Complexity, Innovation, Knowledge and Learning: A quantum interpretation of management

A better business model

First of all an ode to "Ode".  Ode is a very interesting, fresh and meaningfull magazine. According to his founder and editor, Jurriaan Kamp, a magazine for intelligent optimists.  It believes in progress, ongoing opportunities and the creativity of humankind. They claim to offer their readers the chance to link up with an international network of inspiration and cooperation, strengthening the forces devoted to respect, justice and equality.  In doing so, they hope to invite their readers to make their own contributions to a more just and sustainable world.  It exists in an English and a Dutch version. Hehe, refreshing and exciting I would say.

In the Jan/Feb issue Muhammed Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and founder and managing director of the microfinance institution Grameen Bank, gives some insight in how we could move away from the narrow interpretation of capitalism we believe in. In this narrow interpretation, we create a one-dimensional human being to play the role of entrepreneur. We insulate him from other facets of life, such as the religious, emotional, political dimensions. He is dedicated to one mission in his business life: to maximize profits.

He invites us to be brave, recognizing that this is because of the failure to capture the essence of a human being in our theory. Most people take pleasure in helping others.  Our eyes are blind by the theories taught in our schools. Social business entrepreneurs: entrepreneurs in the non-for-loss business; they do make profits, but they all do it for a societal purpose. A social business entrepreneur is in for adding real value to markets, countries and people.

He suggests interestingly to start producing what he calls social MBAs. Social Business Entrepreneurs need to develop their own norms, standards, measurements, evaluation criteria and terminology.  This can only be achieved by creating a separate stock market for social business entrepreneurs.  Interesting and challenging.

Work should be like a game; just like learning

As coincidence doesn't exist (recall, a quantum reality), Le Monde of this Saturday February 2 writes about Google: "At Google, work becomes like a game". The article reiterates the observations I made in my previous post: healthy food, massages, a fifth free experimentation day, etc.

In l'Express of last week (24-29 January) Bill Gates wishes president Sarkozy that he would understand the importance of education and would invest more (all) in it. But what kind of education? Does France need more ENAs (Ecole National d'Administration) or more enterpreneurship?

And at the same time I get an evaluation of one of my courses, in which I try to give my students another paradigm, based on a quantum interpretation of business and complexity theory.  Not something what somebody would call "sectarian", but in France, some do. According to some French (apparantly) Nobel prizes are given to sects. I have to admit that most of the evaluations were rather good, but that one did trigger me.

In Canopee, a French magazine on nature, discovery and ecology, I read an interview with Vandana Shiva who says that "ecology is profoundly linked to spirituality".  Without the spiritual dimension, according to her, one becomes an ecological technocrat, untouchable by the pain that mismanagement causes. Good news, I am not alone.

I do not only wish Sarkozy to invest seriously in education, I wish him to invest in learning, from the very begining (primary school) onwards.  Learning should be fun and have a larger purpose than only making carreer (and money). And in order to support him, I wish him parents that would not be traumatised about sects.  What Al Qaida is for the US, sects seem to be for France. Not everybody who doesn't agree with the US foreign policy is a potential Al Qaida member; it is not a choice of being with or against "us". Equally, not everybody who is searching for meaningfulness in life and work is a member of a sect.