IAMC INSIDER

   We are driven by passions throughout life. It can start with a passion to eat as a child which can grow into a passion to eat excellently and then, alas, for some to eat less, but still exquisitely. For lifelong learners, as most IAMC members are, the professional passion is satiated through success, attainment of influence and some recognition of achievement. Toward the end of the journey, many great leaders point with humility to those around them who really got it done.

   There is a strong sense of community in all of us as we pursue our passions, whether that group be the IAMC membership, the neighborhood where you reside or the global community. Two phenomena related to community in its broadest sense come to mind. One is the intersection of ideas, cultures and disciplines to create truly innovative thinking and results. Frans Johansson recently labeled this phenomenon “the Medici Effect.” The other is the balance of three forces in our current global society: market incentives, which drive efficiencies; coercion and regulation, often under the guise of security; and the force of community representing social cohesion and justice (our core values). The resulting future worlds vary greatly when two of these forces work in tandem and dominate the third.

   At a recent scenario planning exercise at MIT, the purpose of each exercise was to extrapolate what sort of corporate plan would be necessary to respond to a given emerging business environment. In my group’s scenario, community and market were the dominant forces and coercion/regulation (government) drifted impotently to the background. Our team dubbed this scenario “Utopia,” given its lack of historical occurrence. But the result was full tilt economic growth replete with rapid innovation – the Medici Effect – through the intersection of cultures and ideas from throughout the world; the natural efficiencies driven by free markets and absent the repressive effects of nationalism and related rules, tariffs, penalties, etc. designed to force arbitrary results.

   In essence the absence of coercion and regulatory intervention allowed people to pursue their passions while focused on the right things: market development in check with community values. Simple things like a fluid supply chain, free flow of information and technology (at some price) and innovation flourished as entrepreneurs developed optimal resource use and market

opportunity in all corners of the globe. People everywhere contribute within their resources to global production, and investment seeks its just return with less political risk. The community value overlay serves to enforce behavior such as environmental stewardship, important to all of the globe’s inhabitants.

   The question is: How do we reclaim our earth for the community so that ideas and economic efficiencies can intersect for rapid progress and sustainable rewards?

   It is against such a backdrop that IAMC pursues its educational mission as it begins its fifth year, with a strong sense of community and passion that grows with each new member and each opportunity for interaction.

   Whether it is in the building of cities, the consumption of things, the use of fuels or the way we spend our resources (beginning with our time), we can focus our passion on personal success for the power of community and markets. The result will be innovation colored by wisdom.

   Serving you, the IAMC community,

Charles McSwain IAMC Chair