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Vivelarevo­lution

- PG

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

SMARTINNOV­ATION ST R AT E G I C D I R E C TI O

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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.

T SE D N I M E V I AT E R C Y IT

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PLANNING DIVERSITYU­NIVERSAL

PROSPEROUS GROWTH— ORPG—

ISTHAT ILLUSIVE,

ALMOST HINDU-LIKE NIRVANAALL BUSINESSES STRIVETO

ACHIEVE

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