The topic in discussion for today's lesson was Sustainable development and Industrial Revolution. We also discussed a bit about technology and innovation management. However, I found session 3A more intriguing.
Sustainable development is the ability to develop to meet the current generations needs, but without risking the future generations ability to generate for their requirements. But as the picture suggests, we are very far away from what we should be practicing religiously. However, trends are changing. In this fast developing age, people are beginning to understand that they can no longer develop without being sustainable, otherwise we all will perish.
Through discussions and assigned readings we understood how the EU has been implementing sustainability related policies for a long time now (since 1996), as they have understood the seriousness of the issue. Another important point to note was that all these policy changes were taking place in the manufacturing and production wings of industries, as this is where it is most needed.
Sustainable Development is a wide umbrella, with many different areas under it. The one we were more interested in was sustainable development in industrial revolution. It is obligatory that these two go hand in hand with each other, if we are looking to develop our nations.
After watching, The Story of Things, we understood the failure of the linear process and how it cannot be practiced anymore. We need to move towards cyclic production, which will allow constant reuse and recycle of materials and processes, which makes us significantly more productive and efficient.
Industrial revolution (IR) is a growing process. However, everything has its side effects; and the externalities (effect on third parties) caused by IR may be too destructive and irreplaceable. We also discussed how sustainability was never even given a second thought earlier and people were indifferent towards the outcome of their activities.
Our greed is destroying our planet faster than we can ever imagine.
So what do we do? Whats the solution?
There is an increasing awareness about this problem, especially among the developed countries (Eg: EU). The trick is to move towards sustainable innovating. Instead of waiting to solving a problem once it exists, prevent the problem from even happening.
The second half session 3, Prof. focused on how complains are changing their ways of working to stay on top. Major of these ideas, were sustainable ideas and approach which will not only help them achieve Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), but also remain dominant in the markets.
"The trick is doing something else" - Tom Peters (Management Guru)
We further discussed, with the help of Profs. landscape model for technology the different positions a company can take on.
Summit: High barriers, low competition, very innovative.
Valley: Low barriers, high competition.
Cloud: Future opportunities which haven't taken place yet.
I understood how companies like Apple had managed to stay on top because they got innovative at the right times. Every time it looked like they were going to fall, they would invent something new.
This world can be run by the 4 S's.
Smart People
Smart Ideas
Smart Money
Smart Partnerships.
The presentations of this week were rather interesting. The ones that caught my attention the most were "The Venus project" and Solar energy. It was interesting to understand how sustainable energy, though very convenient and helpful, still has a long way to go and needs a lot of improvement and development.
What I like the best about my TWC classes are the different perspectives you get from different people after each class. You are not forced to think of any concept in one direction only; there is so much scope for each topic, which always leaves you wanting more.
I really did enjoy this week's class, and do hope that we have more future discussions on sustainability.
Ratings: 9/10
Waiting for the viral to hit again :)
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