What should we have learned, or should we continue to learn, from the finance and economic crisis of 2008? clearly we have not learned enough and are still coming to grips with the new reality. we still are finding that there are areas that were not regulated enough and we will be taking the political signals into consideration. there is even the signal that the results of Rio+20 will be even less than what we say before. we have learned that we are ‘all in this together’ and even more so that the crisis in the US has left deep economic wounds in Europe.

We are still of the belief that we stand together. this is critical to the project of ‘european freedom’ and yet, the number of Europeans has remained about the same over the past 30 years. how can we behave in this new world? in which we are an increasingly smaller percentage. the challenge to understand how to live with each other continues to have three parts. 1 the nationals debts. 2 the lack of political structure to support the sustainability of the euro 3 …. are we ready to protect Europe? yes. in the area of budgets, sustainability of competitiveness and jobs and last the solidarity that we belong together and that we will stand to each other.

If we are to stand to the unified Europe in the future, then we must work even harder today to ensure that we will have a political system which works. to ensure that we have financial security and for a strengthened European court system. she went on for a while longer…full speech is surely at the WEF website.

This is my fifth Davos. Each year brings with it new ideas, expectations and global crisis. I remember so clearly two years ago when ‘climate change’ as added by the audience to the list of global risks….much to the consternation of the organizers who choreograph this public events like papal audiences. Last year the emerging role of sovereign wealth funds, coupled with the irresponsibility of the US consumer seemed to top the list of conversational topics. And, the most fascinating for me at an intellectual level is the discussion around the end of capitalism.

This year I expect to see more posturing between those that have capital to spare and those that need it desperately. I also expect that Europe will come up in the open sessions quite a bit. I expect that the general fragility of the energy markets will be politely ignored. And, I expect to come away having learned something every day.

I am also looking very much forward to the sessions on Urban Infrastructure. Arup have played a key role in crafting the increasing presence of cities on the Forum’s agenda. The world needs healthy, successful, efficient and clean cities in order for the world’s economic engines to function. The WEF is really starting to understand this. And, I am excited to be able to play a strong advocate for shaping a better urban world.

WEF begins in earnest for me with a live audience debate on energy sponsored by CNBC.  This to be followed by a reception for this year’s crop of ‘Technology Pioneers’.  I was on the selection committee and look forward to see who go thru.

Many challenge the relevance of this global gathering. I believe, however, that a place where there is the opportunity for dialog is desperately needed. The world’s complex problems require the convergence of the political, businesses and civil society.  I plan to submit my thoughts and learning daily to this post.  Feel free to send me notes and questions and I will do my best to leverage them at this global fourm.

http://vote.driversofchange.com/doc-africa-arup-aln

http://www.guardian.co.uk/what-future-urban-living

http://www.donorschoose.org/

this is a place that i have started to contribute to on a regular basis. education is fundamental for a healthy future. check it out.

http://www.norskdesign.no/2011/category8726.html

Dan Golman – Rutgers – the brain is a massive pattern recognizor that goes thru life collecting wisdom. the part that holds this wisdom is connected to the gastro tract. the gut feelings is real. you what you need to do is to raise your self-awareness in order to deal with complexity.

O Grimsson – President of Iceland –  no matter what we think, we have to remember that mother earth is still the final instance. the issue of complexity of the awareness of what is happening in his country. the reality of leadership is very different today – now we are part of a social web that is aware. it requires new capabilities. technology is the primary technology driver of change, not the politicians; the young generation is the first one in history that almost everyone has a choice of where they can or want to live; leaders need to be aware that the best talent can simply move; the  next is the multi-cultural aspect of leadership. you need to be aware of global responsibilities. you have to be more capable to analyze than order, mobilize than tell them whaer to go, you need consensus rather than command and control. you need ‘the vision thing’ is also important.

Probst – WEF – it is coming down to simplifying and managing complexity. on one hand we have to work within structures that are complex. the key is not to destroy these complexities, rather to simplify them. the interaction of the global risks becomes critical to attempt to understand/embrace.

V Mittal – CEO Welspring – the leaders main job is to simplify things in a very complex world. we are accountable to society, the employees and the stakeholders.  i believe that we need to get behind a vision

J Whitbread – CEO save the children – role as a leader is to have the experience to know what excellence looks like; to be able to stand back and see the bigger risks, often we see people who are so committed that they no longer see the risks; to know what questions to ask to find the reality; to be able to master a brief; to expect the unexpected and allow uncertainty to be a part of the role.

Scharmer – Sloan MIT – the real leadership challenge is to pull the systemic and stakeholders together and take them thru an ego system awareness as well as echo system awareness.  five capacities: convening, co-sensing, co-inspiring, co-creating and co-evolving.

Groleman – everyone needs to be able to deal now with people who have different experiences in their lives. they have different norms. we all thave the same tools in our body. we need an increasing amount of empathy. your brain is also distributed in the team around you. yourself with the right people to deal with the challenges you perceive. crystalized intelligence = life experiences. fluid intelligence is more what young folks have. the brain deals with complexity in chunks.

Scharmer – there are three different types of complexity – dynamic, behavioural and emerging.

they have to lead without knowing what the world will look like. the topic really is leading with uncertainty.

Whitbread – what are the qualities that make a difference and how are we going to get it? i like the book, ‘whitewater rafting, leading in times of uncertainty’. the key is to use the unpredictability to get to goal.

how do you get rid of the self-selection confirmation bias? the brain does indeed self-select and confirm your own bias. the brain is anchored in remembering the issues that you want to. the group IQ is key to remove blind spots and reduce group think.

how do you deal with the increased amount of information?

1. unplug. make and take time to unplug every week.
2. reflect on balance of simplicity and complexity. simple on top, complexity behind
3. Mittal start to make the people the heart of the organization, make the heart work the best inspect what you expect, [.....????? find out what they were from him]
4. encourage teams that are multi-apected and use coaching
5. network extensively, listen fully – REALLY listen, listen deeply to yourself  - the still small voice inside that is working for yourself every day —- make time to reflect.
6. MAKE TIME TO REFLECT. THINK. LISTEN. be in the village square in the true sense.
7. remember that leaders are responsible and accountable for many constituencies all over the world.

feedback. every team member is met by their manager once a week to talk about something that they did good. the goal was to highlight strengths and weaknesses. this was monitored and the employees felt that it was setting them up for success.

excellent. session. group IQ. crystalized intelligence. learned skill set. experience. make it simple.