Nesta página procuro partilhar alguns dos livros e vídeos que considero serem bons exemplos para as pessoas e organizações que pretendem estar sintonizadas com o século 21.

Books

I have no doubt that reading is a source of creating competitive advantage. Partilho convosco alguns dos livros que me ajudam a desempenhar um melhor trabalho diário.

Gostaria ainda de alertar que estou a utilizar uma aplicação da Amazon que (além de facilitar a minha partilha) me oferece, caso comprem algum dos livros a partir dos links que eu disponibilizo, uma pequena percentagem da venda.

Como não partilho com o intuito de ganhar dinheiro, o que faço com as contribuições é comprar livros iguais aos que li, e oferecê-los a projectos sem fins lucrativos, como forma de contribuir para a sua sustentabilidade, através do ganho de novos conhecimentos.

Videos

It was while reading a post Umair Haque (Director do Havas Media Lab), I first heard on Constructive Capitalism. Here's what Haque argues that this new type of capitalism.

Marks & Spencer

In the early 21, a Marks & Spencer (M&S), was in a very difficult situation (hotly contested by the communities where the company decided to close its factories for textile production, Objections have been found, in fruits and vegetables marketed, pesticide residues harmful to health). This situation changed, when they decided to adopt sustainability as a strategy and launched its “Plan A”. In this video, Mike Barry “Head of Sustainability” M&S, explains what the “Plan A” and how the company has gained with its implementation.

Plan A, Because There is No Plan B – Mike Barry, Marks & Spencer from Sustainable Brands on Vimeo.

Banco Santander Brazil

Fabio Barbosa, President of Banco Santander in Brazil, demonstrates this presentation at the event TEDxSP 2009, how banks can be important actors in constructive forms of capitalism.

Grameen Creative Lab

World famous for microcredit, the Nobel Prize for Peace 2006, Muhammad Yunus, is, currently, working with some of the most prestigious multinational companies (Danone, Adidas, Veolia, BASF, Intel). Together, through the Grameen Creative Labs, companies that are creating, demonstrate in practice, how the private sector can help eradicate some of the major global challenges.

Wealth Base of the Pyramid

C. K. Prahalad was a staunch supporter that can only be achieved to improve the living conditions of people in the bottom of the pyramid, if allowed to be full consumers, a market that generates economic value anchored in the development of products and services that meet their real needs. In his book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits, Prahalad presents several case studies of companies like Microsoft or Unilever GlaxoSmithKline, who accepted the challenge and were successful in this market of billions of people.

For-Benefit Corporations

A business model that has been gaining adherents in the United States of America, As “B-Corporations” use the power of business to help solve social and environmental problems.

Timberland Company

The President of Timberland, Jeff Swartz, sharing their thoughts on the responsibility of creating a more sustainable capitalism and, presents the actions that his company is already developing in this direction.

TOMS Shoes

This is a good example of how the power of business can help solve social problems. Blake Mycoskie created a company that for every pair of shoes that sells, offers a couple of children who lack financial resources to buy, modelo designado por “buy-one Give-one away”. With this gesture, a TOMS (Tomorrow shoes) prevents thousands of children are condemned to live a life marked by severe infections and other social problems.

Acumen Fund

in 2001, Jacqueline Novogratz, who founded the Acumen Fund, joining the compassion characteristic of the philanthropic project management rigor that must have a project geared to succeed in the capitalist market, and supports (through the patient capital) business projects that are able to transform the realities of millions of people.

IBM Corporation

Lithium Status, Vice President for Corporate Citizenship and President of the IBM, apresenta algumas das características que demonstram como a IBM trabalha para ser uma empresa do século 21.

Starbucks Corporation

Starbucks Experience, has demonstrated that its engagement with communities is not only correct the ethical point of view, it is also an excellent business strategy. So, their presence within communities, is a reality, not only, in the vicinity of their premises,www. in regions where coffee is produced marketing.

Quotes

In my readings, have met some truly inspiring quotes…

Paper: Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose

“I made a list of the happiest periods in my life, and I realized that none of them involved money.” (Tony Hsieh)

“…happiness is really just about enjoying life.” (Tony Hsieh)

“I thought about how I enjoyed creating, building, and doing stuff that I was passionate about.” (Tony Hsieh)

“Zappos is about delivering happiness to the world.” (Tony Hsieh)

“First, they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” (Gandhi)

“I failed my way to success” (Thomas Edison)

“A great company is more likely to die of indigestion from too much opportunity than starvation from too little.” (David Packard – Packard’s law)

“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” (Jon Kabat-Zinn)

“To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.” (Soren Kierkgaard)

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.” (Shunryu Suzuki)

“Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.” (Hugh Macleod)

“If you have more than 3 priorities then you don’t have any.” (Jim Collins)

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” (George Bernard Shaw)

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” (H.S.Truman)

“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” (Carlos Castaneda)

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Paper: One from Many: Visa and the Rise of Chaordic Organization

“Why are institutions, everywhere, whether political, commercial, or social, increasingly unable to manage their affairs? Why are individuals, everywhere, increasingly in conflict with and alienated from the institutions of which they are part? Why are society and the biosphere increasingly in disarray?” (Dee Hock)

“Life is not about control. It’s not about getting. It’s not about having. It’s not about knowing. It’s not even about being. Life is eternal, perpetual becoming, or it´s nothing. Becoming is not a thing to be known, commanded, or controlled. It is a magnificent, mysterious odyssey to be experienced.
At bottom, desire to command and control is a deadly, destructive compulsion to rob self and others of the joys of living.” (Dee Hock)

“Life is a sacred contract between the dead, the living, and the unborn.” (Dee Hock)

“The truth is, that given the right circumstances, from no more than dreams, determination, and the liberty to try, quite ordinary people consistently do extraordinary things.” (Dee Hock)

“…people must come to things in their own time, in their own way, for their own reasons, or they never truly come at all.” (Dee Hock)

“chaordickay’ord-ickadj. (en. and. cha’os and ord’er) 1. The behavior of any self-organizing and self-governing organism, organization, or system that harmoniously blends characteristics of chaos and order. 2. Characteristic of the fundamental, organizing principle of nature.” (Dee Hock)

“One either trusts or one does not. I prefer trust.” (Dee Hock)

“…possibility is not determined by opinion, only by attempt.” (Dee Hock)

“Failure is not to be feared. It is from failure that most growth comes, provided that one can recognize it, admit it, learn from it, rise above it, and try again.” (Dee Hock)

“If you have built castles in the air your work need not to be lost: that is where they should be. Now put the foundation under them.” (Henry David Thoreau)

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things” (Niccolo di Bernardo Machiavelli)

“the true strength of rulers and empires lies…in the belief of men that they are inflexibly open, truthful, and legal. As soon as government departs from that standard, it ceases to be anything more than the gang in possession and its days are numbered.” (H.G. Wells)

Paper: The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity

“Meaningful recovery will require a lot more than government bailouts, stimuli, and other patchwork measures designed to resuscitate the old system or to create illusory, short-term upticks in the stock market, housing market, or car sales.” (Richard Florida)

“Government spending can’t be the solution in the long run…it simply lacks the resources to generate the enormous level of demand needed to power sustained growth.” (Richard Florida)

“We need to revamp our governmental institutions and governance structure…with less authority at the top and more at the local and regional levels.” (Richard Florida)

“They are the great transformative moments when new technologies and technological systems arise, when the economy is recast and society remade, and when the places we live and work change to suit new needs.” (Richard Florida)

“The challenge is to accelerate the transition from the old to the new order…” (Richard Florida)

“Our efforts must concentrate on actively building the economy of the future. Instead of infusing scarce capital into the very banks and financial system that brought us to the brink in the first place…” (Richard Florida)

“…and instead of bailing out mismanaged old-economy companies, we must use whatever resources are available to accelerate the transition to an idea-driven economy…” (Richard Florida)

“…we all have something we’re good at, our own creative spark, and there’s little in life more satisfying and rewarding than the chance to exercise that talent. The real key to economic growth lies in harnessing the full creative talents of every one of us.” (Richard Florida)

“The key is to expand the very concept of a social safety net, from one that provides just material well-being to one that provides real opportunity for every person.” (Richard Florida)

“We need to increase the velocity of moving people, goods, and ideas.” (Richard Florida)

“We need to support the growth of higher-paying knowledge, professional and creative jobs, and make sure that greater numbers of workers are prepared for them.” (Richard Florida)

“We need a learning and development system that is sync with the new creative economy.” (Richard Florida)

“We need a system of learning and human development that mobilizes and harnesses human creative talent en masse.” (Richard Florida)

Paper: Philanthrocapitalism: How the Rich Can Save the World

Bill Gates

“Are we big enough to play our role in AIDS? Are we big enough to play our role in malaria? In, we are we not big enough, we’re a tiny, tiny little organization.”

“Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have.”