This is what the politicians wanted us to do isn’t it, be brave, be ballsy, put the country back on its feet.

This is of course a lesson in do what I say not what I do.

Take the debate over the benefits cap, a proposal that affects a reported 67,000 people out of the 60′ish million that live in the UK and would save £290m out of a £192b work and pensions budget (figures reported in BBC News). The debate itself has rattled on for days (that on its own costing a fair bit) and now the prospect that it might go regional, the cost of administration to support that will erode even more of that saving.

This wouldn’t get past the Project Board in big business today, it would get sent back with a REJECTED, reason? No game changing ambition and poor ROI. The debate on the matter would either end or the team proposing would work on it to show that a real difference could be made…

They might take the total £192b work and pensions budget and say “there will be no benefits system going forward”. The concept behind this would be that all people on benefits today become employees of the Company for Work and Pensions tomorrow. Suddenly everyone has a job. The admin that today is put behind assessing, giving and taking away benefits would be moved to assessing and giving people work. There would be no sick pay but a bonus for those who turn into work everyday. If you don’t show, or don’t work, there is no money. These jobs would not be classed as public sector jobs, they will be part of a growing number of entrepreneurial companies funded by us the taxpayer. The opportunities would be as diverse as the community of employees within it.

The ROI here is uncapped and the future proofing benefits that support ongoing positive outcomes of a country with zero unemployment…priceless.

OK, I might be dreaming now but I wish I wasn’t.

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PLM may sound simple, the art is all about science and magic. Ensuring that you understand what is happening in the world, in terms of the environment (where the stuff to make everything comes from = science), knowing as much as you can about the people who could buy it and what they need and want (even if they don’t know it yet = science) and putting something together that talks to you and me in such a way that we want it (magic).

This article focus on the start of any PLM journey WHO, WHAT, WHY…How could Reebok sell trainers for $1?

So, what is this really about?

• Generating employee loyalty?
• Creating and innovating projects in poor and developing areas of the world?
• A chance for people to feel good again?
• Corporations doing good, really? Just think about what Coke did years ago. They went to the far flung places in the world and sold their product at a price point that area could afford. Where ever I went with my backpack in the world I could share a coke with a local it was awesome and created world domination because of brand loyalty, people have grown up with that brand – it’s a fundamental part of their lives and has kept Coke at number 1 – creating brand loyalty is what this is all about isn’t it?
• Even if it is it’s a slap on the back all round because economically this is what developing areas need. Source the materials locally so the people involved in that get money to invest in looking for better materials, get the local workforce to make them, so they have money to buy them (and educate their families which will lead to lots of other ideas) – it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Sustainable PLM is still finding its feet in industry and I think this is a great example of just what can and needs to be done by companies who want to future proof what they do and how they do it. They say it’s a social project which is interesting and I assume a nice PR angle. Social is just one aspect of work that is being addressed adidas are creating projects that address the future needs of doing business, finding new markets and ultimately new consumers.

Interestingly the article focuses on the price point and how they are having to go back to basics to figure out how to make this work and what the price point is, it may not be a $1…this is fantastic and a exercise every business should be doing right now. Forget the term recession, our world has changed and we need to know how to work within the new rules.

How are you looking forward to see who your future customers are and how you are going to reach them no matter how unrealistic that may sound? May be everyone should start a $1 project…

Also really interesting that the fastest shrinking country is Moldova, why? emigration. Whereas the the fastest growing country is Qatar, why? immigrant workforce. Bring in the statistics on urbanisation and a good bottle of wine and we could be hear for some time.

The numbers are not accurate but we know that the message is correct the world population is growing at speed and we need to be aware of the challenges that creates.

Impact on the environment depends on population size, consumption and how technology effects the environmental impact. Of course we need to look at ways we can reduce consumption and improve technology – we need more innovation in these areas.

Is a diverse group of people more innovative and creative than a homogeneous one? Is migration going to be the worlds self healing programme? I have no factual data on this but I do know what I see. The worlds greatest cities are already inhabited by large and diverse foreign populations and there are lots of migrant entrepreneurs. The transnational companies we work with have diverse working teams that create innovative behaviour just because of the differences in the group.

The world is getting bigger and its changing.

Mobility of highly skilled workers has been increasing due to globalisation and the growing importance of the knowledge economy, many companies already benefit from this and countries too benefit from the transfer of new ideas and work practices; there is an increasing amount of new knowledge and ideas that we should be harnessing and using to solve the problems we face.

The younger migrants seem to have a great skill base, are more entrepreneurial, less risk averse and believe that they will move several times in their life and commute between countries. This is just what the world needs surely? Is the biggest challenge how we bring that together and make it work? The heart in the picture represents what we need to achieve, as we tell our clients most weeks; talking about and planning change is easy its the execution of sustainable change that is difficult and of course makes the difference.

As the 3,641,850,266th person alive on earth I want to make a difference, what about you?

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