This WEF global risks grid compiled from survey respondent answers seems, at first, to be a pretty good stab at the issues on the table.  Now, try and take another look without slipping into a heavily comatose state.  These terms, familiar to us thanks to the daily grind of ‘very serious information,’ is the apex of mechanistic, non-sentient language, not far removed from what you might find in an IKEA shelving unit assembly manual. Impossible to decipher and skull-crushingly dull, both destined to go straight in the bin for most normal people.

It might be that we need to think about other ways to fix this planet that is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. After all, 4 years into this pile-up, haven’t we been talking about these things for ages with minimal progress? Where are the answers? The blindingly obvious truth is that the frames of reference for those snuggled up under their goose feather quilts in Davos are hopelessly inadequate for dealing with the task at hand. The required reboot is going to take a long time, a lot of muscle and a massive dose of heart. And to make it happen we are going to need to get as far away from the self-serving, nacolepsy inducing ‘serious talk’ as possible to create a groundswell that is engaged in creating a better future.

And make no mistake, the type of capitalism plugged by snowshoe-clad industry leaders is somewhat different to the one you may have read about, as this startling exchange demonstrates:

So, not much chance of anything happening there. In an attempt to go beyond the standard go-to risk soundbiteology, I thought I might make a wee risks chart that could actually resonate with peoples lives. While i don’t think it is that hot in term of language, I do hope it scratches at what might be behind the impasse we are at as well as think about some of the areas that need more attention. For although ‘serious talk’ never goes near most of the issues i’m talking about – and even less so during a CRISIS – it might be that they are precisely what’s holding us back. Anyway, here it is:

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The leak/release of the  Rio+20 draft agenda has set of many discussions about outcomes for this anniversary summit (read the agenda all here). Of course there will be a lot of head bashing, technical work done by delegates. Fine. That is their job. But the real route to effectiveness is going to be around global narratives, rekindling the notion of the planet for normal people, perception and all that. I have a nightmare in my head that the ‘Our Common Future’ definition of sustainability of:

“…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

will be heard ad infinitum in the media etcetc, gaining traction and becoming the go-to narrative setting piece.

This (pathbreaking at its time) definition which began life incomplete, morphed to become a welcome tool for mediocre boardrooms to trot out in their unending pursuit of incremental non-gains…leading on to weak action, wanton destruction in the pursuit of near-term profits, the endless talk about embedding sustainability into business and a fatal erosion of trust between business and society – instead of the start of a  radical restructuring of our how we create wealth  and get out of the mess we are in (exhibit a-z: destroyed societies across the world , sclerotic politics, fatter fat cats, insert your favourite example of declinism here__________).

The other day, when reading a paper by Ken Arrow and Partha Dasgupta on measuring stocks of national wealth (have a sneak, it is rather immense PDF) for a short note on why the fears of a low growth couple of years might be a time to rethink the GDP-chase madness, I came across their well laid out critique of said definition. Here is what they say:

As sustainable development must refer to a path of development that sustains (prevents the diminishing of) something, our first requirement is to state what that “something” should be.  In a landmark report, the Brundtland Commission (World Commission, 1987: p.70) defined  sustainable development as “… development that meets the needs of the present without  compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Note that the definition makes no mention of human well-being. Relatedly, it makes relatively weak demands on intergenerational justice. In the Commission’s view, sustainable  development requires that future generations have no less of the means to meet their needs than  we do currently; it requires nothing more. As needs are the austere component of well-being,  economic development could be sustainable in the Commission’s sense without having much to  show for it.

 Note also that the Commission’s definition is directed at sustaining the factors that go to meet needs. In their view “sustainable development” requires that relative to their populations  each generation should bequeath to its successor at least as large a quantity of what may be  called an economy’s “productive base” as it had itself inherited from its predecessor. That raises another problem with the Commission’s reasoning: it does not explain how the productive base should be measured. 

We take the view that economic development should be evaluated in terms of its contribution to intergenerational well-being. Specifically, we identify sustainable development  with economic paths along which intergenerational well-being does not decline.

Gets to the nub of a few of the holes in the phrase but of course it would probably have sent Donald Draper into a gin soaked rage. Do we need better definitions and communications? Yes. But, more critically, the world has moved on. The corporate age is having its final swansong. New business models, an understanding of what wealth is all about and a world confronted by a myriad of impossible tasks call for the emergence of a new compact. Rio+20  can either be remembered for Punxsutawney Phil seen-it-all-before irrelevance or it could be the focal point for a gathering swell of new ways of doing things that are bubbling everywhere. We have a choice. We sit back and curse newscasters prefixing Brundtland to their Groundhog summit coverage or,  we can seize the Rio+20 coat tails and use it as a launchpad. Time to get out of the bunker, leave the silo, ditch the obtuse language and get cracking.
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November 2001: The first iPod launches and detonates the cosy 4-way music industry love-in forever.
October 2011: iPod’s original designer Dani Fadell launches a thermostat.

Bit of a step back? Sure, if you think shoving another n billion iPod like devices into peoples palms is a divine calling that must be quenched.

That Dani Fadell has come up with a ‘thing’ that takes Apple’s design and function aesthetic and crammed it into a seemingly undisruptable everyday household object is a screaming sign of our times. In many spheres, against the odds (that we have built up against ourselves), we are slowly dragging ourselves away from the pyre of obsolescent, credit fuelled, asset backed stuff that has brought advanced economies and societies to their knees, and we are limping towards a fitter future.

What is doubly interesting is the attention/press it has garnered. Appetite for ‘things’ with a bit more bite is on the rise. Hacking, personalising your life is becoming more commonplace. In fact, if you wanted to, you could probably make a D-I-Y version of this thermostat with some sensors, a Pachube-like data pipe (i think that is the right vernacular, please don’t crucify me if it isn’t) and minimal programming skills. But critically, it is the addition of a little Apple gold dust transforms this into a crossover hit.

A path from the smouldering wreckage

So perhaps these cues point us towards a path away from the smoldering wreckage. Despite what the vested interests may tell you, in today’s world, stuff from the edge, done right, for the right intentions (ie not to heap more misery on us) can truly thrive.

Stuff from the edge, done right, for the right intentions (ie not to heap more misery on us) can truly thrive.

Sadly for the big dogs this is not a painless process. Look at Philips desperately trying to sell its TV division, cutting thousands of jobs to make it ‘more lean, agile and entrepreneurial’. At the same time it is all guns blazing in transforming itself into a company focused on delivering wellbeing and improving people lives. And while the ‘entrepreneur’ drive is somewhat chilling, to their great credit, they twigged that flatscreens probably can’t deliver the type of wellbeing they want to be all about.

And no, ‘fatscreens’ wont do it either.

So while the giants across many industries hurtle headlong at maximum 20th century velocity into the pile-up, the rest of us are a bit screwed right? Well, maybe not. Thermostat guy just did something smart. Sure, it took guile, determination, expertise and hard work but what doesn’t? For many reasons, the lumbering giants ceased to be wealth creators a long time ago. Their one-track obsessions at pushing pointless innovation on us is a legacy we can break free from. What’s more, as the big dogs search for inspiration, their hopes lie in opening their doors (and wallets )to the many radical innovators out there and respectfully looking on as they show them how to flourish.

One key lesson. Thermostat guy made an impression because of the traction his release garnered. For the radical innovators out there, it is about taking your fantastic ‘thing’, sprinkling in some gold dust and nailing the narrative, so that heads are turned, synapses are nourished and momentum builds.

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A mini plug. This thurs @ 6pm October 27th I’m running a little session with Ed Gillespie (@frucool) at the Hub Westminster Changemaker Fayre titled: Design a high street as if the world mattered. Do come on down will be fun and we could use you help! The fayre look has loads of stuff going on take a look or check out #changefest on twitter

'Which way to Occupy Apple?, Oh...I see'

Two big hits in a world that seems to hang on big numbers:

• 4 million new model iphones sold by Apple over its launch weekend.
• 7 billion people expected to be sharing this planet on October 31st.

Will this new person be a future iphone owner?

When visionary über-chef Ferran Adrià pulled the shutters down on his restaurant nestling in the Catalan coastal town of Roses for the last time, he was saying goodbye to a 27-year-old restaurant that had become the world’s most fabled eating institution. A restaurant, only open for 6 months at a time, that 2 million people a year tried to get a table at (and that only served up 8, 000 covers). His mindblowing, unreal creations (tapioca Iberian ham anyone? Consommé tagliatelle carbonara?) were the types of things never before conceived of in the history of food. He is a genius. And his restaurant was rightly feted with godly praise, the phrases diners used to describe their trip to Roses were unlike anything ever used to describe a meal before. This guy had raised the bar in a once-thought impossible way.

So why on earth would you mess with this formula? Probably the most successful restaurant of all time. Head and shoulders above its peers. The reference point for a generation of chefs. It made serious cash. It was a place that had transcended conventional high expectations to reach an unscaled pinnacle. Perhaps this genius had suffered the same fate of other tormented greats that have left an indelible mark on this planet with their excellence and he had cracked. Maybe his cheese had slipped off his cracker?

A bit bonkers?

Well actually, no. Ferran Adrià has bigger fish to fry. His restaurant is to be transformed into an academy of learning and creativity. It is set to become a beacon of El Bulli inspired excellence that will nurture and cultivate future food pioneers. Carved out of the rock below the site of the former restaurant it will be an organic temple of deep culinary thought and fantasy flavours. A bit bonkers? Well, maybe. But also totally visionary. This is someone who at the top of his profession decided to say: ‘Sod it, i’m forgoing the glory of having the most stunning, over-subscribed to restaurant the planet has ever seen and I’m going to totally reinvent this and take it to another level. And then, I will really blow people’s minds.’

What we have here is a visionary, letting excellence guide him to new, unexplored terrain that probably only his establishment can explore as it has reached virgin, never-before-breached heights.

Last product launch

So here is the plan. The new iPhone launch today will be its last new product launch for the foreseeable future. Tim Cook will tell the ranks of the world’s press that it is time to move on. He will explain to them that its model, while hyper efficient, is Dickensian in design and totally not Apple. Endless mining of minerals from conflict prone regions, minimal recycling and incessant low cost manufacturing where misery inducing employment is just ‘one of those things’ are to be consigned to the past.

Apple would commit to never selling another product (as we know them). Sure, it would still have a hand in making them, but it would draw up some serious new strands to its business:

1. It would devise a modular, closed loop system that would mine old gadgets for the raw materials needed to upgrade your stuff. Zero new materials as standard.

2. It would share this system (along with its once zealously guarded patents) across industries and create a new set of industry standards (metaphorically) overnight that would see us through for the next 100 years.

3. Remember all those times when people would ask: what if Apple designed our trains, planes, stations or airports? Well it would now be doing that, taking its design ethic and using it out there in the real world to collaborate on user experiences, making our lives better, more serene and more enjoyable.

4. Apple’s stores – already the standout reference point in a retail environment that has become tawdry low margin ride to nowhere – would truly become hubs of creativity, experiences, collaboration and learning (find out more on this at retailreset.com). A global network of go-to beacons taking the philosophy of Apple out of gadgetland and into our lives. The company would nurture our thinking, ideas and actions to help us hack the hulking civic, social, environmental and economic challenges we face. In-store workshops, amphitheatres and makerspaces would encourage us to be turned from lobotomised, debt addled consumers into active doers, makers and thinkers.

In the end, what we would see before us would be a visionary leader responding to the demands of what they and us are going to need to take on the 21st Century.  A landscape where consumption (as we know it) means nothing and human potential means everything. How is it going to make money? Well, I’ve alluded to four ways this transformation might take place. In my puny mind, all four are big bulging opportunities (alongside many others I’m sure). And here is the thing, these fields are already being explored by 21st Century pioneers. Companies like Worn Again are creating closed loop systems for household names like Virgin and Eurostar. Others like Nike and New Balance are sharing patents at The Green Xchange. Radical innovators are taking their smartphones and turning them into stethescopes. Maker and hack spaces are gaining traction as people look to get enriched and experienced by getting their hands dirty. These small steps forward are laying the groundwork for a reconsidered way of doing things that looks at what we have got and says ‘no thanks, gonna do better.’… All Apple needs to do is jump in.

‘One last thing’

Again, why do this when its making money hand over fist, sitting on billions of dollars and rightly feted as the best thing going for us right now? Well, we simply haven’t got any room left for humdrum, fifth rate, 50, 60, 70 year old thinking if we want to truly prosper in the 21st century. We need the very best to exploit their excellence and take us places only they can reach and re-found prosperity with their brilliance, excellence and pioneering verve. Ok, it might be crazy. But just imagine if that famous, Colombo-esque ‘one last thing’ in today’s yawnfest of a new product launch was an outline of a blueprint for taking things to the next level. It would be earth shatteringly disruptive. It would also transform Apple not just into a truly awe-inspiring institution in its own right, but would also secure its future for a long time to come. 

Hope to update with audio later…

Here’s a small chunk from a longer article on what we think the future of retail is all about:

It’s not that hard to imagine Oxford Street as a hub of mass collaboration where people descend in droves not as 20th century shoppers but as 21st century citizens, ready to be inspired, exposed to new ideas, to learn and participate in something they are passionate about, and connect with others.
Being a responsible retailer in a new economic reality isn’t just about watertight sourcing, me-too environmental 
credentials, some taxes and a few jobs. Those are in fact bare minimum requirements for existence. It’s about aspiring to give your customers more and actually taking a a role in wider economic fortunes. If you want my money, you are going to have to prove to me that you are worth it. These days I can now spend my (even harder) earned pennies on something unique that also gives me a personal connection, is beautifully crafted or locally made, rather than see my cash pay for your chief executive’s hired help at his winter sun bolthole in in the Seychelles. I want you to use your considerable heft to bring together totally amazing experiences, possibilities and opportunities that inspire me and help me achieve my dreams. Please, try harder or you will never see me again. I have enough options to keep me busy for five lifetimes so make it memorable.
So with this in mind, where are the amphitheatres in Topshop with round the clock lectures from fashion industry players teaching me about how to get my foot in the door? Or the social enterprise upcycling concessions in Primark that show me how to transform last season’s jacket into this summer’s must-have item. Why can’t I take part in an Ikea hack workshop (turning my old Ikea purchase into something new) when I’m actually at Ikea?
When I pick up a shiny gadget why am I not suddenly be immersed in an augmented reality world that takes me on a journey across the globe to witness the raw materials being sourced in Bolivia, to the factory where it was put together in Shenzen, then on to the innovation lab in Bangalore and to the marketing gurus on Madison Avenue? Why can’t I take out my phone and find out where I can connect with people meeting up in real world makerspaces up and down the high street who are into the same things I am and forge new bonds, friendships and alliances. If I’m going to by my food an Iceland (shop not country) why can’t I find out how to make the most nutritional meal possible for my family dinner that night at a hands-on micro seminar in-store?

We have been doing some research about town, talking to people about how they think things could be improved etc which has convinced us more than ever that this change is wanted. Take a look at a short interview with some good folk sitting outside Westfield:

We plan to bring our vision to life to show you what retail that has undergone intense reset therapy could look like. If you want to find out more do get in touch and we will explain what we mean in greater detail. In the meantime follow the highs and lows on www.retailreset.com and/or on twitter and if you are keen, join us on our next research/subterfuge/hack day somewhere in London.

For a bit of further reading do check this article on markerspaces over at Shareable which talks about Retail Reset  Maker-Spaces: Three Englishmen Forging A New Form of Capitalism

Personally I’m not into the scoring element  though it is an interesting look at online reputation and trust. Actually, I am a bit wary of these types of things being gamed by confidence tricksters in much the same way that companies have grown accustomed to believing that an elegant, sustainability-tinged trompe-l’œil is more worthwhile than getting to grips with big dilemmas in an authentic, meaningful way. Hopefully,  the personal element will make this redundant – i.e. you will get found out sooner and have more to lose. Two sticks sadly not used enough to consign CSR veneers to their rightful home.

A phrase in this video of Martin Sorrell struck me as the classic mindset trap that we are in. The idea of ‘riding out’ seems to be the go-to mantra of last resort for business leaders. What a complete waste of time. If that is all the person/company/brand that wants my money has got in their locker then I’m not handing over a penny.

Nowhere is this mantra more exposed than on the high street. Of course overleveraged consumers aren’t going to be buying anything. This time there isn’t going to be a rescue from cheaper lending, more plastic or property bubbles. Everything is maxed out, including UKplc (as Danny Alexander and the tiresome government have a habit of reminding us).

‘Where’s the growth strategy?’ Richard Lambert, former CEO of the CBI asked the government by way of a parting shot.  He might want to ask his members for whom ‘riding it out’ seems to be  all they’ve got. Both sides are waiting for the other to come up with a plan –  meanwhile descending into anaphylactic shock when the Primark barometer dips.

Ever smaller margins, £2 vests, angry disoriented shopppers. The high street, ground down by big retail, has become a painful part of life. How tragic for the centers of our cities, the last places where we come out in large numbers and physically take part in life (and the economy).  As things stand, it’s clear that for a county like the UK that the high street as we know it will never be the same again. Riding it out isn’t an option. Retail needs a big reset.

What’s needed

We need high streets to compete on experiences not pitiful margins. Oxford street needs to become a mass collaboration hub. Managers need to take an away day out to a Games Workshop to play Warhammer. Property developers need to think about making spaces that aren’t just eco efficient hangars but that are made to encourage interaction, engagement and learning.

Big retail needs to understand that me-too environmental creds, watertight sourcing and a few jobs + tax doesn’t make them a good corporate citizen – that is (not even) the minimum requirement for existence!

If big retail wants to become an active participant in the future (and survive) it needs to shift away from the ‘ride it out’ mindset (proven to be bust) and think about making a difference to peoples lives. Engaging with customers needs to be built around learning and experience. Rented space needs to become a destination in its own right where people visit to find the tools they need to live a more rewarding life. Transforming assets of brand, floorspace and marketing budgets away from a £2 vest transaction into helping people live well is the only way out of this.

You can find out more about some of these ideas in these posts below. Resetting retail: Saving our cities is a project that we are doing this year mapping out what this change could come to look like. Get in touch if you want to get involved or find out more.

Retail Reset pt.I: Saving our cities
Retail Reset pt.2: Warhammer away day