Green Shoots?
Green Shoots?
Lets start with a little review - the credit crunch started with a boom in easy credit. Banks used the assets that backed loans (people’s houses) to make more loans.
In summer 2007 the frenzy was reaching it’s peak and the cracks were beginning to show by September. The Spanish Costa property bubble burst and the consequences of “sub prime” mortgages were beginning to show with Northern Rock crashing in the UK.
Over the winter property wobbled and then in the spring of 2008 the money moved from property to commodities and oil. Speculation created spectacular spikes in oil and commodity prices and untold misery around the world.
Banks had “created” (see Authentic Wealth e-book) hundreds of trillions of Dollars, Pounds and Euros from their lending. With the loans defaulting, partly because of the rise in oil and food prices, the security had disappeared and so had the money.
Analysts estimate that around $300 Trillion left the world economy. Governments stepped in in an effort to prevent complete melt down, but the $5 Trillion or so that has been fed into the system is dwarfed by the scale of the problem.
When we went back to work in September 2008 everything came crashing around our ears. Bank investors got out fast. Carefully nurtured share prices went off a cliff and for three months we held our breath.
By January 2009, in spite of the media drama, it had become clear that the world was not ending, that people still need to be fed and that most are still working.
There is much talk of change, but what to?
What I have noticed in my work is that over the last five years there has been a very significant awakening. In working with global corporations, with funky business schools and with individuals, I find people are becoming more and more aware of humanities interdependence with all life and the vital necessity of responsibility, authentic leadership and innovation to new ways of working.
In the last six months this has accelerated, more and more people (especially women) are articulating “leadership”as their core talent. More and more are articulating a high level purpose connected with contributing to the raising the level of consciousness of our society.
Of course my sample is tiny, self selected and taken from a very specific segment of society. Those things have not changed over the last 5 years and the results have.
What future do I see?
I see individuals growing in confidence and claiming their responsibility and leadership. I see this process transforming the industrial hierarchical architecture of businesses to a new model.
Maybe we can call this the “Networked Economy”. For I see a shift from vertical and hierarchical to cellular and connected. Individuals connected and collaborating in every direction both within and outside their employers organisations.
Internet social and business networking accelerating connections and collaboration so that individuals and businesses shift to generating their income by solving the big challenges of our society.
The need for clean, sustainable energy, the need for clean water, the need for healthy, sustainable food, the need for low energy buildings and sustainable clothing. These are the drivers for the Networked economy.
The flip side is not progress, but regress. The shift goes the other way, away from networked and towards nationalism. The lesson we need to learn from the last century and from the credit crunch is that we are all in this together and that protecting our patch will not protect anyone in the long run.
The sooner each and every one of us can understand and fulfill our individual role in the network the sooner we can breakthrough to a peaceful and sustainable way of being.
Do you know your role in the network?
Neil Crofts
Green Shoots - To learn more about this author, visit Neil Crofts's Website.
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The last 18 months has been about the most pivotal for our collective future since 1945.
Lets start with a little review - the credit crunch started with a boom in easy credit. Banks used the assets that backed loans (people’s houses) to make more loans.
In summer 2007 the frenzy was reaching it’s peak and the cracks were beginning to show by September. The Spanish Costa property bubble burst and the consequences of “sub prime” mortgages were beginning to show with Northern Rock crashing in the UK.
Over the winter property wobbled and then in the spring of 2008 the money moved from property to commodities and oil. Speculation created spectacular spikes in oil and commodity prices and untold misery around the world.
Banks had “created” (see Authentic Wealth e-book) hundreds of trillions of Dollars, Pounds and Euros from their lending. With the loans defaulting, partly because of the rise in oil and food prices, the security had disappeared and so had the money.
Analysts estimate that around $300 Trillion left the world economy. Governments stepped in in an effort to prevent complete melt down, but the $5 Trillion or so that has been fed into the system is dwarfed by the scale of the problem.
When we went back to work in September 2008 everything came crashing around our ears. Bank investors got out fast. Carefully nurtured share prices went off a cliff and for three months we held our breath.
By January 2009, in spite of the media drama, it had become clear that the world was not ending, that people still need to be fed and that most are still working.
There is much talk of change, but what to?
What I have noticed in my work is that over the last five years there has been a very significant awakening. In working with global corporations, with funky business schools and with individuals, I find people are becoming more and more aware of humanities interdependence with all life and the vital necessity of responsibility, authentic leadership and innovation to new ways of working.
In the last six months this has accelerated, more and more people (especially women) are articulating “leadership”as their core talent. More and more are articulating a high level purpose connected with contributing to the raising the level of consciousness of our society.
Of course my sample is tiny, self selected and taken from a very specific segment of society. Those things have not changed over the last 5 years and the results have.
What future do I see?
I see individuals growing in confidence and claiming their responsibility and leadership. I see this process transforming the industrial hierarchical architecture of businesses to a new model.
Maybe we can call this the “Networked Economy”. For I see a shift from vertical and hierarchical to cellular and connected. Individuals connected and collaborating in every direction both within and outside their employers organisations.
Internet social and business networking accelerating connections and collaboration so that individuals and businesses shift to generating their income by solving the big challenges of our society.
The need for clean, sustainable energy, the need for clean water, the need for healthy, sustainable food, the need for low energy buildings and sustainable clothing. These are the drivers for the Networked economy.
The flip side is not progress, but regress. The shift goes the other way, away from networked and towards nationalism. The lesson we need to learn from the last century and from the credit crunch is that we are all in this together and that protecting our patch will not protect anyone in the long run.
The sooner each and every one of us can understand and fulfill our individual role in the network the sooner we can breakthrough to a peaceful and sustainable way of being.
Do you know your role in the network?
Neil Crofts
Green Shoots - To learn more about this author, visit Neil Crofts's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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