Inspiration to learn about yourself

Following up on this recent posting about how to make integration happen, I read a very interesting article about Singapore in Das Magazin. Here is an extract from the article: "83 Prozent der Singapurer wohnen in HDBs, in Wohnungen des H ousing and D evelopment B oard. Sie gehören ihnen, sie haben sie gekauft, finanziell gefördert vom Staat. So wollte es die Regierung: Bürger als Eigentümer, als Kleinaktionäre der Singapore Inc. Und noch etwas sollte die Regierung mit dem öffentlichen Wohnungsbau: In jeder Siedlung soll die nationale Gesellschaft in ihrer ganzen und schönen Varietät vertreten sein – 72 Prozent Chinesen, 14 Prozent Malaien, 8 Prozent Inder. Es gibt eine strenge Quotenregelung. Leben schon 14 Prozent Malaien in einem Block, kommt kein Malaie mehr dazu. Das ist nicht sonderlich liberal, aber ziemlich gescheit. So verhindert Singapur, dass Gettos entstehen, dass sich die Menschen voneinander entwöhnen." Where you live, to what degree to people from different cu...

In the 2007 European Innovation Scoreboard, which you can read here , Sweden and Switzerland rank as # 1 and 2. Having a closer look at the innovation leaders, I noticed that Sweden is innovative largely due to very strong innovation inputs, where as Switzerland is innovative due not least to high efficiency in generating intellectual property. To those of you, who come from either Sweden or Switzerland: Can you tell us a bit about your cultures? In particular, it would be great if you could give some concrete examples of innovative behaviour in the cultures, you come from. Thanks very much in advance. I came across the 2007 European Innovation Scoreboard through this posting by Paul Sloane.

In a very interesting posting , Kevin Kelly writes, for examples, this: "Once anything that can be copied is brought into contact with internet, it will be copied.." In the same posting, Mr. Kelly also mentions and gives examples of what he calls uncopyable values – something that cannot be copied/reproduced but must be generated/grown/nurtured: - Trust. - Immediacy. - Personalization. - Interpretation. - Authenticity. - Accessibility. - Embodiment. - Patronage. - Findability. Besides the examples that Mr. Kelly mentions concerning the values above, do you know some other good examples? I came across the posting by Kevin Kelly through this cph127.com posting .

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said, for example, this during his speech in Paris on February 20th, 2008: "To be prepared for the future, governments need to act now to put proper policies in place to help satisfy labour needs partly through migration and enable the integration of migrants. Every OECD country should make this a priority. It is socially, politically, ethically and morally correct, but it is also an act of sheer economic rationality ." If you’re interested in reading more, please click here . Integration happens, I have learned, when people are involved / participate in the economy – for example by using their talents to create value for other people. What success stories do you know? It would be great if you would also share your own experiences.

In the Towers Perrin Global Workforce study 2007 , which demonstrates connection between employee engagement and financial performance, I had a closer look at the results for Switzerland . What I found interesting was not least the # 1 driver for employee engagement: The management of the company is open to new ideas. Reflecting on this finding, I thought about a question I’d like to ask you: Which idea(s) have you tried out lately? Please feel free to communicate a couple of concrete experiences you have had.

In this posting , I mentioned kiva.org . In the meantime, I’ve come across some other initiatives that also challenge the way banking is done: MyC4 On the MyC4 website , I read this: "The model is simple. An African entrepreneur needs your investment to help develop his or her business. Your investment could be funds, advice, knowledge, or inspiration." To have a look at the newest MyC4.com investment opportunities, click here . I became aware of MyC4 through a Kolind Kuren posting . IOU Central I came across IOU Central through this P2P-Banking.com posting . Zopa I became aware of Zopa by reading the book The Future of Management . What other changes do you think we will see in banking in the coming months?

UEFA EURO 2008 in Switzerland and Austria is rapidly approaching. For example, I’ve already noticed many interesting “renewals” here in Zurich . Here are a couple of examples: * A new, impressive and open multifunctional arena , Letzigrund, has been built (here’s a photo from Flickr ). And the infrastructure around the arena has also been improved. On the Letzigrund website , I read this about the arena: "Openair Konzerte, internationales Leichtathletik-Meeting Zürich, Fussball, Gruppenspiele EURO 2008... Der Letzigrund ist auch Treffpunkt für die Bevölkerung von Zürich und Trainingsbasis für den Breitensport. Als Kulturstadion ist der Letzigrund Plattform für Kunst- und Kulturevents..." * Freibad Letzigraben , the swimming facilities right next to Letzigrund, has been renewed in an extraordinary way. The place, that offers something for people with many different interests, could be one way for people to cool off, read, stay fit, be with friends and family etc. between the...

In this December 2007 posting I wrote about core global risks presented in the Global Risk 2007 report . In the Global Risk 2008 report , the experts line up the following important issues: # 1: Systemic financial risk The risk of house and other asset prices collapse in, for example, the United States - reducing consumer spending and creating a recession. The risk of a slower economic growth in China is also mentioned. # 2: Food insecurity risk The risk that food insecurity will become an increasingly complex political and economic problem over the next few years. For example, population growth, climate change and the growing use of food crops for biofuels may be shifting the world into a period of more volatile and sustained high prices. # 3: Supply chain risk The risk that hyper-optimisation of supply chains may also increase vulnerabilities to disruption and concentrations of risk. # 4: Risk to energy security and risks from global climate change The risk of guaranteeing a safe, se...

I’m reading an interesting book at the moment that challenges how the work of management is being done. It’s called The Future of Management and is written by Gary Hamel and Bill Breen. The front flap of the book, which you can have a look at here , sets the beat. For example, I noticed this: "..The current management model – centered on control and efficiency – no longer suffices in a world where adaptability and creativity drive business success." How do you think the work of management will increasingly be done? What do you think will change?

On the Beyond Budgeting Round Table website , a number of reasons why budgets cause problems are listed. Here is one of them: " Budgets are time consuming and expensive . Despite the advent of powerful computer networks and multi-layered models, budgeting remains protracted and expensive. The average time consumed is between four and five months. It also involves many people and absorbs up to 20 to 30 percent of senior executives' and financial managers' time. Some organizations have attempted to place a cost on the whole planning and budgeting process. Ford Motor Company figured out this amounted to $1.2 billion per annum." Reading this made me think of a couple of questions: Question # 1 How much does the company you work for spend each year on planning and budgeting? Question # 2 What is/are the most effective way(s) of reducing the costs spent on planning and budgeting and – at the same time – increasing the competitiveness of the company? Please be as concrete as...

I thought that the photo below from Flickr of Japanese traffic lights, that go horizontally - not vertically - was a good way of illustrating that horizontal communication can, for many companies, be worth focusing more on. In this interesting The AppGap blog posting , Matthew Hodgson mentions that web 2.0 technology completely changes how we interact online and the way in which modern businesses operate. Mr. Hodgson also makes 3 concrete suggestions for what companies need to do to change the way they communicate: # 1: Change your top-down communication styles to something that is more horizontal. # 2: Encourage individuals to communicate and collaborate across organisational silos. # 3: Empower individuals with tools that not only help with their work, but also facilitate horizontal communication. What do you and your colleagues need in order to communicate more horizontally?

Following up on a previous posting about involving people living in a country in decision making - using Switzerland as an example, I read this in a speech by Ms. Micheline Calmy-Rey held on August 1st, 2007: "..vergessen wir nicht, dass 1/5 unserer Bevölkerung die Gesetze nur befolgen muss, und sie nicht mitgestalten kann. Unsere Demokratie kann sich noch verbessern." You can read the entire speech here . My question for you is: When do you think that everyone, who lives in Switzerland and is above a certain age, will be eligible to vote at elections/referendums? Please also communicate why. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

In a previous posting , I addressed the strategic paradox “Plan or try things out continuously? Or do both?” Worth noting here is, not least, that in periods with many and/or rapid changes and consequently high uncertainty in markets, it can be valuable to not only focus on long term plans but also to work on trying things out in the short term - for example with customers and IT developers. Of the several interesting comments to the posting, "Lukas" wrote: "I think this is issue is very demanding in today’s business. Room for trial and error creates innovation, planning ensures reaching targets. I work for a strongly hierarchical company where planning is clearly dominant. I think the bigger the company is, the more importance planning has. To have some kind of control in big systems, I think planning is essential. Of course, there must be room for spontaneity, otherwise you won’t be able to make innovation and be near at the market." To get some more inspiration ...