National Post - Financial Post Magazine
Vivelarevolution
ProsperousGrowthisthenextfoundationalphaseforCanada’snationaleconomicrenewal
AfewmonthsagointhisspaceIirreverentlyoutlinedCanada’sfundamentalneedforaNational StrategiesStrategy.Thepolicyproblemisthatfartoo many national strategies are currently being developedinvacuumsandsilosinisolation,onefromthe other. A National Strategies Strategy would aim to bringtogetherallCanadianstakeholders,perhapsat afoundationaleventorsummit,forcross-disciplinary strategy-setting that would devise evidence-based intelligenceonhowCanada—asadiversenation— cansetupasystemthatwouldallowourbestminds, institutions and diverse cultural communities to establishanationalstrategichierarchyofstrategies.
Suchacoordinatednational effortremainsanessentialcomponent of a reinvigorated and prosperous Canadian economy, but much more needs to be done at the micro-spacial level, within individual firms and industries, as we prepare fortheprosperityweallhopeto achieve.Withallthatinmind,I havedevelopedthenextfoundational phase for Canada’s national economic renewal. This overarching national objective,identifiedanddefinedas Prosperous Growth, can only beachievedviamicro-strategic initiativestoSquaretheProsperousGrowthCircle.
Prosperous Growth — or PG — is the target, the small circle at the beating heart of the Canadian economy. PG is that illusive, almost Hindu-like nirvana all businesses strive to achieve. Even defining it is a challenge, but PG is perhaps best viewed asGrowththatenhancesProsperity,andProsperity that enhances Growth. A more refined definition will be spelled out in my forthcoming book, CircleSquared Revolution™: How Exploding JargonismisChangingMoney,ManagementandMakingBusinessCrazy.
Thereisnospaceheretoreviewalltheelements of the CircleSquared Revolution, but suffice to say that the objective is to build a dynamic innovation
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R + D E C O SY ST E M ecosystemwithincorporateCanadathatwillfostera criticalmassofcreativetalentwhosecorecompetencieswillbefocusedonthrivingwithinwhatisshaping upastheFourthandFifthIndustrialRevolutions.
Klaus Schwab, head of the World Economic Forum, believes the Fourth Industrial Revolution —nowunderway—isbreakingoutatanexponential rate, disrupting almost every industry in every country: artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet ofThings,autonomousvehicles,3Dprinting,nanotechnology,energystorage,quantumcomputing.
While this revolution is galloping through the world,afifthisalsounderway.PeterMarsh,a Financial Times correspondent, writes that “The fifth industrial revolution has been triggered by asetofconvergingtrendsthat alterhowmanufacturersorganiseandcompete.Thechangesincludeincreasingabilityto combinetechnologiesincluding electronics, biotech and novelmaterials;greateropportunities for customisation of products;andthegrowinguse ofglobalinformationpathways andsupplynetworks.”
As the CircleSquared graphic demonstrates, these revolutions in physical and technologicalconvergencecanonlybecapturedviaa parallelabilitytocombineconceptsofinnovativegovernanceandfirm-leveladaptationofenhancedvalue metricsthatbreaknewground.
Smartinnovationwouldbeagoodstartingpoint. Plainoldinnovation,aswithplainoldinfrastructure, isofnouseinitself.Smartinnovationisthestuffthat builds the Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions. Other familiar policymaking concepts — diversity, benchmarking, sustainability, productivity, transparency—needtoberethoughtandcombinedtotake advantage of the dramatic transformational change now engulfing the world economy. If we don’t SquaretheCircle,theCirclewillSquareus.Youget thedrift.
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PLANNING DIVERSITYUNIVERSAL
PROSPEROUS GROWTH— ORPG—
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ALMOST HINDU-LIKE NIRVANAALL BUSINESSES STRIVETO
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