Lauri Elliott

This article was commissioned by ITWeb’s Brainstorm Magazine of South Africa for July 2010. 

Constant change in business is seen as a problem. But what if it wasn’t a problem, but an opportunity?

The turbulent, fast-paced business environment is causing many organisations to re-think both operation and strategy. Many struggle to keep up with the pace, but the answer may not be in keeping up with it, but flowing with it.

Firms today are urged to flatten their organisations in order to more readily handle the consistent change. A better frame is seeing organisations as living organisms, which evolve and adapt.

The crux for business is adapting successfully. There is an entire field of science called complexity, dedicated to the study of complex adaptive systems (CAS) like businesses. Complexity is often confused with complication. Complication means difficulty, but complexity means many elements are woven together.

One principle of CAS is emergence. Emergence is the process by which CAS and patterns emerge from a multiplicity of simple interactions. Something reaching a tipping point or going viral on the internet is representative of emergence.

John Holland, father of the study of CAS and author of Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity, shares that particular attention should be focussed on boundaries, shocks, and signals. Living organisms, including businesses and markets, have boundaries. As systems adapt, they push boundaries. Businesses need to adapt, so they need to push boundaries, or innovate.

Boundaries are also the points at which information, resources, etc., flow in and out of an organisation. Boundaries can be both formal and informal. The choice of with whom we share specific information is an example of an informal boundary.

While open boundaries are characteristic of systems, there are instances where boundaries are used to control flows in and out, if they are detrimental to the system. For example, negative external shocks like the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States that contributed to the global economic crisis.

Signals, or patterns, are building blocks of organisms. New signals, or emerging patterns, are really re-combinations of old signals, according to Holland. Signals can help organisations anticipate both positive and negative shocks. As businesses act on emerging patterns, they are adapting.

The concepts of complexity and emergence have led to new business practices, strategies, and technology tools. Yvonne Genovese, senior VP and distinguished analyst at Gartner, explains a framework for businesses to deal with complexity. Gartner’s “Pattern-Based Strategy” framework says the process that businesses need to follow is to identify patterns, model a strategy, then adapt instead of sensing and responding. Genovese says that it involves “culture, technical capabilities, and technology”.

Ronald Schultz, an expert on complexity in business and co-author of Open Boundaries: Creating Business Innovation through Complexity, says firms need to be able to view the entire landscape. To do so, firms orchestrate an environment that allows information and resources to flow freely. In essence, it’s finding the right mix of infrastructure and innovation. Too much infrastructure is characteristic of many firms today and why they struggle to adapt successfully. This is also a factor in the health of the culture, according to Schultz.

Schultz adds firms need “cue spotters”, a term coined by Michael Lissack, to orchestrate this environment. He says these individuals have the capacity to scan the entire landscape and identify cues, or signals, of emerging patterns. Cue spotters are “mindful and aware of things in front of and around them,” indicates Shultz.

War Room

From an organisational perspective, Genovese says that there are four core competencies that firms need to develop. First, firms need the competency to seek and exploit signals that may lead to a pattern, which will have a positive or negative impact on strategy and operations. Second, firms need a performance-driven culture that incorporates these leading indicators instead of just traditional performance frameworks. Third, firms need to develop agile operations that can work rhythmically with new models developed from leading indicators. And finally, there needs to be a greater degree of transparency across the landscape to allow better information and collaboration flows.

Both Schultz’ and Genovese’s input brings to mind a war-room, or ready-room, approach. In the military, there is a platform to take in information from every angle, determine what is significant, and develop courses of action.

That first step of taking in information from every angle involves looking at both current and emerging patterns. It is also important to be able to see patterns inside and outside the organisation. Because of technology like social media, the masses now have a voice. This arena outside an organisation is called collective intelligence or the “collective”.

Genovese indicates that the next two years are a critical period for firms to learn how to seek patterns. Baynote, a firm that specialises in the field of analysing emerging consumer behaviour patterns, has a technology platform to help firms do just that.

Jack Jia, founder of Baynote, shares that his own experience with an emerging pattern started the company. Jia was looking for the next business venture and did an informal survey with about 50 CIOs and CTOs, asking them to indicate what they would pay for, if provided. Out of a scale of one to ten, all rated information discovery as ten, except for one person, who rated it 11. Jia says: “That was my emerging pattern. It was right under my nose.”

He says that Baynote’s technology simulates how people seeking information behave. Instead of wading through infinite web pages, people will ask others until someone is able to help them identify the right resource
on the web. He says that the current model of relevance engines miss the mark. “It’s not semantic relevance,
but human-defined relevance that works.”

Built on this principle, Baynote’s Collective Intelligence Platform (CIP) helps clients get better rankings on search engines and provide better recommendations to their customers.

One Baynote client noticed that red appliances were appearing as a top choice of its website users, but the company didn’t sell them at the time. The client thought it might be a mistake, but decided to offer the products. In a short time, the red appliances became best sellers.

The CIP platform simulates the eyes, mind, and touch of humans. The core engines are the observer and affinity. The observer collects the information on consumer behaviour and affinity identifies the patterns within the information.

Jia says it takes as few as seven consumers demonstrating the same behaviour for Baynote’s technology to identify an emerging pattern. “The patterns are identified based on 24 heuristics of consumer behaviour, which allows us to tap into the invisible or ‘silent’ crowd.” Jia calls these emerging consumer behaviour pattern groups “micro” niche markets.

After an emerging pattern is identified, the CIP has different modules, called touchpoints, to act on the pattern. Some touchpoints are search engine optimisation and search engine marketing. Another touchpoint can automatically create websites targeted at “micro” niche markets. This allows firms to quickly adapt to potential emerging patterns efficiently and without human intervention.

Today’s evolving business environment and its complexity can seem daunting at times. However, the opportunities in emerging patterns can serve as a catalyst for innovation in any organisation prepared to take a chance.

This article was commissioned by ITWeb/Brainstorm of South Africa for the June 2010 issue.  It was originally entitled, “Facebook Generation.”

Consumers are becoming increasingly identity-focused. Corporations will have to keep up to remain relevant – both as suppliers and employers. 

Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace, a US company that does consumer market research, recently shared insights about consumers at the Milken Institute’s Annual Global Conference for global thought leaders. One of her comments was that consumers have found mental strength through the economic crisis.

Says Hessan: “Consumers are empowered and clear about what they are doing. People know where they spend money and how they define value for themselves. These consumers are very clear and very intentional. They do research and feel they have learned a lot.”

This is a new consumer paradigm. We are seeing the beginning of the age of identity. Consumers better understand their unique identity and what they value these days. They prioritise based on what allows them to live out their unique identities.

The principle drivers of identity-focused consumers can still be understood in the context of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow says that needs drive individual motivation. Needs start with survival issues around food, water, and shelter. As people develop and move up the socioeconomic scale, their needs change from needs to connect with family and friends to self-esteem found through education and career. The final levels of actualisation and transcendence speak to people achieving mental and spiritual acuity. In other words, people become attuned to their unique identities and personalities.

The difference in the consumer markets moving forward is that an increasingly larger number of consumers will not prioritise based on needs indicating lack, e.g., self-esteem, safety, relationships.

They will focus on needs that allow them to fully live out their identities. As the old saying goes: “To thine own self be true.”

Tipping Point

This mindset used to be limited to individuals like artists and elites who had education and perhaps money, allowing them more freedom to explore who they were, according to Shoshona Zuboff in her book, The Support Economy.

The developed nations have been moving along this continuum for the last 50 or so years, but it’s possible that the economic crisis was a tipping point. This shift is not limited to Western cultures though, thanks to things like the internet, globalisation and democratisation. People have much more freedom and access to explore their unique identities even with limited means.

There is also an age dimension to this consumer market. The majority of them will be under the age of 40. By and large, they are young people who were born as the internet, globalisation and democratisation took hold.

These young consumers expect mutual, not hierarchical, relationships. That means they do not want to be pushed into something, they want to make their own decisions and co-create solutions. They will remove themselves from situations that do not create value for them, much more so than their parents did. This is a significant issue for employers.Employers need to see how to create value for themselves as well as this identity generation. Some call this talent management, but it’s more than that.

Successful employers will treat even entry-level employees as leaders in their own space and help them develop accordingly.

Employers will also have to shift thinking about turnover. This identity generation will come and go as they please. Money and perks will not hold them if employers have not connected with their needs. And even if they have connected, people will still leave much more readily for other opportunities.

So employers need to ask themselves: “How do we deal with continual change among our workforce?”

A New Age?

This identity generation can also parallel an age of entrepreneurs. A basic definition of an entrepreneur is someone who creates. Our societies will be filled with creative, ‘out-of-the-box’ people who develop disruptive solutions on a continual basis. They will be willing to take informed risks when aligned with a purpose.

While this identity generation sounds like selfish individuals, in actuality, because they understand themselves better, they become more aware and conscious of the world around them. Part of identity is having a purpose beyond yourself. According to McKinsey Consulting, this young generation, the youngest sub-group being the Millenials born after 1982, is actually more socially conscious.

Relationships are key for this generation. While it starts with a social dimension, these relationships become quite powerful as people come together more often for a common purpose or interest. However, they will flow in and out of groups or communities more readily.

Many view this as an online phenomenon, but it will also hit the real world. The grassroots strength in the Obama presidential campaign in 2008 and the Ushahidi story of citizens reporting instances of election violence in Kenya are just the tip of the iceberg.

And, it is not just a social or political shift. It is also a market and business shift. The control discipline of management science no longer works in a world with continual chaos, change, speed, and identity-focused individuals. Businesses need to be able to flow with the dynamics, not control them. IBM’s orchestration of its ecosystem has become a technology sector example.

While some may consider this not new, the significance is that, in the next decade, the identity generation will finally get a leading voice in the main markets across the globe just from sheer numbers. This will shift society, business and politics.

New Models

So what business models will work in this age of identity? The key is models that allow people freedom and growth in their identities. In practical terms, The Copenhagen Institute of Future Studies says that strategies should allow consumers to be a part of the creative process from beginning to end. The gaming market is an example. Players co-create by developing their own content in new ways of playing, skins, activities, etc.

Another strategy approach is to focus on what gives meaning to consumers. One way that Facebook enhances the meaning people derive from their relationships is through real-time engagement. Businesses should also look at business models that incorporate pull-versus-push and self-generating strategies.

African consumer markets have traditionally been disenfranchised from paradigm shifts because of the continent’s lack of development. As consumers rapidly adopt technology innovations like mobile phones, however, development, including human, tends to accelerate. Businesses focusing on Africa need to prepare for this shift, too.

The horizon for this shift in Africa may be longer, but a good gauge will be ICT patterns of usage three to five years after major ICT projects are completed. In the meantime, businesses can monitor patterns in markets where ICT access, penetration, and usage is more robust.

South Africa is the first market, but East Africa should also be followed as ICT infrastructure is rapidly developing there.

The age of identity is not just for consumers but businesses that can navigate it well. Businesses will have innumerable configurations for potential products and services with an ecosystem to bring them to market, allowing them to more readily sustain competitiveness.

Commissioned by ITWeb/Brainstorm of South Africa for May 2010 issue.

While the economic crisis at the end of the first decade of the 21st century has made the most headlines, there are more significant shifts afoot that will inform the future of business.

The years 2000 through 2009 represented not only a decade, but the end of a generation in technology.

In 1957, the Russians put the first satellite in orbit. In 1969, the first man walked on the moon, and the internet officially went online. Now, these technologies have converged in innovative ways and opened doors to average people around the world. People can use services like Google Earth to see and pull up information on physical locations around the world, combining satellite and internet technology.

In many ways, the first decade of the 21st century was also a transition decade. The transition, which is still underfoot, will fundamentally change both our economic and business environments.

Politically, the last decade started with the stalwart, unipolar power of the United States. It ended with an emerging configuration of multipolar power, inclusive of emerging nations. It has spilled over into the co-ordination of global economic policy changing from the G8 nations to the G20 nations, including South Africa.

Aligned with these political shifts are the dynamics of global demographics, which are setting the stage for the major consumer markets of the next 40 years. These markets are shifting to emerging regions like Asia and Africa due to fast population growth. While consumer demand should continue to rise globally, it will increase the fastest in Asia and Africa. In fact, the International Monetary Fund says that emerging consumer markets will serve as the new growth engine for the global economy.

This equation holds true in technology as well. The International Data Corporation’s “Economic Impact of IT” study says that emerging markets represented 21 percent of IT spending in 2009, but through 2013 will represent 50 percent of net new growth in IT spending.

Technology also serves as a catalyst for economies and an enabler of business. Each ten percent increase in broadband connections results in 1.3 percent economic growth, according to the World Bank.

A New Impetus

While these notes serve as a backdrop to the transition in the last decade, they do not reveal the real story of how technology is fundamentally influencing our economic and business environment.

John Hagel and John Seely Brown, authors of The Only Sustainable Edge: Why Business Strategy Depends on Productive Friction and Dynamic Specialization, theorise that the business environment is transforming from push to pull models for mobilising resources. Essentially, instead of organising resources in anticipation of needs, resources are positioned when needed. For example, cloud computing allows digital infrastructure to be used and scaled when needed. Pull models are more conducive to the chaotic and turbulent environments in which we live today, allowing for greater agility. The shift from a push to pull paradigm has been occurring for decades. It seems more apparent now, however.

According to the Shift Index 2009, by Deloitte, there are three key waves (The Big Shift) impacting our business environment. The first wave is the impact of an expanding digital infrastructure and public policy focusing on economic liberalisation. The second wave is the shift in knowledge, capital, and talent flows due to an expanding digital infrastructure. And the third wave is the impact created by the first two.

There is a ray of light for emerging nations and markets in The Big Shift. Thomas Friedman, in the book The Lexus and The Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization, says that there will no longer be a First, Second, and Third World, but only the Fast World and Slow World. The Fast World is a wide-open society.

In The Big Shift, African economies do not need to catch up to industrialised nations, per se, because the open playing field creates space for them to innovate.

The growth of the mobile market in Africa in the past decade is a perfect example. If Africa had waited for fixed line deployment, it would still have been catching up, but instead it is leading global markets.

D for Democracy

The Fast World/Slow World paradigm is evolving due to the democratisation of technology, finance, and information, which started in the 1980s. Democratisation of technology encompasses the innovations that have allowed hundreds of millions of people to communicate, connect, and exchange information, money, etc. Democratisation of finance means people have the power and information to invest.

Democratisation of information means that people around the world have access to information. In essence, the power to shape economies and markets no longer rests in the hands of the few, but is open to the masses, or crowds, around the globe.

From a practical business perspective, these forces mean the way we do business now and in the future will change. There are several evolving models that took root in the past decade.

Crowdsourcing is any sort of outsourcing that involves a large group of people, usually the public, to actively contribute to a task or project. Wikipedia is a prime example of crowdsourcing. In a business context, Goldcorp, a Canadian mining company, outsourced the task of identifying gold deposits in a concession to the public in 2000. Through this process, Goldcorp was able to find deposits worth $3 billion.

In Africa, crowdsourcing is a model well suited to mobilising people around development, political, or business projects. First National Bank (FNB) used crowdsourcing to solicit a business idea that would draw its wealthy customers to online banking in 2008. The selected idea garnered $2 500 for winner, Guillaume Martin.

Another operational model is crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is crowdsourcing applied to raising funds. Osterwalder Alexander and Pigneur Yves, authors of Business Model Generation, used a combination of crowdsourcing and crowdfunding to write and fund the book. The public was invited to serve as co-writers and investors at the same time. As people joined the project, they paid a fee that got them a copy of the book when released, allowed them to provide input as the book was developed, and get a royalty as the book was sold.

Locally, Eve Dmochowska has started a crowdfunding project for South African start-ups, which generated nearly R1 million in investments within its first few weeks of opening.

In another instance, digital democratisation and the cost of technology, e.g., internet bandwidth, reaching almost a “virtually” free state in the West, catalysed the “freemium” business model.

Chris Anderson, Editor-in- Chief of Wired Magazine, coined the phrase in his book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. Freemium is where basic services are offered for free, while a premium is charged for special features. A typical application is magazines or newspapers that offer some online content free but the majority for paid subscribers only. Anderson expects, “freemium to cross over into other industries as part of a new industrial revolution”.

New Horizons

Will Africa win or lose in this new business context? It has the same opportunity as any other region to move in the new business dynamics, and it has several things going for it. Mobile and internet infrastructure development has gained momentum in the past decade, but there is still a lot to do. The continent has one of the world’s largest consumer markets and ample human capital, both of which are underdeveloped. And, of course, Africa has an abundance of resources.

The question is, will Africa leapfrog, as a whole, like it did with the mobile market? The next two to three years will see whether it rises to the challenge or falls behind the occasion presented in this decade.

Today’s business environment is turbulent, fast, and constantly changing.  It’s a complex environment with many variables woven together that creates business.  Africa is no different.  It has its own set of complexities that dynamically impact the business environment.  My firm, Conceptualee, has started research to help navigate those dynamics more fluidly.  One of the areas of research is the dynamics of social politics.  Our topic, “Social Politics in Business in Africa,” was chosen as a poster session at the Duke Political Networks 2010 conference.

The poster provides a stratospheric view of the evolving dynamic themes on economic development of the South African Development Community based on a historical and political streams.  This is just a starting point for an ongoing dialogue about how to increase economic opportunity even within the constraints of current systems.

You can download the poster Social Politics in Business in Africa (35).  And please, comment and provide insight below.

We had a quite a discussion with Cedric Muhammad, author of “The Entrepreneurial Secret to Starting a Business without a Bank Loan, Collateral or Revenue.”  The context for the discussion was the extreme environment in which we do business today globally.  I described the environment as openly hostile, meaning opposing or resisting our efforts to do business.  But, we concluded that entrepreneurs have the ability to tame this environment for success.

Cedric has an extensive background as an economist and entrepreneur.   He even formulated a business leadership model called “Hip-Hopreneur.”  A Hip-Hopreneur is an individual steeped in the hip-hop culture who is ready to become a power broker, business owner and political leader.  A Hip-Hopreneur is someone who appreciates the hip-hop art form and culture, as well as the responsibility of leadership and power to influence people around the world.  These are truly characteristics of successful entrepreneurs in any sector.  Entrepreneurs transform lives, communities and societies.

Cedric highlighted four key challenges faced by entrepreneurs at any time – capital, culture, communication and competition.  Each of the challenges when approached successfully enable entrepreneurs to navigate past a hostile business environment.

Looking at capital, we need to focus differently.  First, Cedric said entrepreneurs must view themselves and their ideas as the greatest source of capital.  Second, seek funding from your own social networks, e.g., college friends, family, church members.  Cedric emphasized that entrepreneurs often overlook the best source for accessible capital.

 Another point is that entrepreneurs go looking for funding before their concept is developed or proven.  Banks, venture capitalists and angel investors look for “bankable” businesses.  They want to make money, too!  When entrepreneurs start, they need to recognize the funding stages aligned with the business lifecycle.  Typically, when an entrepreneur first starts, he or she is at the pre-seed stage.  This is where your social networks can really help you out. 

Navigating culture and the competitive environment successfully is essential.  If you can tap into the culture that will support your business either as consumers, suppliers, etc., you will be amazed at the momentum you gain.

 In the competitive landscape, you need to be prepared for the shifts competitors may bring, such as disruptive technology.  The recent shift in Facebook’s prominence over MySpace is an example.  As Cedric put it, “it’s obvious MySpace didn’t see Facebook coming.”  But the story behind the story, which attests to the brilliance and adaptability of the entrepreneur, is that MySpace changed its business model to focus on its strength – communities around music and entertainment.

We also looked at how the current hostile environment evolved. A key crux was lenders providing funds not based on merit of your business venture or your personal credibility, but knowing they could re-sell the loans for a profit.  We moved from the foundation of exchanging value in our trade systems to exchange money without value behind it.  While the crisis occurred, it is moving people back into alignment so that our trade systems will work.  It’s a bit painful now, but necessary.

There are many other points made in the conversation that you don’t want to miss. Take time to listen to the recorded show.

Also, spend some time getting to know what Cedric Muhammad is sharing.  He brings insights to help you with your business.  Check out his three-volume book, “The Entrepreneurial Secret.”  You can also catch him on www.blackelectorate.com, www.blackcoffeechannel.com and www.cedricmuhammad.com.

Continue the dialogue about “The Art of Making Business Happen” at our online community – http://artofbiz.ning.com.  And listen to our weekly broadcasts at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/art-of-biz.

Signing off for now – peace and prosperity to you!

Africa’s future is brighter now than ever before.  The global landscape is changing in favor of Africa.  I share some of my thoughts on this with Cedric Muhammad.

Originally posted at Afribiz.info.

Listen to a thought-proking interview with our chief strategist, Lauri Elliott, lead by Cedric Muhammad of the Black Coffee Channel.  The discussion speaks of the changing paradigm in the global economy, which will see Africa rise to a prominent place in its own right within the next generation.

Click here to listen to the recorded radio broadcast.

 This short seminar lays out the general business context facing every organization today and moving forward.  It gives you a high-level view of the factors you need to consider when formulating successful strategies.

The seminar objectives are:

• Describe business context.
• Identify the dynamics of today’s and tomorrow’s business context.
• Identify appropriate organizational structures for today’s and tomorrow’s business context.
• Identify two appropriate approaches to today’s and tomorrow’s business context.

Access the seminar for free here.

Just as there is an evolving shift within our society from operating from the physical to mental to spiritual, we will see the same in the economic sphere.  To start, Adam Smith in the “Wealth of Nations” said that the determinants of economic growth, or activity, were the factors of production – natural resources, labor and capital.  Here, there is no recognition of the impact of the mind and spirit on production leading to economic activity, or growth.

Knowledge has been considered a part of the process of economic growth, even by Adam Smith.  However, it has not been until the past 50 or so years that economic theory has focused on knowledge as a factor of production.  Paul Romer, a leading economist in the “New Growth Theory,” stresses that ideas, new and better, transformed into a change in technology contribute to economic growth like natural resources, labor and capital.

The original factors of production are considered scarce, or limited, which means that economic growth is limited at some point.  On other hand, ideas (innovative knowledge), is unlimited.  Human beings can generate unlimited new ideas.  In fact, we are designed in the image of God, so as He is the Creator, we are creators.  The key is to transform these ideas into technological change.  The world calls this the process of innovation.  We, as Christians, call this bringing heaven to earth.

So, knowledge as new and better ideas transformed into technological change leads to economic growth. The result – a world filled with unlimited economic growth potential because our ability to create new and better ideas is unlimited.  This changes our mental model from scarcity to abundance, want to wealth.  The question becomes how do we develop an economic system based on this premise?  This is the challenge of today.

Let’s tie this to the evolving societal shift in our primary mode of operation – physical to mental to spiritual.  We can see as knowledge has become more significant in the mix of economic growth, that organizations see unique intelligence, innovation, etc. key to their competitive advance.  It’s not that the importance of technological change due to innovation has not been recognized.  We understand its contribution to the Industrial Revolution, e.g., the steam engine.  However, the drive in making it prime in positioning a company continues to grow.  The intellect, or mental sphere, is now a central mode of operation in our economic systems.  We even have a phrase coining its importance, the “knowledge economy.”

Let’s take another look at knowledge.  There is knowledge derived from interacting with our physical environment, pulled from our intellect and emerged from our spirits.  Today, we focus on knowledge pulled from our intellect.  In the Vision Society, it will be knowledge emerging for our spirits.

In the Vision Society, we see the best source of knowledge coming from the spirit not the intellect.  We call this revelation knowledge. However, revelation knowledge shapes the development of our intellectual knowledge.  We still learn within and from our interaction with the physical environment and intellectual exercises, but the spirit serves as the navigation system.

As Christians, we understand that revelation knowledge comes from God depositing his knowledge in our human spirits through the Holy Spirit.  Our personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the channel. 

It will be revelation and relationship, which serves as anchors in the new economy.  Revelation leading the process of innovation, as well as the markets operating through relationships, which tie groups of people together closely or loosely.  We see these concepts evolving in areas in the science of networks, social networking, mass innovation, etc.

While we are still grappling with the picture of the new economy and how it will operate, there are many who have pieces of the ultimate picture.  Brett Johnson of The Institute is one of these visionaries.  In a Kingdom Economic Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa last year, he shared a comparison of characteristics between the old economy and the new economy.  The comparison is below.

Old Economy	New Economy
Self-reliance	Dependence on God
Logic	Obedience
Man, nature, self as source	God as source
Gaining, hoarding	Giving, flowing
Finite	Infinite
Greed, self serving	Serving greater good
Fear	Trust, generosity
Selling birthright	Persevering in long-term
Debt	Cash, capital, hard assets
Ownership	Stewardship
Protection	Freedom
Worry	Liberty
Running out	Running over
Storing	Flowing
Accumalting	Giving
Boosting myself	Blessing others
Temporal	Eternal
Scorns source (God)	Remembers source (God)
Elevation	Consecration
Meeting my needs	Serving God’s purpose
Mine to keep	God’s to direct
Control	Releasing
Postured to speak	Positioned to listen
Avarice deified	Avarice denied
Demanding	Grateful
Restlessness	Restful, calm
Striving	Surrender
Hurry, hustle	Rest
Wisdom of man	Wisdom of God
Insatiable	Contented
Calculation	Revelation
Immediate gratification	Delayed gratification
Personal legacy	God’s glory
Do as I please	Accountability
Natural	Supernatural
Lack	Abundance
Need	Wholeness
Own effort	Favor

Published in “Kingdom Economics,” (c) The Institute for Innovation, Integration & Impact, Inc. 2009, by Brett Johnson

Put in the Christian context, Brett compared the evolution from the old economy to the new economy as the Israelites moving from Egypt to the Wilderness to the Promised Land.

As the Vision Society becomes more prominent and its impact on the new economy evolves, we also need to consider the concept and purpose of wealth and money.  Check out my initial thoughts on the role of money in my blog article entitled, “Is Money the Answer to Fuel a New Economic Order?“

A society is “an enduring and cooperating social group whose members have developed organized patterns of relationships through interaction with one another,” as well “a part of a community that is a unit distinguishable by particular aims or standards of living or conduct” as defined by the Merriam-Webster (www.m-w.com) dictionary.  In other words, a society is a group of people in relationship and interacting with one another cooperatively focused on a common purpose.

A Vision Society is one filled with purpose.  The distinct drive of a Vision Society is that its members function in the pursuit of purpose, both individually and corporately.  It has a unique tapestry of people, individually distinct yet woven together for a common future.  It is neither a collective or individualistic society characterized by dependence or independence, but interdependence and interconnectedness.  Each person has a “unique” space, identity and purpose, serving a particular function in the corporate body of a Vision Society.

The interplay between the individual and corporate aspect of a Vision Society is best described by an analogy to the human body.  The human body is a system designed to work as one but with individual parts performing their own function.  A well-performing body means each part is fulfilling its function working in harmony with the other parts.

While I cannot say there is complete harmony, there is a greater harmony in the Vision Society because people understand their “unique” space and their individual identities.  They focus on fulfilling the purpose of their “unique” space, which means they are less likely to focus on what others are doing or not doing and freely working within their space to achieve their unlimited potential.

At the individual level, each person lives a life continually learning, exploring and fulfilling his or her unique purpose on this world. Visions that derive from their purposes serve people, intending to benefit the greater good.  Their lives of purpose operate on selflessness not selfishness.

Societies have evolved over time.  Sociologists suggest that societies have evolved according to their primary manner of subsistence, e.g., hunter/gathers, agrarian.  Subsistence is what is necessary to support life like food and shelter.  If you are familiar with Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, subsistence represents the lowest level of needs – physiological.

I suggest that societies have evolved according to paradigm shifts between driving needs rather than forms of systems maintaining subsistence.  However, concepts of subsistence and wealth are embedded in the continuum.  Subsistence represents the bare essentials for a human body to function not to be fulfilled or satisfied.  Fulfillment includes the entire completion of spirit, mind and body.  If we take a closer look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we see paradigm shifts occurring at each level.  As a person develops or as certain needs are met, he or she first moves from focusing on physiological needs to safety needs.  From there, the focus shifts to belonging to esteem to self-actualization.  Kurt Goldstein described self-actualization as a driving force which leads to people realizing their full potential.  Maslow later added another level called self-transcendence in which an individual, or self, gives to an inner experience of a greater unity of entities.

The human being is composed of spirit, mind and body.  As a person develops upward through Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, he or she shifts the center of his or her mode of operation from body (physical) to mind (soul) to spirit.  Self-transcendence represents operating out of the spirit and self-actualization represents operating out of the mind.  In the eye of the spirit, a person recognizes his or her true purpose, identity and vision connected to the greater society.

 

Human societies have evolved in the same manner in which the primary influence on how people operate shifted from physical to mental to spiritual.  The primary influence on how people operate in the Vision Society is the spiritual dimension.  We are on the cusp between human society operating under the primary influence of the mind to the primary influence of the spirit.

The concept of wealth also evolved as human society evolved.  First, it shifted from living a life of subsistence to one of accumulation of wealth.  The definition of wealth also shifted from monetary or physical assets to intellectual to spiritual.  In today’s society, there is a more holistic approach to wealth, which includes spiritual, social, intellectual, physical, financial, etc.  However, the seat of true wealth is the spirit.  Wealth is an inner-orientation not an outer-orientation.

As mentioned before, human society is on the cusp of entering the Vision Society age.  Who will be the standard bearers for this?  It will be the children of today and tomorrow.  As adults, we will help usher our children into the Vision Society as we learn more and dip into it ourselves.  However, the children will innately and inherently have an affinity and perception for the Vision Society, working through each of their spirits.

The Vision Society will ultimately dominate how our economic, social and political systems and institutions evolve and operate.

As we have seen the world economic, financial, capital and money systems implode over the last year and as it continues to disintegrate (however, much money keeps being pumped into them), I have been pondering what does the “new” or different economic system look like in God’s eyes.  God has given me different revelations, but I want to share one in particular now.  The original purpose for money has been perverted.  Money is thought of in ways and used in ways outside its original purpose.  Therefore, it becomes a tool for oppression and destruction.

 What is Money?

 Practically speaking, money is a “…a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means for payment.” (www.m-w.com)  Our world uses money to represent wealth and as key to creating wealth and prosperity, but is money used today for its original purpose?  We can understand if something is working outside of its purpose for which it was designed, it can be misused and lead to problems.  God says the root of all evil is the love of money, or unrighteous mammon.

 God Promises Wealth not Money

First, God does not promise us money, He promises us wealth.  Deuteronomy 8:18 says “But you shall [earnestly] remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (AMP)  The Hebrew word for “wealth” in this passage is “chayil.”  Chayil means force as in an army.  It is noted that this “force” can come in many forms, e.g., strength, power, riches, means, resources.

Force as defined in a modern dictionary means strength or energy, as well as a cause of motion or change. (www.m-w.com) It would seem to me that the wealth we have the power to receive, in whatever form God chooses, is used to make a difference.  Not something hoarded or stored.  This would align with the Abrahamic covenant of being blessed to be a blessing.

 Second, through God’s wisdom, we inherit this wealth.  Proverbs 8:20-21 (AMP) says:

    ²⁰ I [Wisdom] walk in the way of righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation), in the midst of the paths of justice,

    ²¹That I may cause those who love me to inherit [true] riches and that I may fill their treasuries. (AMP)

The requirement is that we love God’s Wisdom, which is one in the same with Him.  So, if we love God’s Wisdom, we love Him.  This translates to continual fellowship with Him – a personal, intimate relationship.  When we remain “connected” to Jesus as He says in John 15, we can ask what we will and it will be given to us.  So, we will receive wisdom, if we ask as it also states in James 1.

So, if wealth is what we are promised why do we pray for money?  Even in our churches, we frequently ask God for money.  Our environment and culture has conditioned us to do this as a matter of habit not spiritual insight.  It’s not that God will not give money when it is called for.  However, we should focus our prayers on wealth not money unless led for a specific reason to pray for money in these days.  If we take on this mind set and act on it, I believe we will see what Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians 9:8-11 (AMP):

      ⁸And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation].

    ⁹As it is written, He [the benevolent person] scatters abroad; He gives to the poor; His deeds of justice and goodness and kindness and benevolence will go on and endure forever!

    ¹⁰And [God] Who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your [resources for] sowing and increase the fruits of your righteousness [which manifests itself in active goodness, kindness, and charity].

    ¹¹Thus you will be enriched in all things and in every way, so that you can be generous, and [your generosity as it is] administered by us will bring forth thanksgiving to God.

Problems with World’s Money System – Another Reason to Pray for Wealth not Money

Speaking practically, there is something wrong with our world’s economic, financial, capital and money systems.  We can see how they are imploding with no sign of slow down at the moment.  I believe God is allowing this to happen because they are not aligned with God’s system of freedom for people.  They, in fact, oppress the majority of the people and nations worldwide and place them in bondage.

Part of the problem is how the current world system perverts the purpose of money, remembering that money is a medium of exchange (currency).  Lawrence Reed of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) says:

The “money is wealth” error is the affliction of the currency crank. From John Law to John Maynard Keynes, great populations have hyperinflated themselves to ruin in pursuit of this illusion. Even today we hear cries of “we need more money” as the government’s monetary authorities crank it out at double digit rates.

The good economist will recognize that money creation is no short-cut to wealth. Only the production of valued goods and services in a market which reflects the consumer’s wishes can relieve poverty and promote prosperity.

You can read a full article on the subject here.

As eluded to before, an object’s form is to follow its function.  If the understanding of the function of an object is not correct, it stands to reason that the design, or form, will also be off.  We can see endless patterns of this at an accelerating pace in the world economic system, particularly in the last 40 years or so. I cannot explain the complexities of all of this, but I would like to share a few things concerning the money system to illustrate my point.

Up until the 1970s, the world’s money system operated on the gold standard, meaning when paper money or financial instruments were exchanged, they were backed with actual amounts of gold reserve.  In essence, there was an absolute measure for what something was worth in terms of gold.

Unfortunately, the world moved from the gold standard to floating currency, meaning that capital markets (supply/demand) for our money would determine the value of our currency.  The United States Dollar replaced the gold standard as the prime standard at the time, however, now there is a basket of currency, including the Euro.  So, one day the U.S. Dollar might be worth .75 cents for every Euro or $1.25, depending on the global environment.  This means the value of the money we use for exchange varies from day to day.  This does not represent a system in balance.  God wants an honest scale.  In fact, He says that unjust weights are an abomination to Him.  (Proverbs 11:1)

We don’t think about it, but this is an oppressive system of bondage, in particular for those who have limited or just sufficient means.  For example, if a developing country gets a loan from the World Bank in foreign currency (typically the U.S. Dollar, instead of its local currency) and the foreign currency strengthens against the country’s currency during the period of the loan, the country will be put further into debt.  For example, if South Africa gets a loan in U.S. Dollars at the time the exchange rate between the Rand and U.S. Dollar is 7 to 1 but then the Dollar strengthens and the exchange goes to 10 Rands to 1 U.S. Dollar, South Africa owes more money than the amount of the loan because it is converting Rands to Dollars to make payments.  This creates an oppressive environment for weaker economies and currency when placed against stronger economies and currencies.

Foundations for a New Economic and Monetary System

We can no longer spend time on reflecting what went wrong other than to make sure we do not make the same mistakes going forward. Our full energy should be directed in developing a new economic system that benefits all.  I have a few suggestions to start a dialogue.

First, I think the economic system should be framed from a human ecological perspective.  Simply, people are the foci.  The system and institutions should be built to support and benefit the people.

Second, I think the economic system should be designed on the principle of a commonwealth, meaning that all people benefit from it.  This includes economic equity.  This means all people have the opportunity to tap into various economic opportunities in the system.  It is designed with openness in mind.

Third, as discussed here, we need to think of how to generate wealth not money.  However, we need to define money correctly and use it correctly.  John Tomlinson wrote a book called “Honest Money,” which you can download for free from here.  It will help you think about what money’s place might be in the new economy.

Fourth, we need to expand, or adapt, our understanding of currency.  Remember, currency is a medium of exchange.  Money is a form of currency, not the only one.  Many propose that there are alternative forms of currency like influence and intelligence (information). One alternative economy idea is peer-to-peer (P2P) economies.  In this economy, influence is a primary currency it seems.  Check out the news report on this concept.

I hope that you join the dialogue on this topic.