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Our MBA cohort, twenty-five students and nineteen coming from different countries, visited the Camp in Aix-en-Provence, France for two days during the Spring Break. The Camp, officially opened this past September, is the first social innovation center of its kind in Europe and aims to bring people from different fields and organizations to tap into their collective intelligence in order to work together and to bring up a vision of the future. The camp ecosystem is made of explorers, of designers, of thinkers and of people who dared to be different. During the two days, we discussed a range of topics ranging from artificial intelligence to the future of work.

Artificial Intelligence Revolution

The Industrial revolution replaced our muscle and the AI revolution will soon help us tap into our collective intelligence. Many jobs will soon become extent or automated. Fifty-four percent of managerial tasks are administrative. Many of these mundane and redundant tasks will soon become automated. These tasks are certainly essentials components of operating a business, but companies do not derive revenues from them. The AI revolution creates a pathway to freeing our human potential. Companies can now afford to focus on thinking about ways to innovate or resolve centuries old problems such as poverty or cancer without affecting their day-to-day operation.

Thinking beyond a five year strategic plan

Business executives and managers are trained to figure out the best way to allocate their resources to remain sustainable, profitable and efficient. Unfortunately, they never take the time to think about the future.

“Business plans never discuss how the future will look like. They lack imagination and too often, they focus on unnecessary metrics. As the future becomes more fluid, managers must learn to imagine the future and commit to innovation.”

Thinking about the future will become an integral part of a managerial responsibility. A half a century ago, the life expectancy of a company in the Fortune 500 was around 75 years. Now, it is less than 15 years and declining further.  In this new world, it is only with our ability to imagine and think ahead that we can differentiate our company.

The future of work

Companies can no longer afford to be paralyzed by a lack of certainty. Business leaders and entrepreneurs must create an environment where their employees feel a certain level of certainty to be able to fully maximize on their skills and talents while they thrive to embrace uncertainty to become more agile, more adaptable and relevant. Peter Stroika, a visiting speaker at the Camp, stated that the future will be fluid and decentralized. Fluidity, flexibility and resiliency will become essential pillars of successful companies. They must learn to adapt, to be flexible and most importantly to become resilient. Employees must also learn to learn quickly, to be fast and to become fluid in order to maintain a competitive edge.

A Sobering end

Frederic Chevalier, Founder of the Camp
Frederic Chevalier, Founder of the Camp

When Frederic Chevalier, the founder of the Camp initiated this project in 2013, most people referred to him as crazy. Five years later, his dream was finally coming into fruition, but he never got a chance to see it, to live it and experiment it. He passed away in a motorcycle accident two months before the opening. Frederic worked for over twenty years to fulfill his dreams. He often told his peers that you must learn to land your own plane. Unfortunately, he never got a chance to land his plane. He never got the chance to implement his vision or to see how his work will affect both the future of work and education.

Louis L’Amour said that “each of us has a vision of the world that belongs to him alone, and when he dies that world dies with him. Others may share in some parts of it, but none will see it exactly as he, nor will all experience it in the same way, for they are living with their own vision of reality.”

When Frederic passed away, the project shifted from the dependence on a charismatic and visionary leader to a group of people with a shared commitment. The core team are currently interviewing different key players to crystallize a vision of the place. These players had to take ownership of the project and to fulfill a vision of the future; one that might be different from Frederic’s vision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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