All crises, including economic crises stem from a crisis of consciousness. And as, with each passing day, systems get more and more crisis ridden and driven, the need to awaken sub-systemic and systemic consciousness gets more and more imminent.
In my article, Tap Enterprise Consciousness, which got published about two years back, I had briefly underscored the need for living enterprises to awaken consciousness and become Conscious Enterprises in order to stay alive and evolve.
There is an element of consciousness of a certain essence of life amongst living systems. This is the fundamental determinant for a living enterprise to evolve. Thus, there could be enterprises which are very much alive, breathing and pulsating over decades and yet with little or no sign of movement. This is a classic case of the enterprise consciousness being not awakened, threatening extinction of a living enterprise.
And today, it is not surprising, as if in response to the prevalence of crises, that there is a subtle yet significant shift amongst the custodians of business enterprises to re-shape there organization as Conscious Enterprises.
So what is a Conscious Enterprise all about? How is different from a classical enterprise?
A Conscious Enterprise works with a greater and sustained consciousness of its DNA of existence – the very purpose and ‘seed’ of its existence, its fundamental drivers and therefore for whom and why it exists and the ways in which it inherently is meant to create and offer value to its stakeholders.
In the case of conscious enterprise the ends are more human – life-enhancing, creational / transformational, inclusive and inter-dependent and all-sustaining. This necessitates the means to the end to be discerningly employed and aligned to such values.
To read more, go to http://www.indroneil.com/conscious-enterprises-are-here-to-stay/
2. What ails economy today?
SYMPTOMS
1. A business cycle earmarked with
recessions
2. Alternating upswings and
downswings
3. Bail outs and wipe outs
4. Businesses operating micro term
5. 9 out of 10 start-ups failing
6. Prices spiraling
7. Stock markets in a tizzy
8. Consumers going crazy
9. Low employee confidence
10. Global economic indicators on slide
According to a list of business failures collected in
Wikipedia more than 250 companies met the eventual
demise of their well-known brand between year 2000
and now. The causes include corporate crime and
simple insolvency, and are notable for their financial
impact on the economy.
These include well-known brands of the likes of
AgfaPhoto, Air America Radio Ansett Australia, ATA
Holdings, Atlas Air, Enfield F.C, Enron, Jessops,
Lehman Brothers, Maersk Air, Napster, Nortel,
Northwestern Steel and Wire Polaroid Corporation,
Silicon Graphics, Swissair, The Sharper Image, Tower
Records, Trans World Airlines, Woolworths Group and
WorldCom.
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3. …the related quality of life & living?
Corruption perception index 2010
Global protests
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4. Step back and reflect ….
WHAT COULD BE THE REASON?
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5. Nature of prevailing businesses …
• Addicted to unsustainable exponential economic
expansion.
• Predicated on the flawed assumption that GDP will
always keep increasing
• Led by the greed to maximize profit anyhow
• 5S obsession
• Involves zero-sum or negative-sum transactions
• Mechanical systems following linear transactive
processes
• Insulated from and insensitive to systemic realties
• Characterized by systemic denial and self-deception
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6. Conscious / virtuous enterprise
Conscious / virtuous enterprise Unconscious / vicious enterprise
Desire
Ambition
Acquisition
Avarice
Needs
Scarcity
Love
of
Power
Values
Dream
Purpose
Passion
Pursuit
Power
of
Love
Abundance
Assum
ptions
Copyright (c) Indroneil 2013
7. Companies who survived the recession
Secret of survival
Amazon Focus on the long term: looks to innovate with products like its
new Kindle 3, and strives to expand market share, forever
anticipating the next change.
Ford A complete overhaul, eliminating models from its line, cutting
costs and revamping its image
Domino's Novelty: changing the self-proclaimed cardboard crust and
ketchup sauce to a new, improved pizza
Intel Simple patience: by waiting for pent-up demand to return
Lego Exploration of the global market was the key to this company's
recession-bucking success.
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8. What did they do differently?
• Refrained from panicked knee-jerk
– Responded rather than reacted
• Did not rely on best-practices
– Did what was appropriate for their
organization in the situation
• Let go, where necessary
– Did not hesitate to revamp
• Looked long term
– Growth, rather than survival was
in focus
Snapshot of findings from a research carried
out in 2008 across 4700 companies
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9. Nature of emerging businesses
Create, conserve and consume in harmony.
Work towards co-creating collective wealth,
wisdom and well-being – inclusive.
Driven inside-out: values, purpose & beliefs
Mentality is that of abundance.
Sustains systemic harmony.
There is no disaster !!!
What we call a disaster is Nature trying to restore
harmony disrupted by man's greedy exploitation to
bring about correction. This explains situations of
cataclysmic nature including recession and some
seemingly successful organizations going bust.
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10. Conscious enterprises to heal the economy
1. Executive intent, belief and conviction in enterprise consciousness
2. Respecting change and disruption as a systemic neutralizer
3. Willingness to let go of habits to adapt to changes in the habitats
4. Faith in enterprise ‘being’ and not getting carried away with
‘becoming’
5. Conducts business as an expression of its purpose of existence
6. Leadership is driven by a cause and mission, not motivated by a
need to manage and overcome fear of change
7. Nurtures a process of natural selection and emergence for creating
and living interdependent stakeholder relationships.
8. Conscious Learning – openness and receptivity to learning as an
enterprise – a part of the conscious enterprise culture
9. Cellular consciousness amongst members and other stakeholders
10. Close-loop feedback and knowledge osmosis to enable continuous
evolution.
Conscious enterprises are
complex humanistic systems.
Living, breathing, reaching
out, sensing and responding.
With capability of self-adapting,
self-learning and
self-evolving.
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11. All that is living may not be evolving
“There is an element of consciousness of a
certain essence of life amongst living systems.
This is the fundamental determinant for a living
enterprise to evolve. Thus, there could be
enterprises which are very much alive,
breathing and pulsating over decades and yet
with little or no sign of movement. This is a
classic case of the enterprise consciousness being
not awakened, threatening extinction of a living
enterprise.”
~ From ‘Tap Enterprise Consciousness’ published in the Management Next
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12. Being of a Conscious Enterprise
Embodies a unique memetic DNA the strands
of which represents the enterprise values and
purpose
Often inherits the fundamentals of the life
context of founders’ and early members
Emerges through a process of conscious co-creation
Enrolls members / stake-holders as cellular /
organic constituents
Evolves with time by essentially relating and
respond to inter-dependent entities in the eco-system
Lives a tactile enterprise culture by creating
authentic experiences, consistently.
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13. 10-O-O symptoms
OBSESSIONS OMISSIONS
Governance
Complex Structures
Transactions
Competencies
Knowledge Retention
Business Strategies
Policies / Procedures
Change Management
Becoming
Guardianship
Evolving Forms
Relationships
Consciousness
Knowledge Osmosis
Business Instinct
Organization Dialog
Adapting to change
Being
Only that which
makes meaning,
makes money!!!
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14. Some promising Conscious Enterprises
Amazon Best Buy BMW CarMax Caterpillar Commerce
Bank
Container
Store
Costco eBay Google Harley-
Davidson
Honda
IDEO IKEA JetBlue Johnson &
Johnson
Jordan's
Furniture
L.L. Bean
New Balance Patagonia Progressive
Insurance
REI Southwest Starbucks
Timberland Toyota Trader Joe's UPS Wegmans Whole Foods
These are Firms of Endearment (FoE). These companies pay their employees very well, provide great
value to customers, and have thriving, profitable suppliers. They are also wonderful for investors, returning
1025% over the past 10 years, compared to only 122% for the S&P 500 and 316% for the companies
profiled in the bestselling book Good to Great -- companies selected purely on the basis of their ability to
deliver superior returns to investors.
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15. Conscious Leadership:
architects of CE
Commit-ment
Com-passion
Integrity
Content-ment
AUTHENTICITY
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16. The role of a
Conscious Leader
A Conscious Leader is someone who leads with
Conscious Awareness - a ‘knowing’ of what is going on
inside and out, the effects of decisions and actions, and
the interaction between a complex array of factors and
forces. She enables transcending of unconscious
patterns, fostering of an expanded perspective and
openness to new possibilities in a conscious enterprise.
Conscious Leaders are people who recognize and
align to the higher purpose of their enterprise and the
interdependence of the stakeholders in their business.
Her role is essential for the ongoing learning, growth
and development of the enterprise, its stakeholders and
members.
Conscious Leadership is more about an
expanded consciousness than competence
and character.
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17. Conscious Leaders are enterprise enablers
Enabler
Expert
Entrepreneur
Executive
NEED GUNAS
Enabler Religion S, s
Expert Respect S, r
Entrepreneur Richness R, t
Executive Relevance T, s
An enabler, like the Sun, radiates essential
power of presence all around, sustaining
life and making things happen.
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18. Building a culture of shared consciousness
The human no more is a
‘resource’ but a key
‘source’ of value
creation.
For it is in being human
that consciousness is
awakened.
And only when
humankind brings
together participating
entities in a space of
shared consciousness, a
living, pulsating
conscious culture gets
build.
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19. The essence of
Conscious Culture
GYANA
DEDICATION
BHAKTI
KARMA
SELF
KNOW-LEDGE
KNOWLEDGE ACTION
Conscious Culture is one that
fosters individual and collective
reflection and explicit articulation
of what we see or wonder as we
reflect.
The fabric fosters ongoing
learning, growth and
development for the people
constituting the organization and
for the enterprise as an organism
or ecosystem.
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20. Values to value-creation – an example
WEALTH
• Creating, extracting, enhancing value in tangible terms
ACHIEVEMENT
• A sense of accomplishment (a lasting contribution)
RESPONSIBILITY
• Dependable, reliable, Accountable for results
RESPECT
• Self esteem, sense of personal identity
POWER
• Control, authority beliefs, and influence over others
CREATIVITY
• Being imaginative, innovative, creative
INNER HARMONTY
• Principled and driven by one's truth, being upfront about things which may not be
acceptable as a statement of truth.
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21. Shared norms - > shared culture
iProdigy Norms
Member side
Articulate thoughts and feellings
as and when they arise
Do whatever it takes to keep
physical energies high,
proactively
Ask, 'Who signs my pay cheque?'
Share observations and give
feedback without playing safe
Be ruthless about being with work
for at least 12 hours a day on an
average
Day start with committed goals to
iProdigy which are met any which
way
On an average spend 2 days a
week outside office with clients /
partners.
Don't allow distractions - screen /
discern what is important / not
important
Fullfilll iProdigy commitments on
time - come what may.
Don't be tolerant to misuse and
tardiness
iProdigy works 24/7. So does your
mindshare.
Personal issues not to be brought
to the work place - options 1. Stay
back and resolve at home 2. seek
support in a separate forum
Ensure zero-waste living in this
space.
iProdigy Norms
Partner facing Client facing
Be demanding & ruthless with
external and internal service
providers
Prepare value propositon before
every call and pitch high
Ask - 1. Have I demanded 2. Have I
been ruthless in receiving the
service
Sell without shame
Before commiting a spend on
behalf of Prodigy be prudent.
While seeking an appointment
clearly state what the person is
going to lose by meeting / speaking
to us.
Check individually if I would have
spent the same amount for myself.
Before making any payment check
whether we have received
everything committed, for the
present and the future.
Ensure a consistent uniform
message to the external world
Before approving capital
expenditure justify how it will come
back as 10 times returns
Listen, listen, listen
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22. If you have the passion & purpose to build a
living and evolving Conscious Enterprise, you
have a partner to accompany you in your
mission.
Reachme@indroneil.com
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