaches application, the reality.
Change is often slow because human beings are often intimidated by opinions and failure. It’s like a man trying to ask a lady out for a date. Prior to asking, the guy will probably ask himself, am I good looking enough? Am I an individual with a social status high enough for her? This list of opinion is never ending and personal opinions start to corrupt the very idea which is full of potential. Worse, an individual will start to seek opinion to cover up for his insecurities, all these to avoid failure.
Similarly, managing innovation is management of an idea. Along the way, we will meet up with obstacles. A friend brought up, life’s like that, it’s always better to fail early, fail fast, fail cheap when we work on innovation. Nonetheless, I have to agree, focusing on how to avoid failure results in stagnation. We will lose our ultimate focus. Embrace the existence of failure and learn to deal with it to be better. A saying goes “prevention is better than cure”, but I always ask myself, where do you truly learn? Preventing the issue from occurring, or ‘curing’ the issue? The world is never perfect, but it is due to the little imperfections that allow us room for progress.
PS: A good feast from lesson.
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