Author Archives: admin

Beliefs drive results

It was Einstein who told us that “You can’t solve a problem by using the same level of thinking that created that problem in the first place.” And Gregory Bateson pointed out, “The major problems in the world are the result … Continue reading

Posted in Food, Paradigms | Leave a comment

Searching for a money tree

Posting, here, a link to an interesting story about food-growing in sub-Saharan Africa. The article explains how crop yields there have been falling dangerously low, and how the traditional approach of ‘adding more fertilisers’ is no longer working. A new approach, called … Continue reading

Posted in Food, Social | Leave a comment

Clay Shirky on institutions vs. collaboration

Clay Shirky makes some interesting points about the future of ‘institutions’ as a way to get things done, given the extra costs of management, and the c. 20% of value they fail to capture: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/clay_shirky_on_institutions_versus_collaboration.html

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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 … 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. … Continue reading

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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 … 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, … Continue reading

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 … 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 … Continue reading

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 … Continue reading

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