thinking: relating- celebrating :-)

Here is the short formula for those fast readers.

(F+S+A+H+P)*C=Artists/M², where F=Financial Resources, S=Spaces for Arts & Culture, A=Access & Awareness, H=Human Capital, P=Partnerships, and C=Culture of Appreciation.

The formula quote comes from an interview with  Dr. Terry Rock who “is applying systems thinking and big picture ideas to put in place the strategic foundation, political stewardship, and pure enthusiasm that the city’s arts scene needs to thrive.”

He is President and CEO of Calgary Arts Development which is an arts development authority and possibly the only one in Canada. In his words “We have a rich history filled with mavericks and leaders who aspired to change the world.”

He also describes himself as a rogue intellect..and a generalist with a specialty in the application of complex, systemic thinking to collective human undertakings (possibly an “organization scientist,” but that’s way too narrow).

Great to hear of a place where art and business can meet. Just heard that WOMAD is on again in New Plymouth, so I know we have lots of talented artists here – even in the smaller cities but how much support do they really get.

Judging by this glowing and enthusiastic interview the city of Auckland and all cities for that matter could learn from the example of Calgary. This is a city that has exploded from 650,000 people in ’88 to just over 1m now. And they are clearly thinking and developing a city policy on the place of the arts in the city.  Their policy supports passionate generalists as well as applied arts of every kind.

Its not that we don’t have some of this in NZ cities but I get a sense of high energy from the interview that boosted my day and I hope you like it too.

What specifically do you do? How would you describe your leadership style? I drink coffee and have lunch with really cool people. I read as much and as widely as possible (30-40 blogs a day, plus newspapers/magazines), and I enrich the local babysitters by attending 8-15 shows/openings/events a month. All of these things are important to enhance my “absorptive capacity.”

Sounds like a great job. I also checked with a friend of mine who lives in Calgary (after a year or two in Auckland) and “Buddy, Calgary is totally the place to be.” sounds alright!

I spend a fair amount of time in the company of 5 year olds* and I personally love the way they blast full tilt through all elements of learning and doing - almost regardless of what the subject is. Part of my personal mission is to retain that exuberance and belief in the possibilities just waiting to be realised. (*My daughter is 5 and wants to be a paleontologist, film maker/hairdresser – and she adds new interest points all the time.)

All of this comes from one of my most read blog sources called: the Creative Generalist which features lots of great interviews often with advertising industry people if that is not an oxymoron.

Creative Generalist is an outpost for curious divergent thinkers who appreciate new ideas from a wide mix of sources. Completely random and updated regularly, inspiration drawn from – and relevant to – the larger creative world.

Note: Go here for an Essay by John Ralston Saul on Calgary from March 8th, 2006.

Here are two great numbers I heard of today.

According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the resident population of the United States, reached 300,000,000 on 17/10/06. In less than 40 years since the 200 million mark, the net population increased by 50 percent.

A survey (mentioned by Dennis Dutton of Arts & Letters) in a radio piece about the population and consequences of general optimism in the US. He referred to a 2005 Pew Global Attitude Survey in which the question was – “Do you think success in life is determined by forces beyond our control?”

In the U.S 65% of population said no. In Europe 65% of the population said yes.

The striking difference is that people in the US have a sense of autonomy and optimism about shaping their own futures that is vastly different from people in Europe.

In 1988 Public Enemy famously released their album “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back”. In fact it seems about 195m people (65% of 300m) don’t actually believe that.

There is an enormous amount of energy that comes from creating something new and that comes from an optimistic outlook. In many ways the optimism highlighted in the survey above is something that we in NZ need a bit more of.

How would you answer that question? And what difference would this make to your life and business?

Note: Posts like this one will appear on Idealog which is a magazine themed around the  creative economy.

Today I saw a story about the big bang at the NYSE. Electronic trading likely to wipe NYSE floor of unique character

The story relates to the transition to electronic trading by the NYSE some 20 years after the London Exchange and fears that many or most of the colourful brokers will be gone.

What I find the most interesting, is that some of those brokers have been preparing for this for 20 years and have progressively used all kinds of technology to give them an edge already. After the transition, the counter cyclical view is that those people will still be able to provide great value to their clients because their core judgement skills and market instincts will still be needed even though the change to some (or most) of the information flows may have levelled the playing field.

The other related idea I like; is that being first with the technology may not be the huge advantage it once was. In fact, being late with the technology for part of the cycle may be an advantage in that the NYSE have had 20 more years to learn about the technology impacts and implications to redefine themselves and their core services.

Either way it will be an interesting transition to follow and supporters of the survive and thrive view point to the Chicago exchange where the trading floor has survived the advent of large scale electronic trades.

In a nutshell this story illustrates to me the role that technology can have. That is – it takes away some of problems around the timeliness of information. It leaves the brokers free to make descisions based on better quality information and will even adjust the risks of particular options. But it is still no match for the actual judgement calls each broker will still need to make.