Ralph Kerle interviews Elizabeth Ann MacGregor about her participation in the 2020 Summit and the role of art in the development of business, creativity and education
<p>Ralph Kerle interviews Elizabeth Ann MacGregor, Executive Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Australia from Grant Crossley on Vimeo.</p>
It says much about the schismatic nature of Australia’s economic strategy that the Federal Government invited public submissions on how to build a clever country in the same week that it signed a $50B gas export contract with China. Jordan Green outlines his vision for Australia’s knowledge economy.
Virtuous cycle, (noun) a beneficial cycle of events in which a favourable result gives rise to another that subsequently supports the first.
As the news of one of the largest resources contracts in history sinks in, Australian entrepreneurs and the investors who back them are wondering what their futures will hold.
The Federal Government and the Australian resources sector are confident of decades of billions of dollars in return for serving up the non-renewable (in the foreseeable future) riches buried in our soil. To be sure, exploiting our nation’s natural resources is a necessary and valuable pursuit.
At the same time, the Federal Government has announced the formation of the Commonwealth Commercialisation Institute (CCI) to deliver “a radical new approach to ensure ideas from our universities, publicly funded research agencies and innovative enterprises become successful commercial ventures“.
The future of any one of these ideas is most uncertain, yet it is critical to the future prosperity of our nation that we become as accomplished at exploiting our human resources as we are with our natural resources. Not only does this knowledge economy promise an economic alternative to the minerals economy, it is an infinitely sustainable and renewable economy.
My vision is of an Australia that is a factory for innovation and successful commercialisation. That factory will turn Australia into one of the primary global sources of business value for the 21st century. If knowledge is power, then a knowledge economy that serves the world seems a most desirable goal.
The factory I envisage will identify, foster and nurture innovation with particular attention to those innovations with the potential to deliver valued benefits to global markets.
Commercialisation will successfully exploit those innovations for economic value. Many innovations can be commercialised in Australia and deliver valuable economic returns from a redistribution of our own wealth. For the greatest national benefits, we want commercialisation successes that earn export dollars and increase the net wealth of the nation. We must sell our innovations offshore.
I know the cynics are already focusing on how so much of that wealth will remain in the hands of a few lucky individuals, so why should the community - the Government - help those lucky few succeed? Why a CCI?
First, let’s remember that along that road many good efforts fall by the wayside.
By learning from our mistakes, we increase our chances of future success. Using the experience and insights of Australians who have trod the path of commercialisation at home and abroad, we can ‘pick winners’ with greater certainty of commercial success. A CCI that serves as an effective channel for learning, sharing and storing our lessons learned will enable more Australians to be effective candidates. That CCI, gathering and sharing the lessons, will deliver the data and insights that let us know we are getting better at picking winners, or not.
Second, stop to recognise how those “few”, and many of their not-so-lucky peers, are funded.
Innovation comes in many forms and is funded by the taxpayer, the business sector, consumers and academia. Commercialisation follows many paths, some funded by passive private investors, some funded by active angel investors, some funded by corporate enterprises and others funded by our superannuation funds and institutions. Each of these funding mechanisms allows the community to share the risk and to distribute the wealth so those “lucky few” can become the “lucky many”.
Third, we know that Australia has critical shortcomings in risk capital, management skills and market scale.
Each of these can be improved through astute government facilitation. The CCI “will enhance productivity and underpin the development of industries of the future, keeping high-value jobs in Australia with long term economic and social benefits for the nation”. The CCI “will have a primary goal of leveraging private sector capital”.
Our challenge as a community is to create a virtuous cycle of innovation and commercialisation that sustains our comfort and security at home by selling our ideas to the world.
We learned the lesson of pig iron in the resources sector and laboratory molecules in the biotech sector. Not raw ideas - developed ideas packaged into well-defined nuggets of value for which companies in larger economies will pay a premium. Ideally, selling those nuggets of value will take some of our brightest and most adaptable minds overseas where they will gain valuable experience, expertise and networks. Value they will bring to us when they return home and re-engage with our knowledge economy.
There is a place in this vision for every form of innovation and commercialisation.
We need the small innovations that only need domestic commercialisation to sustain a lifestyle business that delivers dividend returns and long-term jobs. Often those will be the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) that are the true engine room of our economy. We need the innovations that can be commercialised as Australian-owned and Australia-based businesses that will grow and, in time, can list on the ASX and/or be acquired by a larger Australian business, keeping the jobs in the country.
Most of all, we need the innovations that Australians can package in efficient business models and sell to the world for ten, twenty, fifty times the capital invested and give our best and brightest the chance to shine on the global stage.
A virtuous cycle will recognise the need to let our people and ideas flow out to the world. Then that knowledge and capital we gain can return to enrich our community, to increase our capacity and improve our capability to go round the cycle again.
Source: Anthill
As is common on early adopter circles, much of the discussion on Twitter is about Twitter, and much of the talk on blogs is about blogging. As many of us find value in these services we interact with every day, part of us is rooting for them to exit our little niche and go big. In 2008, one of the services that threatened to break through and tickle the edges of the mainstream was Twitter. (At least when it was up)
Given the expanded roster of writers on louisgray.com, we polled the team and asked for opinions on the pros and cons of whether Twitter would ever cross that chasm. As Rob Diana summarized, Twitter, at times, looks to be on its way to mainstream acceptance, but it still has a way to go:PRO:
Popular people are on it and it's very similar to text messaging, which is understood.
Twitter is simple to use. It is just like IM so there is not much of a change for most users, and CNN (and others) are talking about it already
It will not go mainstream and there are no pros, unless you consider its current state mainstream. For it to go mainstream it needs direction. Are they trying to hit a professional audience or a personal audience? For it to go mainstream in either (i.e. rival LinkedIn or Facebook in numbers) it needs to decide what it is.
Twitter is already established, so much so that major publications are picking it up. You KNOW a service has made it, when an "Internet job" lists the service as a required skill. Also, the ease of publishing will make it easier for adoption.
Twitter, or a service very much like it, will go mainstream. When it does, we will see the downfall of SMS and ridiculous SMS charges (currently pricier than printer ink)
Discovering interesting new people to follow is natural and easy. Your friends communicate with each other via @messages. This means it can keep growing and growing as long as new people are turned on to the service. If you join to follow @ricksanchezcnn you'll soon find yourself following 50 other people that you picked up in conversation.
It has gotten a lot of exposure from CNN, and various mainstream press. There are thousands of applications built around it, and more being built. It has brought citizen journalism to new levels.
It is intuitive enough that "civilians" can hit the homepage, register, post their first post and add a few friends within a minute. They can also quickly "get it" and see benefits. It is on the fringes of mainstream exposure with CNN, mentions on the Daily Show, Barack Obama and other non-web celebrities.
CON:
It needs a lot of filtering and searching, and can get too busy. People post a lot of junk
Generally, there is too much noise for most people. The other issue is that most people don't want everything to be public.
They are not making money. It is too public, and it only fits a small niche of the population.
Generally, it is unintuitive and 3rd party publishing tools are required. Some people may just not 'get it'.
Twitter will not go mainstream until another service appears that *MAKES* Twitter a cellphone SMS gateway. In other words, you use your cell phone the same way to send a text, but instead of costing money and being sent directly, it goes through Twitter. There will likely be a small monthly fee.
The inability to scale an individual's attention kills twitter once you get past a certain number of subscriptions. Some people do not like the service if they can not keep up with every single tweet that their subs send. Until these problems are better solved many people will be wary.
CNN exposure is nice, but I feel it's simply not enough to take it to the next level of mainstream. It is still a tool that is primary used by geeky/tech crowd. The few celebs who use Twitter are the exception. I still can not see my mother, father, or sister using Twitter, at least not yet. It still lacks the features needed to go mainstream, video, images etc. It also needs more exposure to go mainstream. If Google or Facebook bought them it might be a different story.
The combination of other services (Facebook, FriendFeed, Yammer, and new ones not quite on radar yet) will steal Twitter's remarkable thunder and leave it behind.
As you can see, there are many different opinions on Twitter. It is somewhat familiar to mainstream users, as it is similar to instant messaging and text messaging. It may be easy to use, but there are some concerns that people will not "get it". You may need to use a third party client to efficiently use Twitter, but there are also many applications built on top of Twitter's API.
Everyone seems to agree that Twitter can be more than a little noisy. In order to counter that problem, Twitter needs more features like groups, filtering and more integrated searching. However, it needs to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up. Does it want to target personal users, and add features like including images, video or other files? Or does it want to make a play for professional users? It's fun to speculate, and looking at Twitter opened a few thoughts in terms of how each of us interact with the service differently. There's no one right way to use Twitter, or any service. But we're seeing it change under our feet as it grows and gains in popularity. The question is, will it collapse under its own weight, or remain too geeky for it to ever belong in the real world?As you can see, there are many different opinions on Twitter. It is somewhat familiar to mainstream users, as it is similar to instant messaging and text messaging. It may be easy to use, but there are some concerns that people will not "get it". You may need to use a third party client to efficiently use Twitter, but there are also many applications built on top of Twitter's API.
Everyone seems to agree that Twitter can be more than a little noisy. In order to counter that problem, Twitter needs more features like groups, filtering and more integrated searching. However, it needs to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up. Does it want to target personal users, and add features like including images, video or other files? Or does it want to make a play for professional users? It's fun to speculate, and looking at Twitter opened a few thoughts in terms of how each of us interact with the service differently. There's no one right way to use Twitter, or any service. But we're seeing it change under our feet as it grows and gains in popularity. The question is, will it collapse under its own weight, or remain too geeky for it to ever belong in the real world?More: louisgray.com |
5 Power Keys For Leadership Success!
By Bill Thomas
Did you know that you can successfully handle most leadership challenges with just 5 simple strategies? By focusing your attention on these critical areas you can empower your the opportunities hiding within your vision, new venture or project plans.
The biggest problem facing people like you is knowing when, what and how to operate your leadership power keys.
You have no problem turning on your computer, using it to find answers and producing your letters or reports with it.
Why not make your leadership power keys help you influence others, guide them towards rewarding outcomes and nurture their growth into success-driven leaders?
POWER KEY-1: Simplify The Complex!
The reason why leaders are important is because of the situation, circumstance or condition facing the group. You can look at these things as being a need, a problem or an opportunity.
People will look to you to lead them as you explore, discover and plan the best course of action for dealing with this complex state of affairs.
Therefore your leadership power key relies on your ability to systematically investigate, evaluate, map, organize and communicate solutions.
POWER KEY-2: Envision New Vistas!
This is the time for boldness! Your group begs to do something inspiring, engaging, worthwhile and special. Give them a vibrant, vivid and vital vision - excite their hearts, minds, souls and spirits.
Regardless of your task, function, project or business, you must lead others using your mind's eye [imagined view of a compelling vision.
Your leadership power key involves creating, shaping, sharpening and publicizing the vision as you also encourage people to embrace it, own its outcomes and feed its possibilities.
POWER KEY-3: Go For The Gusto!
Your team will wonder about their priorities every moment of every day. How will you inform, reassure and coach them?
There are just a few items you should concentrate your efforts, attention and assessments on - they are your leadership agenda:
1) Security - health, wellness, safety
2) Wisdom - knowledge, relevance, applicability
3) Power - personal, team, shared, how much
4) Guidance - where, what, when, who, why, what & how
5) Syntropy - importation & focusing of power sources
6) Conceptuality - analysing patterns, artifacts, concepts
7) [Universe Frontiering - ask & find what's out there?
POWER KEY-4: Be Disciplined and Wilful!
You must deal effectively with reality to hold onto your leadership power keys. If there is no disciplined approach, direction or intent, you will not lead for very long.
Many leaders fail to rigorously design, supervise or execute their strategies. Yet, strategic planning can be one of your strongest power keys.
Your strategy should empower others to -
- trust your motives
- maintain their will-power
- develop a positive self-regard
- define their responsibilities
- exercise control
- judge their performance or progress
- usher them through the process of change
POWER KEY-5: Behave Yourself!
You don't have to change your spots! You do however have to serve the needs of different circumstances, constituents and considerations.
There are certain ethical matters that you must apply – you will need to be fair, honest, and consistent when dealing with people. Your behaviour reflects your concerns, concentrations and character.
Your leadership power key demands that you adopt the proper mental attitudes, behaviours based upon rock-solid personal values and motives driven by your most positive eccentric forces.
Can you adapt? Will you behave? Do you really care? These questions reveal the power behind this key.
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You can spend thousands and invest weeks of precious time informal classroom instruction. Eventually you would begin to acquire these power keys of successful leaders.
These simple principles are so easy to remember - in fact, I use them myself. They're the power keys to all of my personal, business and community leadership activities - and they always deliver great results.
Gurus like Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Warren Bennis, Jack Welch discuss these five principles at length in their work.
Great historical figures including Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, John F. Kennedy and Marie Curie have demonstrated these skills in their leadership roles.
Your leadership success depends on your agreement with Churchill's observation: A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
These 5 power keys are the keys to success for all of your life adventures - will you walk with expectations for positive outcomes, will you commit yourself to growing stronger and use your own leadership power keys to energize your performances?
Copyright 2004, Mustard Seed Investments Inc. All rights reserved
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bill Thomas produces The Leadership Toolkit - a web based training program that improves your leadership skills, energizes creativity and transforms you into a persuasive, empowering leader. Inspire Confidence, Be Creative, Enhance Your Leadership Influence - Get All the Tools You Need ToLead!
http://www.leadership-toolkit.com/LeadershipToolkit.html
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=BillThomas
http://EzineArticles.com/?5-Power-Keys-For-Leadership-Success!&id=10614
Michael Schrage, has recently had this story published by Booz and Company Inc in their Strategy+Business Magazine.
The Metric Behind the Slogan provides an interesting insight into the history of metrics and the impacts they have made on business. We recommend the read...
Download the article here
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One of Australia's most valuable assets is the great capacity of our people to innovate and adapt to change.
