Conscious Capitalism

Hello Everyone

Is it possible that a new form of capitalism is emerging? One that can see profits arising out of working within a socially responsible purpose?

Evidently in 1848 Karl Marx proclaimed that capitalism was on its knees. Professor Sisodia from the Bentley University in Massachusetts thinks that capitalism is also now on its knees and in for a radical positive change.

Professor Sisodia talks about a fledgling social movement called conscious capitalism.  The idea being that companies that work towards a higher purpose than profits such as being socially, environmentally, globally responsible end up having increased profits. In other words if they are creating business for the right reasons they end up profiting in any case.

Research indicates that company loyalty is more about the way a company is conceived rather than the artificiality of marketing.  When the “well-being” of employees, customers, suppliers and the public was considered then unexpected high productivity was the result.

The basic philosophy behind conscious capitalism is that businesses can operate in a way that creates value for everyone. This ultimately means that society benefits.  The concept has gained such momentum particularly in the United States that the Conscious Capitalism Institute has been formed with the aim of promoting the philosophy.

 It is interesting how a crisis provides opportunities if we are open to the idea and so it is with conscious capitalism.  It was created as a response to the global financial crisis.  It is more than just a mere donation to a charity but a deep seated paradigm shift in the way businesses are conceived and developed.

In my own work as an author, educator and communication consultant I always ask myself is my work providing value? Am I moving communication forward?  Am I doing any harm?  Once I am satisfied with my answers then I know my work is of value.

Imagine if individuals and organisations took to heart conscious capitalism and only engaged in activities that brought value to everyone involved with them?  What would the world be like then?

 
Live! Laugh! Love!  Be Abundant!

 oz  Roz Townsend   www.roztownsend.com

Abundance- Luxury v Possibility

Hello Everyone

I think I have found a new hero in life – his name is Peter Diamandis and he has written a book called Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think.   

One of the first points that Diamandis makes is that the amygdala in our brain is geared for survival and hence is always paying attention to what might harm us.  This helps to explain our desire to read negative press and be influenced by it.

For example there are few places in the media where the following information is promoted.  In the last 100 years the cost of:

1.    food has dropped by a factor of 10

2.    electricity by a factor of 20

3.    transport by a factor of 100 and

4.    communication by a factor of 1000

Similarly the psychologist Professor Steve Pinker believes we live in one of the most peaceful times in Earth’s history.

If our amygdala is always taking our attention and erring on the side of what could go wrong then we may become blinded to what is possible.  Diamandis makes the point that scarcity is contextual and that humans have an incredible ability to develop breakthrough technology, thus making what was once scarce now abundant.  In the 1800s, for example, aluminium was rare and precious until the invention of electrolysis made extracting it from bauxite cheap and available.  

The communications industry is also testimony to this as the cost has dropped by a factor of 1000. Diamandis states that a Masai warrior with a cell phone has better mobile phone capabilities than did the President of the United States 25 ago.

The point Diamanidis makes is that with increasing technology there are very few resources that could be considered really scarce – they are merely inaccessible to us right now.  Yet the predominance of ‘scarcity’ is a great part of modern thinking.

Imagine how our lives would be different if we could have an attitude of abundance and possibility rather than luxury and scarcity.

Live! Live !  Laugh! Love!  Be Abundant!

Roz Roz Townsend   www.roztownsend.com

Is it all horse manure?

Hello Everyone  
I was amused to read an article by Stephen Davies the academic director at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London.  The article said that about a hundred years ago social commentators were complaining that life had become desperate about the great horse-manure crisis.  Davies noted that in the Times of London in 1894, it was estimated that in 50 years every street in London would be buried under nine feet of manure!

In the nineteenth-century cities depended on thousands of horses for their daily needs. All transport, whether of goods or people, was drawn by horses.

The problem was that all these horses produced huge amounts of manure. A horse will on average produce between 15 and 35 pounds of manure per day. Thus, the streets in those times were covered by horse manure which attracted flies, which when dried was blown everywhere.

In 1898 the first international urban-planning conference convened in New York. It was abandoned after three days, instead of the scheduled ten, because none of the delegates could see any solution to the growing crisis posed by urban horses and their output.

The problem was overwhelming. The larger and richer a city became, the more horses it needed to function. The more horses, the more manure. As well, these horses had to be stabled, using up ever-larger areas of increasingly valuable land. And as the number of horses grew, ever-more land had to be devoted to producing hay to feed them (rather than producing food for people), and this had to be brought into cities and distributed—by horse-drawn vehicles. It seemed that urban civilization was doomed.

The great crisis vanished within three years of the conference when millions of horses were replaced by motor vehicles. Even though horses were a problem, in the background inventors and entrepreneurs such as Gottlieb Daimler and Henry Ford were developing a solution. The price of horse-drawn transport rose steadily along with the cost of feeding and housing horses…this created strong incentives for people to find alternatives.

This story points out the difficulty of predicting the future.  It also inspires hope. We humans are such creative beings that I am sure solutions to some of our greatest problems already exists and we are on the cusp of embracing them.

Live! Laugh! Love!  Hope!

 Roz Roz Townsend   www.roztownsend.com