FMYI | For My Innovation

With the world events in the news recently, these questions have been on my mind a lot these days.
• Are we at the brink of a new era in our global economy?
• Will the Arab Spring, natural disasters around the world, the debt crises, the information revolution online, shifting demographics, and other emergent trends result in fundamental change with our economic system?
• Are we entering an “Economy 2.0” phase where collaboration, sustainability, and technology are changing how the game works?

I blogged on this topics a few years ago in a series of posts:

• Economy 2.0
• Blueprint for Economy 2.0
• Collaborate and Listen
• Sustainable Sustainability
• Check your Tech
• Economy 2.0 and You

Here in America, we’ve been hearing more about discontent with the economy, whether it’s the Tea Party’s political pressure and Occupy Wall Street protests, both of which are triggered by unemployment figures that haven’t improved and the feeling that the establishment isn’t serving their needs. As I hear this, I immediately start brainstorming about solutions. We hear there’s a problem, and we see some evidence of it around us. But how do we start to fix it?

The scope and variety of these challenges demand widespread innovation. Everyone has a role in trying out new ways to address the opportunities they see around them in if the current approaches aren’t working. Or apply strategies that have worked for another sector and in a different industry. I’m reminded of this quote from Phil Knight, founder of Nike:

“The trouble in America is not that we are making too many mistakes, but that we are making too few.”

With budgets tight and the flow of capital restricted, we must look at ways to more efficiently use resources through cooperation from leveraging business networks for not just discussions, but also partnering on business deals more frequently. For individuals trying to make ends meet, collaborative consumption is on the rise. As Generation Y (otherwise known as the “Millennials”) begins to have more of an influence, we’re going to see technology used to bring people together and create transparency of information in ways we can’t imagine right now.

And through these new ways of working together and thinking, the way our economy works today is going to fundamentally change forever. It’s not going to be easy to make the shift, but I would argue that the best way forward is to leverage models that have worked, only in new ways. This will make it easier to achieve change. I’ll be sharing details of the plan in the coming months. In the meantime, in the wake of the passing of one of America’s greatest innovators, I’ll leave you with this quote from Apple’s Think Different campaign:

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.“

-Justin

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