06.30.09

Reaching the tipping point of business evolution

Posted in Business, Community, Ethics, Social Enterprise, Society, Third Sector tagged , , , , , , at 8:41 am by socialevolutionltd

In my last article ‘Identity and character of Business – Organisation or Organism?’ I explained how a business could actually take on a life of its own as an independent entity. Taking this concept further I’d now like explore how we can utilise this to modify how business works and create a whole new shift in consciousness that will lead to a new aeon where ethical business and corporate social responsibility become the standard not a utopian exception.

If we accept the premise that a business can have its own identity and character then we can easily see that as with the human race it cannot exist in isolation, there needs to be interaction with a wider business community. There needs to be access to fellow businesses to provide services and resources but also a requirement from that community for the purpose of the business itself or otherwise there is no reason for it to exist.

The business community is a vibrant and inspirational place and it provides much worth to the World in which it exists but it also has a downside that is rife with corruption and greed. Unfortunately this dark-side is often ignored or accepted as an essential part of the business community “its all about profit at all costs and profit is about survival in a cut-throat world”.

Luckily though we also have organisations that demonstrate good morals and strive to set an example to the rest of the community. They source environmentally friendly raw materials, they value their employees and they set the standards to aspire too in the global market-place. These are the pioneers, trend-setters and agents of change for a new generation – not afraid to work differently and keeping their heads high when they face derision and scorn from their business peers.

These agents of change are directing the business world towards a new paradigm shift and the signs are all around us. The best example is the introduction of the personal computer and the development of the internet, they have stimulated business in ways that could have never been dreamt of only half a century ago. This has quickly become a major mechanism in how business works and has made the global local and the local global.

Online networking and an effective internet marketing strategy have become primary drivers in every business model. Website design, social media, and search engine optimization are all key concerns for a developing business in an information age where the consumers are tech-savvy and information is shared with lightning speed and instinctive ease.

But how do we utilise the system and assist ethical business to reach its metaphorical tipping point?   

The answer is relatively simple – we don’t do anything.

Not directly anyway, it would be inadvisable to force the organic process but what we can do is to ‘be the change’ and inspire others by the way we work. Those of us that have already seen the light of a bright new future, a natural evolution of business, should carry on nurturing our own businesses into moral and responsible organisations. They themselves will change their own community and will create a morphic resonance that will spread across the Diaspora of business.  

There is no doubt that we are part of a world that is going through major changes. What was once an industrial society obsessed with machinery, demonstrating their power by following a creed of building bigger and better, has now moved into a new age of information and technology that focuses on a service based economy with a global focus. This new age is an age of consciousness and the evolution will continue.

Are you already part of the process? We’d love to hear your comments.

Many thanks,

Damian

06.29.09

Identity and character of business – Organisation or Organism?

Posted in Business, Ethics, SME, Social Enterprise, Society, Third Sector tagged , , , , , , , at 2:39 pm by socialevolutionltd

A modern business is a far more complex structure than its employees, its assets and its physical resources. It was created by the will of its founder and as with any life-form its primary roles are for self-preservation, continuous growth and personal success within its own gene-pool. To put it simply an organisation is also an organism.

To succeed and remain sustainable each business has to learn to use language, it needs to adapt and learn new skills to overcome each new challenge and it has to become socially conscious to make the best use of business networking. To ensure its survival it has to manage and manipulate resources and avoid becoming weak and frail through a constant search for new opportunity to feed and grow.

It is in many ways an individual made up of a core will of shared intent surrounded by many cells which each has its own role and when successfully working together makes up the body of the business. Similar to the human body, each business sustains a recognised identity and purpose although within the body there is a continuous turnover of cell renewal.

Each Business has its own character, its own identity and will often be referred to as an independent entity, totally outside control of any one individual. Within the legal world business has evolved to have the legal status roughly equivalent to that of a person. It has become an independent entity with the same rights as an individual.

In creating and developing our business we follow the same rights of passage of any human life and mirror the emotions involved through each stage of a business life-cycle.

The inspiration and exhilaration of creation, the rush of energy and contentment of coming up with a great idea that we know will work. The fulfilling climax of a passionate pursuit.

The joy and excitement that comes with the ‘birth’ of the business, taking pride in introducing our business baby to our friends, contacts and the wider world. The many sleepless nights wondering if it’ll grow and survive in a harsh and demanding environment.

Those many years of keeping a close eye on how it grows but only stepping in to take over control when there is danger of it going off the rails, risking its survival or getting in trouble. Watching it develop and wondering what the future holds in store.

Eventually you’ll reach the ‘tipping point’ where the business takes on a life of its own, a metaphorical coming of age. This is the hardest time for any parent, where you have to make a conscious decision to either let it go and redevelop your relationship with it, or whether to stand your ground and take a harder path of angst and rebellion.

It is at this point that the worth of your business may be noticed by others and you may be the focus of a buy-out or takeovers – usually offering you the option of selling outright or remaining involved in a lesser capacity. This is the point where you need to break attachments or become the victim of ‘founders syndrome’ where the skills required to set up the venture aren’t necessarily the ones needed to successfully run the business.

At some time the business will flirt with the idea of whether going into partnership with another business would be a good idea. They go through symbolic marriages with amalgamations and mergers which if successful will often produce subsidiaries. Quite often the phrase ‘parent company’ is used when talking about organisations that have gone through this process.

When a business reaches a point of maturity they are seen as the wise elders of their sector. They’ll often mentor and support other new businesses or their senior members will be called upon to speak at conferences and events to share their wisdom. They are looked up to for advice and guidance much like a child may look to their grandparents.

The end of the life-cycle of the business can become difficult and painful in either insolvency or bankruptcy or they may well be remembered as a mythical giant long since turned to dust as the world changed and moved on and they were no longer required. Trace the ancestry of many businesses and you will find some genealogical link to some great ancestors.

In this modern age the company organism doesn’t necessarily need to be anchored in the physical realm, it can exist solely within the minds of its creators, its employees and its users and be based purely on the internet, a construct within the data verse. In comparison those spiritually aware readers amongst you could equate this to living within the astral realms or that business has reached a point of ascension, of corporate evolution.

Taking all this into account confirms the importance of ensuring the business you set out to create has clear ethical business objectives and a true corporate social identity is paramount. Some day your idea for a new business will hopefully develop and grow until some years down the line you may have set the seeds for the next world changing multi-national.

Imagine then the character of your organisation being based on lies, deceit and a cut-throat approach to making money at all costs. Just what kind of creature obsessed with money and greed would you have unleashed on the world? What power hungry dictator have you brought into being?

But in comparison, as with raising a child, you can raise a business that understands responsibility, has confidence and defines its place in the world as a company that is socially conscious, demonstrates compassion and has an ethical focus.

I’ll develop this much more in the next article which looks at the place of business in society.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments,

Damian

06.26.09

Michael Jackson Tribute Concert, charity benefit for his children? Is this ethical?

Posted in Business, Ethics, Society tagged , , , , at 1:32 pm by socialevolutionltd

The world is still reeling from the news of Michael Jackson’s death and the media has gone into overload to get exclusives from his friends, family and just about anyone with a vague link to the King of Pop. His music is being played from radios, his videos are on every TV programme and every daytime show is leading with the story.

This has already become one of those JFK moments with people saying that they’ll always remember what they were doing when they heard the news. A defining moment of our time with the TV, newspapers and radio clogged up with ‘breaking news’, opinion and insights.

But behind the scenes the marketing machine has powered up and gone into full steam ahead making sure that our consumer generation is fully supplied with memorabilia, trinkets and a ‘buy in’ to the growing hysteria. The Michael Jackson ‘brand’ has suddenly leaped into number one and they all want a slice of the pie.

There is no doubt that Michael’s identity was taken from him at an early age and he was built into an icon of the marketing machine. So is it wrong that his death is used in the same way as his life – to make as many people as much money as possible? Is it ethical business to maximise earning potential from another human beings suffering and sad demise.

And in an inspirational piece of rebranding his now doomed forthcoming world tour is already being touted as a series of tributes to allow his fans to celebrate his life. Are they also going to become branded as benefit concerts to help his poor kids avoid poverty?

This my friends is an amazing example of how the world of ‘spin’ is mobilised to create a positive material outcome from any piece of information; including, and in this case especially, surrounding a tragedy which resulted in a sorry end to a tortured soul. The rumours are already very strong that his death came as a result of addiction to painkillers and his life has certainly been far from a happy one.

But is it right? Is it acceptable that we all sit back and watch, or buy in to, the process. Is it good business practice to secure the salaries of all those who are relying on the income made from the ticket sales, merchandising, running the venues CD’s, DVD’s, magazines and the food and drink?

And the main question is – are we all so ingrained in the system that we are all involved in this great conspiracy? In writing this article I could have the finger pointed in my direction accusing me of capitalising on the issue by providing my own spin. A cheap trick to gain Google rankings to promote my Blog, my business and rack up my income from referral fees.

Well if that is so then maybe I’m much better at business than I give myself credit for and I’ll wait for the flurry of job offers filling up my Inbox from head-hunters who have finally recognised my talent.

Social Evolution is an ethical business and I don’t actually get anything from referral fees, we don’t receive any funding fromyou signing up for a free service on OfficiaNet but we do have faith that by providing a service that provides inspiration through innovation that we will receive a fair exchange through advertising and sponsorship once our worth is recognised.

Strong beliefs, major passion and unwavering faith – but we want to lead the way in demonstrating that you can work this way and that by doing so you can make a real difference not only in your personal world but the wider needs of society too.

I’d love to hear what you think, add a comment?

Our thoughts are with Michael’s family and friends at this very difficult time and we pray that he has finally found peace.

Damian

Redeeming our Communities – Manchester event 24th June 2009

Posted in Community, Faith based groups, Society tagged , , , , , at 8:53 am by socialevolutionltd

I was very pleased to represent Social Evolution by attending the ‘Redeeming our Communities’ event held at the Wythenshawe Forum in Manchester on Wednesday night and was excited to see so many of the community champions I know personally were also in attendance; supporting a keynote moment in creating a positive Manchester.

The room was full (over 1,000 people) with community workers, police officers and Christian clergy. It was incredible to see everyone mixing easily, sharing their passion for developing community. The evening was a great opportunity to take the OfficiaNet formula for collaboration and networking out into the community and form links with other people who are working hard to develop a supportive society.

It was heartening to hear the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Peter Fahy, confirming his commitment to work with grassroots people to help develop our communities. He was very sincere and paid great tribute to the Police Officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) who were working hard to develop community links and enhance their involvement with local people.

There was some fantastic music from bands promoting a positive message, Twelve24 and The Band with No Name, both of which got the whole room to their feet and raised the energy right through the roof.

We also heard presentations from community groups such as Reclaim and the Eden Network who gave brief presentations of the great work they are doing to work out on the streets. It was made very clear by these groups that they receive invaluable support from the PCSO’s in all the work they do.

The only disappointing thing for me was that the first two rows of seats had been reserved for what the organisers termed VIP’s. In the spirit of the evening I thought that this would be leaders from other faiths from across Manchester but it turned out to be a long line of Lord Mayors, politicians and people I have no idea who they were. What a great opportunity missed to embrace interfaith and share a defining moment in inviting all communities to the cause.

This is the second event of this kind following a Redeeming our Communities event in Liverpool held on the 16th June 2009 at the Echo Arena. A large video screen showed a short video showing the Manchester crowd a series of highlights from the other event and giving us all a wider overview of the vast amount of people who are involved in the programme.

The Redeeming our Communities programme is run by CityLinks who say on their site:

“Redeeming our Communities arose from 15 years of positive partnerships between churches in NorthWest England, combining prayer, social action and a gospel message of hope.  Working with the Police and local authorities, projects such as Message2000 and Festival:Manchester have become world-renowned models of community transformation.”

If you’d like to read more about the Redeeming our Communities programme then click here for more info. We’ll be keeping a close eye on developments and Social Evolution Ltd will be happy to assist in whatever projects and initiatives are developed in the future as a result.

Special thanks to Laura Daniels, Headmistress of Woodheys School in Sale, for letting us know about the event and for acting as chauffer to save the three of us from using separate cars (see we do practice what we preach ;-) ). Much more about Laura and her amazing work in another article coming soon.

 Regards,

 Damian

06.25.09

Rise of the Social Entrepreneur

Posted in Community, Ethics, Faith based groups, Social Enterprise, Society, Third Sector tagged , , , , , at 6:59 pm by socialevolutionltd

With a political system on the verge of collapse and a financial system in total disrepute there’s no doubt that we need a hero to look up to who will lead us out of the depression and inspire a sense of hope. Will we find this hero in the political system? Will we find this hero in the academic institutions of Oxford and Cambridge? Or will this hero be found in the world of business?

Maybe!

But my guess is that this hero already exists, grafting away with unrivalled passion and determination remaining, and sometimes preferring to remain, undiscovered working within their local community.

These people don’t necessarily have degrees and GCSE’s but they do have a deep understanding of their chosen field. These people won’t be well paid, but they will have a great deal of respect from their peers and beneficiaries. These people don’t receive invites to high society soirees but will be in attendance at every local charity event and fun day.

But more often than not these people are also suffering from the stress of low or non-existent incomes, family troubles and personal anguish but soldier on regardless knowing that they are simply doing what is the right thing to do.

Many of these people have a deep faith which drives them, whether one developed as part of one of the recognised religions or whether it is their own personal belief system. Others of no faith regard their work as one of strong moral fibre and a personal system of ethics which means they cannot simply sit back and watch if it is in their power to help another human being. Either way you will find them striving to make the world a better place.

It is obvious to us that to develop sustainable communities you need to ensure you develop sustainable community champions. These are people who have a belonging and an understanding, not those who appear with a missionary approach that they are academically, spiritually or morally superior in some and way and have come to lead the poor unwashed towards a textbook salvation.

Empowerment, mentoring, social modelling, are all great ideas and do work if applied in the right context but as an enlightened society we learned a long time ago that providing an impoverished community with the tools, support and education to do the job themselves creates long-lasting, sustainable solutions.

And that is why it is important, in fact downright essential, that we invite those working at a grass-roots level to work and compete on a level playing field. It isn’t enough to provide one–day workshops on tackling debt or breaking the offending cycle. You also need to put in place a full programme of support to make sure that those who wish to take up the challenge are kept regularly up to-date with legislative changes and are provided with a vibrant network to share experiences and advice.

This is where the role of the Social Entrepreneur comes into its own; they are committed individuals who are looking to gain a positive social change rather than a Business Entrepreneur who measures their success by profit and return on their investment of time and resource. But this doesn’t mean to say that profit is a bad thing, absolutely not, but in an effective Social Enterprise model a good percentage of the profits are often reinvested in a programme of community development or social benefit.

These are key aims of the Social Evolution agenda and as the blog progresses we will be highlighting some of the organisations that are paving the way for Social Enterprises and interviewing some of the key members who we consider to be the epitome of a Social Entrepreneur.

If there is anyone you’d like us to contact for interview or you know of any fantastic projects that need more exposure then please let us know and we’ll endeavour to cover them in our forthcoming series of articles.

Many thanks for your time, we can’t wait to hear from you,

Damian

Next page