/ Investing in a sustainable future / EDUCONOMY / WELL-BEING’CONOMY / How can healthy venture capital investments look like for the 21st century? Capital is needed for the ideas that can positively have an impact of the many and change the world. Ideas that tackle societal and planetary challenges.
Been talking about this subject this week, with some edtech people. We want to offer products for free for our users, the learners, but edtech people also need to eat. What do you see happening in that area? How can funding in that area develop?
A development of business models to accelerate growth for social impact startups is needed.
How to make human growth, peace, education for all, no poverty, the revenue?
Illustration: Yvette Larsson The Future Mindset (c)
Here is for the educators who show up everyday and help young people to thrive. The educators who don’t have LinkedIn, who don’t get interviewed in podcasts, who don’t write articles, but who simply show up, who are there for young people every day.
The picture is me, 19 years old and just started University. I had started studying French, but realised quickly that the level was to high for me. I was sad and disappointed at myself. I drew the conclusion that university wasn’t for me and that I would drop out and travel the world instead.
One conversation with a supporting adult changed the scene.
A simple conversation has the power to change our mindset. She asked me: – What if you check if you can simply change the major subject, do English instead of French?
The Swedish university system is quite rigid so I really didn’t think that would work. But I was lucky. Seven years later I finished university with double diplomas. I went to live in both the Reunion island and Provence, France, so my French these days is ok.
Let’s be those adults that support young people to grow, those adults who have presence enough to deeply listen to what young people have to say.
THE NEW HUMAN is evolving and needs a new mindset, in order to not only survive, but thrive. The new human needs the mindset of the future. That mindset is backed up by a set of competencies and skills. Here comes the oxymoron. The new human needs to tap into some old knowledge too, knowledge that is intertwined in our DNA.
Let’s look at what made our spieces survive: our capability to collaborate, communicate and solve challenges in creative ways, being friendly and caring to each other. Yes, we needed to be adaptable and resilient too, but I think you know that part already.
We are complex: we are both rational and emotional. That’s due to how our brain evolved thoughout the history of mankind. It can cause problems to us, hence the expression ‘human bias’.
Let’s make a brief attempt to unpack the skills and competencies that the new human needs now, during this time of reset that we are living in.
-Cognitive competencies: resilience, growth mindset, metacognition, research skills, complex problem-solving skills, creative thinking skills to come up with innovations that can solve societal and planetary challenges, STEAM skills, the learning how to learn, the knowing of where to go for knowledge
-Social -Emotional competencies: strong inter and interpersonal communication skills, self awareness, self management, collaboration, strong notion of community and creating a sense of belonging, equity, inclusion, peace, well-being, fun.
-Physical competencies: capability to listen inwards and have presence in a fast world that builds on dopamine, to take care of ourselves and be able to “hear our own heartbeat “ and develop a sense of awe looking at the stars, but also eat healthy, exercise daily, sleep properly, mindfulness / meditation to deconnect, awareness of the body-brain connection. The human body was made to be active, to walk long distances. Compare that to sitting in front of a computer all day long.
-Environmental competencies: retap into our natural surroundings more, spending time outside, take care of earth, grow more gardens with food and perhaps less with flowers, be conscious about habits that are harmful / not harmful to the planet like reflection over clothes consumption etc. A truly regenerative way of living. Policies needed.
-Digital competencies: developing a critical mindset to scrutinise what it is that we consume online, what is true, what is false, who is the sender, how may the algorithms work in different situations, what is reality 2021, what is the reasons for spending time on the Metaverse, is it ok to produce super babies just because it’s possible, what will happen with humanity when some of us will have a chip implant, is the internet of everything ok in the scope of personal integrity, and so forth. Above all: what does it mean to be human in this time of fast paced era of technology? What story do we want to write?
At work we are doing Secret Santa before the Christmas break. This year we all agreed to do a sustainable version: a second hand gift or something homemade.
It had me think of value.
There are so many things we can give to each other that has high value and little impact on earth. Before I give suggestions, take a look at this video, “The Lifecycle of a T-shirt” https://lnkd.in/eP6Q-bB After having seen that video my clothes consumption drastically decreased. That was only a T-shirt. Think of all other things we consume at a mall…
Here are a few things that have high human value, but low impact on earth.
You can give:
A handwritten card sent by old-fashioned mail, with thoughtful words, describing why you appreciate the person you are writing to. This has a high surprise factor ( as so few people write cards these days ) and it touches someone’s heart. Smiles guaranteed.
Send seasonal, festive flowers on a Friday, delivered by the door. Same here, surprise factor and brings a moment of light and happiness during the challenging times we live in.
Spa : so many different options. Here we have sauna and winter swim, but massages are awesome and brings relaxation and balance. So much choice. So much happiness and new energy and peace.
Books for those “in the club”. Choose consciously.
Offer to babysit or dog-sit for friends with young children and/or dogs.
Boardgames like “the Hygge game”, where everyone around the dinner table gets an incentive to talk about things that really matter
A festive box with Christmas treats ( food, wine, etc ) add some personalised messages plus a card describing an experience that you can do together. I just gave my best friend a day in Copenhagen ( lunch, gallery, museum, etc ) for her birthday for example.
/ An over-rational society / – Are we so keen on measuring everything, assessing everything, that we forget about enjoying ourselves, spending time where it really matters, in more moments of immersive flow, where we are creative, where we connect on a deeper level and boost communities where everyone belongs?
How can we create balance in a society that is so dopamine-high on data? How can deep connection and community be created amongst people who are too much in their heads?
Maybe it’s because I am a teacher and I feel that I spend too much time assessing young people and giving them a number, and too little time being creative and innovative, that sparked this interest of mine.
My 14 year old daughter, going from one subject assessment to the other. When will middle years schools be more interdisciplinary, more entrepreneurial, more project based?
Maybe it was my son’s two week’s test-weeks #toetsweek that made me so frustrated? Will young people love school more after two weeks’ of tests every day? We know the answer to that!
16 years old, sitting one test after the other for two weeks. My question is : why, for what purpose? Can’t it be done in a more human friendly way?
Maybe it is the filling out of surveys and filling in my email address everywhere so I can be a member, a client , an ambassador ( whatever) – and a customer that had me reflect on this topic.
I do know the benefits of data and I love it when it enhances human life. I do love goal-setting and formative assessment is part of reaching goals. However, I just have a feeling that we over-assess and over-measure our lives. When I shop online there are always check-out questions, that I never answer. When I go to IKEA there are the smiling faces by the exit, to tell IKEA if it was a good day, which I never do either. It’s the innumerous surveys to fill out. There is even the check-in from my PostNord app asking me if the experience was a good one ( sending and receiving packages).
I do understand that companies (etc ) want to create great customer experiences, but then again, and here comes the crucial question:
-> To what and to whom am I giving my time and attention? The companies, so we can be better customers? To idealistic entrepreneurs who are making the world a better place? To Zuckerberg? It’s getting quite difficult to actually know.
We need to use our brains ( sorry to be brute 😬) and not just buy into everything that is presented to us. We need to question things more, in this digital landscape of ours, use our critical thinking in order to benefit from a life where we are more present, more “there” with each other and connect better. What are the assessments, tests, surveys, data that is actually good for ME and my communities and not only so that someone can earn lots on money on me giving my time and attention to their product development.
“Everything in human life was a test. That was why they all looked so stressed out” -Matt Haig “The Humans”
A human: what we see is the rational side, what’s underneath is the emotional side of us, our inner life, our feelings.
Many of us are living in societies that are highly rationalised ( too rationalised ), communities that are per se assessed minisculously -> hence the feeling side of us has been pushed aside. All is data. We are all obsessed by assessment, for efficacy.
Discrepancy may occur.
Cf. A nurse who needs to spend too much time on documentation, or a teacher spending hours on different reports that “nobody” will even look at.
Humans are both rational /and/ emotional. When we are too much in our heads we loose a vital connection with ourselves.
All this goes back to how our brain works. -The dilemma of being human, having an old and a new part of the brain, of which both steer different things: reactions and emotions, vs reflection and planning.
Remember this when you get too much in your head. Nurture your inner life, your feelings, your fun 😉
“Feelability – How we lost touch with life – and how to get it back”.
– Are we on a constant dopamine rush? Do you hear yourself saying “I have been so busy” to the point that you are loosing connection with friends and loved ones in the midst of your doing -doing -doing?
Do you feel the urge to constantly check your phone?
Do you struggle to sleep?
Would you be able to put your phone away for a day?
Do you feel you need to work even when you are on holiday?
In the book the authors seek to understand the mechanisms why so many people feel out of synch, stressed, confused, like from an escape from ourselves, in an accelerating train that keeps going, keeps moving, leaving us sleepless, and with little presence in life.
The authors explore how the digitalisation is pulling us from living in the here and now, with presence, to living a dopamine-filled life with constant gratification.
The authors also make a point of the ‘measurability disease’ ( as they call it) and how all is now being measured, weighed, noticed, recorded, assessed, to be achieved. Then we don’t do things for the pleasure of pure happiness, but for the sake of a pre and post assessment to gather data, momentum.
What if being on the list of rich western countries have made us stranded at an existential level? What if we are loosing our interrelationships to other people, to our tribes?
We can be connected to a lot of people online, but at the end of the day feel utterly lonely.
Humans need the physical closeness of other humans, the look in each other’s eyes, a touch, a smell, rapport, and to be honest – a bit of unorganised things happening, where everything isn’t calculated by AI to fit perfectly.
I write reflections about the space between humans and tech. Please join the conversation🤖🙀😃What are your thoughts?
🖋📚 Authors of the book: Imran Rashid & Rikke Østergaard
🔮The Future of … the future, is top-notch collaborations. We have entered a time when our collaboration skills need to be fine- tuned and used in an ultimate way to solve societal and planetary challenges.
😊😊We build healthy collaborations through healthy relationships: a trusting relationship is the foundation of what we can create together in a foreseeable future.
💬With every human interaction you have, you scan the situation as safe or unsafe: that is socially safe, of course. We are not running away from lions and bears these days, but we want to make sure that the person in front of us is friendly.
✨In a split second we read faces, we listen for indicators of friendliness in speech and we look at the body language.
📡We search for rapport, are we on the same frequency level as this person, will this relationship be personally or professionally fruitful?
😃A smile helps a lot, a joke even better. When we have fun together we feel safe, and creativity happens more easily.
❤️When you feel safe oxytocin is produced. Oxytocin is the neurotransmitter that is in our bodies when we feel safe, when there is love, when there is care.
The world is changing rapidly. Humans are adaptable. There are some fundamental things we need: love, food, water, roof over our heads, safety, a sense of belonging.
The Future Mindset (c) includes building competencies and skills in these areas:
-Cognitive ( i.e growth mindset, EQ, applied neuroscience, executive functions, creative and analytical thinking skills, problem solving skills, mindfulness)
Social-Emotional ( i.e Inter and intrapersonal skills, relationships, connections to others, fun, laughter, togetherness, play, communication, collaboration )
Physical ( the body-brain connection, choice, super food aimed for you, proper sleep, daily exercise, nature, outdoor, meditation )
Environmental ( regenerative economies, sustainability, inclusion, communities where everyone belongs, cities made for people, combat climate change, action )
Digital ( the space where humans and tech co-exist, write a good future, ethics, policies, youth health and social media, democratisation, balance, phygital)
/ Does people in the Blue Zones also love MEASURING everything? / In an era of data, I’m making a reflection on how we humans seem to love to measuring things.
Data is good to develop things, yes, but I also question the balance of it all.
🔹Does people in the Blue Zones, where large parts of the populations live until a 100 years, also love to measure things? Compare ? Constantly work towards a goal connected to a number? Is that a part of their formula for happiness and longevity? dan buettner would know more.
🔹They try to avoid stress and tension, live more on purpose cf. Ikigai, live in close knitted communities with a sense of belonging, move daily, eat a veg based diet.
🔹If we scientifically know this, then what is the race about?
🔹Understand me right. I am all for human development, that’s one of my biggest passion in life. I just try to understand if we are doing the things that serve us the best.
🔑KEY question is: are we spending time on what matters the most?
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