Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Posted: 08 Dec 2008 02:13 AM CST

There is not much positive in the mainstream media at the best of times. And credit crunch, recession and social upheaval give them the opportunity to really go for it.

Uncomfortable as it undoubtedly is this recession is also packed full of upside. There are some obvious ones like prices and carbon emissions falling as we fly, buy and travel less.

There are less obvious upsides too. We all knew that our behaviour over the last years was unsustainable. We all knew it. And yet somehow while it continued, it was very difficult to stop. As Charles Prince the former President of Citibank said "As long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance. We're still dancing."

Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention, and while things seem to be going well, few of us are prepared to make the changes we know we need to. When things appear to be going well, most of us are reluctant to tamper with the system.

However - when things start to wobble, the risks and uncertainties of deliberate change start to look much less daunting in comparison to the change that is happening anyway.

Crisis creates the opportunity to improve.

One way to improve things is to create crisis. Another is to embrace crisis when it happens. A further is to deliberately bypass the crisis and go directly to the improvement.

What we are seeing in this recession is a massive clear out of old and out of date business models and business thinking. Of course there are exceptions, but in general the businesses that appear to be the most affected are the ones that are most deeply rooted in the unsustainable past.

Success belongs to the most relevant.

As businesses become established they generally have to build up strength in process. They have to get to be good at doing something. This tends to be at the expense of being good at innovation or change.

Unless they specifically prioritise innovation and creativity, businesses that enjoy a long run of success are the ones that find it hardest to adapt when circumstances change.

When something needs replacing, we always have the choice to upgrade.

Upgrading to a new economic system is the opportunity created by this recession. Upgrading to system where people and planet are enhanced, not exploited. A system where profit comes from responsibility, respect and care.

A system where more of us end up taking greater responsibility for ourselves and the outcomes created by our choices.

I can see an evolution to a distributed model of employment where fewer people have conventional full time jobs. A model where we get to choose when and for whom we work. And how much we work for. Where we have a portfolio of jobs that play to our strengths.

I can see businesses which rely on hierarchy and control struggling to recruit people, at any level.

And this is already happening; the internet is facilitating the spread of mass self-employment, through web services like odesk, elance and guru.com. And the success of drop in "offices" like The Hub - where we can enjoy the community benefits of an office environment - while working independently.

I am looking for partners to help this change to happen and to ensure that it goes in the right direction. I would like to find partners within organisations who want help adapting to change and I want to find consultants, coaches and facilitators who are ready to learn how to help businesses to create a culture of innovation.

If you are interested in partnering - lets have a chat. or have a look at our partners page.

With love

nx

Neil Crofts
Inspirer
authenticis
inspiration innovation motivation

+44 (0)7775 658534
neil@authenticis.com
www.authenticis.com