George Soros foresees US class war

In a recent interview with Newsweek, George Soros has said that he foresees “riots on the streets [in the USA] that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties.”

This is not good news for US citizens, or business. People who are rioting do not make good customers, or employees. And sales may increase for companies in the ‘personal security’ industry, a climate of civil unrest is likely to make things even worse for the rest of the economy.

As a man who escaped first Nazis and then communists in his native Hungary, and then went on to make $1bn in a single day from the collapse of the ERM, his opinion surely deserves to be listened to. Continue reading

Posted in Arab Spring / Occupy, Political, Rich-Poor divide, Rich-Poor divide, Social, Squeezed middle, USA | Leave a comment

From value-obstacle to value-enabler

In this video, Clay Shirky talks about how human beings organise to get things done.

The traditional response has been to form an institution.

The newly-emerging solution (in 2005) is to enable cooperation through infrastructure tools — essentially internet 2.0.

What Clay explains is that the days of the traditional solution are numbered — because they fail to capture some of the potential value that is created by the looser, cooperative model, and they add extra costs (of management control). Continue reading

Posted in Paradigms | Leave a comment

Energy and Growth — a physicist’s view

We cannot continue to grow our economy forever. A physics professor at the University of California has used the laws of physics to write two blogs that explain why.

Permabusiness takes this information and looks at what would come next — both for the financial system and the wider economy.

Unexpectedly, we find stories in the news that indicate this is already happening.


Continue reading

Posted in Economic, Paradigms, Political/Economic, Solutions | 1 Comment

“Fixing Britain” — a clear view of a future for business

Lots of people talk about “thinking global, acting local”. This guy does a good job of putting it into practice.

He paints a clear picture that runs from the strategic rise of China to the practical need for better education, less regulation, more environmental responsibility, and more socially-inclusive wealth creation.

Posted in Big Picture, China, Economic, Energy / Environmental, Environmental, IndustryCompetition, Political, Political/Economic, Social | Leave a comment

Big Picture — December 2011

When the managing director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, issues warnings like this:

“There is no economy in the world, whether low-income countries, emerging markets, middle-income countries or super-advanced economies that will be immune to the crisis that we see not only unfolding but escalating.” [Source]

it is time to take stock of where we are and make plans for the future.

The first step is to understand the key forces driving change.

What are the key trends and drivers shaping your business, your industry and business in general?

Our answers for business in general are included below. In the new year we will look at what to do about them.

In the meantime, have a great Christmas/Holiday period.

(And do let us know what here you agree with, and what you think we’ve left out.)


Continue reading

Posted in Big Picture, Energy / Environmental, IndustryCompetition, New Entrants, Paradigms, Political/Economic, Social, Suppliers, Technological | Leave a comment

What Should I Do With My Life?

Companies don’t grow because they adopt a six-sigma methodology. They don’t grow because they increase productivity by 37.2%. They don’t grow because they exceed sales targets in three quarters running.

Companies grow because they provide meaning and value to the people who choose to engage with them.

The article below argues convincingly that the deepest, richest source of value is the age-old question, “What should I do with my life?”

“Companies … win because they engage the hearts and minds of individuals who are dedicated to answering that life question.

“People thrive by focusing on the question of who they really are — and connecting that to work that they truly love, and in so doing unleashing a productive and creative power that they never imagined.”

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/66/mylife.html

Posted in People management | Leave a comment

Mapping the terrain

When we set out on a journey it is important to be clear about the kind of terrain we shall be travelling through.

Similarly when planning for a business, it is important to be clear about the environment the business will be travelling through. Continue reading

Posted in Paradigms | Leave a comment

How (and why) to rebuild a rainforest

Permabusiness exists to do three things:
1) show the problems with the current ways of doing business
2) show a vision/visions for what a better way(s) might look like
3) share tools for taking first steps that take us from where we are to where we [you] want to get to.

The video below describes all three. Continue reading

Posted in Paradigms, Success Stories | Leave a comment

Sir Stelios sets up short term car hire club

Depending which way you want to look at it, a new entrant to the car hire industry, or a substitute for buying a car, has just been announced by Sir Stelios Haji-Iaonnou and Brent Hoberman (co-founder of lastminute.com).

Their new service, called Zipcar, will rent cars by the hour and will be test launched in spring 2012.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/68d4cba2-249d-11e1-bfb3-00144feabdc0.html

Posted in New Entrants, Substitutes | Leave a comment

Building blocks of a disruptive business model

When we start to see customers as part of our business model (see previous post) interesting, disruptive, and beneficial things can happen. Continue reading

Posted in Paradigms | Leave a comment