In every recession, there is a huge uproar about the quantum of performance rewards that the C-Suite take home. During the last recession, triggered by sub-prime crisis bankers were paid huge bonuses in-spite of trillions of dollars of governmental bailouts from DC to Delhi.  This has been a very sensitive issue because the corporate class argues that top quality talent deserve top dollar for their acumen, because they are mind workers and create extra ordinary value for their organizations by innovating ideas that are out of the box. As Peter Drucker said, the top official in the company should not earn more than 20 times as a multiple than the lowest paid employee in the firm. Welfare States in Scandinavia, have the lowest differential gradient between the highest and the lowest paid worker in the corporate hierarchy.  This i guess is the result of the acid base buffer provided by the government when a recession hits particularly concerning food and health care.

Recently, in the media we have come across the Galleon Insider Trading Scandal with a Hedge Fund Founder and former Kinsey Executives mired in corporate deceit, graft and fraud. The question which comes to my mind as I write this post is- What makes such bright guys with the best of Ivy League and Elite academic background fall to lows of graft and corporate white collar crime. The Tyco and the Enron Scandals also were led by Harvard Business School Alumni and the best of financial behemoths at Wall Street fell like a pack of cards in the financial tsunami of 2008. In India, we have had the UTI Scam and other corporate goof ups which have bankrupted the common retail investor on the street.

The corporate compensation is a hot button issue, with the political class criticizing this issue across the board. Manmohan Singh on numerous occasions, has egged on India Inc. to pay modest sums of renumeration in a nation still developing. the Obama Administration reigned  in Wall  Street honchos on the topic of compensation and golden handshakes and the sheer vacuum in corporate accountability.  I believe that top class talent is in low supply and its important to pay top dollar to retain the brains in a dog eat dog world. The Singaporean Government pays private Sector Salaries to its ministers to attract top talent in the cabinet and politics at large. But this issue is also a political issue with a section of the electorate, which feels that the ministers are paid too much. This policy i understand is a masterstroke as this halts graft to a very large extent. Greed cannot be stopped, but it can be reduced.

This is a trillion dollar question which has troubled great men through out mankind and over various spatial temporal scales. So this author does not claim to have attained nirvana at the age of 25. Happiness seems to be the basis of all the value systems worldwide, whether happiness is through giving, sacrifice or achieving material possessions.   Happiness can be momentary,  fleeting or a transient phase where we dont feel happy but we feel pleased in comparison to other days we have had in the past.  Or Happiness is simply put as a Attitude or a State of Mind which guides us the way see look at mundane things in our lives. Happiness is a sentiment which is altruistic as a satisfied, happy man would not strive for more and a contented consumer is the antithesis of the market state mechanisms where brilliant manipulative marketers create an artificial need in us and drives us to keep up with the Mr. Jones’s.

Happiness is not only a feeling, but has moved beyond the individual actor to the realm of the institution of the nation state. Economic growth is seen beyond GDP numbers and is seen in terms of human developmental indicators such as the Gross National Happiness Index in Bhutan, which measures happiness and not material growth. The death of happiness begins when we start comparing what we have with our friends and neighbors. White Collar crime is triggered by men, who have the drive to become stinking rich overnight. It has brought the downfall of many powerful men from the heights of success. The former Mc Kinsey Boss who is indicted by the Security and Exchange Commission for helping convicted Hedge Fund Boss Raj Rajratnam for insider trading, was a widely respected man in the corporate world and was a rag to riches story, the stuff dreams are made of.

In this age of consumerism, the intrinsic human weakness for  oneupmanship has been exploited  by the capitalistic hegemony for wealth accumulation and hence creates a inequality divide, which fuels strife. Terrorism in the garb of  ideology is fueled by the molotov cocktail of poverty and power. Happiness is connected to fulfillment and its a personal equation with our soul. We define our own state of happiness and a happy soul means for a happy society and a strife free society.

Science and Technology is worshiped, exalted and rarefied at the alter of progress and development. Many of these technologies are innovated and developed in the closeted labs in research institutes, corporate r&d labs sans the involvement of society and the wider stakeholders at large. This creates a technological divide, between the geeks and the followers. All throughout history, social and economic factors have shaped technology and how these technologies have become embedded in the mosaic of day to day existence The refrigerator  initially in the early twentieth century was predominantly gas based but due the influence of the electricity utility companies, technology evolved towards developing into a favorable environment for the electricity based product. Politics and the Social Architecture determines the trajectory of innovation and acceptance in the societal ecosystem.

In this era of advancing Climate Change, where the poorest billion is at the frontier to take the hit from the power of Mother Nature due to our irresponsible carbon intensive industrialization. But most of the technology being generated in labs now a days is not innovated in consultation in multi disciplinary settings but rather top down from the scientists and technologists.  Water Technologies developed can be a panacea for the 1.1 billion souls who do not have access to clean water, in order to reach the ground actors, engineers have to create teams with public health professionals and with anthropologists/developmental specialists to understand the culture and the traditional institutional frameworks for the clean water to reach the man who really needs it.

Sustainable technologies is not about creating farms of photo voltaic cells or off shore wind farms but about the impact of reaching communities off the power grid. Sustainable technologies need to be humanized in order to be real to the person it is really meant for.  Technology is a complement to Society and not the other way around. Sustainability as a concept has to incorporate the human element, environment is not a biotic, it is us who live because of it.

Sustainability is the DNA of Nature’s Survival. Technology plays an important role, it can be made more lethal in its application, for good.

In this age of hyper globalization, fueled by the new media revolution and multi-stakeholder multi lateral institutions such as the IMF (never mind what the IMF boss has done in NY)  or the ADB and the G20 club or regional clubs such as the ASEAN or the GCC, governance is no longer insulated at the nation-state strata, Its the age of the Market-State we are in where complex and coupled financial markets create havoc in some other part of the world than the place it is originating. Food Prices at commodity exchanges cause poverty to jump and deprivation to spread. The Sub prime crisis lead to a financial tsunami creating standards of living to plummet in industrialized nations.  The industrialized world is aging, China and India will reap the demographic dividend by 2030 when, economies will be ageing in the White World, where there wont be enough tax payers in the younger generation to foot the welfare state bills. The remedy to this is migration from the parts of the world where populations are in the working age groups.

Migration is a tricky issue always as it carries cultural and emotional baggage with every person who migrates. Cupatino in California has one of the highest Asian American ethnic populations as they are the talent engine driving silicon valley and the innovation architecture that builds a Apple, Google and a Microsoft. Hindus in America are next only to Jews in terms of median income and educational levels. A Rickky Haley and a Bobby Jindal are poster kids for the community. They build temples, community centres and faith schools and take a non semitic, Abrahamic culture in the American cultural landscape.

This has been a minor integration success story in comparison to the Arab American Community in Detroit or the massive Turkish German community, where 50 years of  contributing to the community is not enough for the German Government. Same is for France with the Hijab ban and the Swiss minaret ban does not help integration matters.  Immigration is Good, but it causes social implications because it creates displacement of jobs, cultural turbulence and a dilution of identity through mixed marriages. The rise of the far right in Europe is a testament to the uneasiness, that the whites towards immigrants. Its Islamophobia at its best, North African Immigrants have built post war France, Zinedine Zidane is an illustrious french citizen of north african decent- the World Cup Football legend. These challenges cause headaches for the secular inclusive ruling parties in Europe in terms of governance. Marie Le Pen, is a top far-right challenger to Sarkozy in next years prez polls in the light of Stratz Kahn new york en devours.

Demographic changes associated with migration cause electoral ramifications, in the recently concluded Singapore polls, some political commentators have suggested the 90.000 new citizens given nationality during the 2006-11 period played a role in tilted the balance in some closely contested seats. Immigration provides economic competitiveness, because, top class talent is globally mobile and the countries which attract them will a step ahead of the curve. Microsoft has a development hub in Vancouver across the border from its global HQ in Seattle in order to just circumvent, the HIB Visa regime in the US post 9/11 security regime.

Immigration and Identity in this era of hyper, turbo charged globalization 2.0 era is volatile, but things needs to be rationalized  and put in context when policy decisions are made, and not in the light of race inspired emotional impulse decision making. Its a new era, we need to brace for it….

This is a major day in Indian electoral history, the longest running democratically elected communist government on the plant for 34 long years is walking out of Writers Building and today Alimuddin Street- the Left HQ in Kolkata is very sparsely populated with scribes. It was a personality centric presidential style poll for change,  India’s Lech Walesa – the Trinamool Congress Supremo- Mamata Banerjee has brought the Red Empire down. It is a mandate for change, a generation which has not seen anything apart from Communists in power.  Post Singur and Nandigram, the Trinamool captured half the seats in 2009 parliamentary polls and today is the culmination of that paradigm shift in Government.

Madam J Jayalalitha in Tamil Nadu has been brought to power with a coalition with DMDK and the left. This mandate is in response to the family politics and corruption scandal post the 2G Scam.  The people have voted against the status quo. But the day belongs to Mamata Banerjee, street fighter extraordinare, who challenged the mighty left and made them bite dust.

As we have just seen another PAP landslide in to parliament with its margins reduced and with the historic entry of five men from Al Juneid GRC from the opposition’s elite team beating a star players from the PAP which includes brilliant Foreign Minister Yeo and other cabinet level talent. The question is that in the pursuit for opposition voices in Parliament, which is indeed healthy for dialogue  in a democratic set-up, governance will take a back seat. In India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and other developing nations where these are so called vibrant democracies, electioneering with done at its best, but Governance; which is the software of a nation state, takes a back seat. So, its democracy sans objective. In Malaysia, due to the affirmative action policies; minorities are migrating in droves as well as the affluent indian who does not get an admit due to being an upper caste, in-spite of having the merit and talent. This is the outcome of a democracy.

In so called first world parliament’s like UK and Belgium; policy gridlocks are the name of the game.  Unholy ideological alliances are made to stay in power. Singapore is what Singapore is because of the elite talent at the top, although i agree no system is perfect and there is always a room for improvement. Health care and living costs are certainly legitimate causes which effect lives on a day to day basis.

The eye in a democracy should be on making peoples lives better, and meritocracy and clean government does help.

This Singaporean General Election is a test case for electoral campaign’s in the virtual world, as Singapore is one of the most wired to the global information grid. Over the last month, the internet has been the playing ground for potential candidates for the May 7th General Elections. The Social Media platforms like Twitter and Facebook has been the pseudo rally sites for political parties for canvassing 2.2 million voters for 87 seats. Individual candidates have put up their campaign websites and a dedicated social media strategy has been implemented for a nation with more web enabled phones and devices than actual residents.  One of the opposition candidates Dr. James Gomez of the Singapore Democratic Party commented –  “The fact that people are reaching out directly to us online – now, this is the reality of electoral politics. This time round, Mr Khaw and his team are living in the relic – they’re relics of the past.” (http://blogs.todayonline.com/singaporevotes/2011/04/29/health-minister-a-relic-sdps-james-gomez/)

There are dedicated Facebook fan pages and twitter accounts of political parities and candidates disseminating data on the 24/7 cycle. The National Solidarity Candidate Nicole Seah at the Marine Parade GRC has got 22,000 plus likes on her Facebook Page. Foreign Minister and Al Juneid GRC PAP Candidate has a very effective online campaign going.  Along with traditional campaigning tactics like house and food court visits and rally speeches, Web 2.0 is a force multiplier is terms of canvassing in this polls. This General Election demonstrates the power of the internet in force for digitalized democracy after the 2008 presidential campaign of Barrack Obama.  You Tube videos are making a splash for good and bad reasons as informed followers of this election are aware.

In India, in the recently conducted state polls in West Bengal, Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia helped design the digital campaign on behalf on the Trinamool Congress along with two IIM Calcutta MBA Interns.  The traditional media is also following the New Media trail. Straits Times and The Today Newspapers have dedicated platforms for the General Elections, which trigger sales of their hard copy editions the next day. Purely web based news outlets such as the Temasek Review and the Online Citizen are the main sources of opposition related news. Opinionated blog writers make up the holistic news scape online.

The personal touch in an election campaign with face to face interaction, campaigning from loud speakers and posters strung from light poles and outside MRT’s and Bus Terminals are what make elections colorfully vibrant, this color is now taking on an online avatar now!

In the run up to the General Elections out here in ‘Tiny Red Dot’ Singapore, there has been a voracious dialogue over everything from Public Housing to Defence Budget cuts. The question also raised in this election also addresses a fundamental issue- what makes the idea of a Singapore and the conceptual fabric of a Singaporean as a nationality and an identity. Being a proverbial ‘Global Nomad’ with my upbringing in the Middle East and India, my mental geographies are quite diverse, and I am a self confessed Singapuraphile… Multi cultural societies will be the norm in the future, with White Europe and America aging and with burgeoning populations  in Africa, Middle East and South and South East Asia, a new social contract needs to be designed for social capital generation and stability… Society is about people, its about you and me!

Every Multi cultural society has a period of churning and volatility, India is the most ethnically diverse region in the world, yet India’s diversity is both its strength and weakness, and the country is a model to its own… Singapore has unique challenges which are dealt in unique Singaporean ways. The Idea of Singapore is special, its unique and has worked successfully to be a case study in Urban Asian Governance in Public Policy Schools the world over. Multiculturalism is about respecting each others cultures and work towards a common objective.

Malaysia has recently tried to enact a multi racial perspective through its 1Malaysia campaign, but with the Sarawak elections and the Ruling Alliance losing Chinese support, there have been cries for the Alliance to backtrack on its Satu Malaysia slogan to Satu Bumi or Malays for Malaysia only campaign. Democracies are not the best instruments to maintain social stability especially when there are fractured mandates. The riots of 1969 are still fresh in the psyche of the previous generation.  The rise of the far right in European elections is a sign of discontentment over multiracial integration. Dave Cameron has commented that Britain has had a failed multi racial  experiment.  Pragmatism and the larger societal framework has to be merged in policy design… Affirmative action is effective, but it also creates social fissures, meritocratic policies are always the best way forward…

A question of ideology is always a work in progress, a fluid mosaic which has to be crafted carefully, otherwise the good work can be dismantled in no time.

This is a concept, which has spurned on an industry…The Motivational Speaker one- Anthony Robbins, Robin Sharma, Steven Covey and its tribe drive the notion into our sub consciousness that talks about ‘peak performance’ and realizing our potential… All this talk makes it evident that we judge success as a material value and not one of fulfilling our dreams.  Material success is important but this paradigm does not account for outliers in the system and the black swan which beats the architecture of conventionalist thought…  The Human element is the most vital one…aligning our potential with the current market need or foreseeable demand supply curves will lead to blockbuster product- well, thats YOU

I believe that ” Success is about ‘cracking’ the system, excellence is about breaking and remaking it ” and to create value Blue Ocean Strategy style… All this academic stress and the race to nomenclaturize us into  work place genera and family kills creativity, passion and true blue innovation. It has been seen and observed in the annals of history that it is the Innovator that has been called crazy everytime he has tried to create real value….HISTORY has INTERTIA and loves the STATUS QUO… We should all carve our own niche, contribute to society and live HAPPY lives…this may sound naive…but an iota of altruism and hope brings change albeit foolish and unrealistic on the surface, drives revolutions such as the one in the arab world and the civic movement helmed by Anna Hazare against graft….. Let it create a mental revolution for creating tangible value and a better society, one mind at a time…which is the motto of the ideation venture…. Lets create an ‘I’ Revelucion!

This is the second article in the series on Social Innovation which I had recently commenced recently with a post on the next level of CSR.  The concept will be elaborated and expatiated in this article and forthcoming posts. Recently we have come across natural disasters of unprecedented magnitude occurring in Japan  firstly the earthquakes and the the corresponding Fukoshima nuclear mess. A proud race has been brought to its knees, forced to take in assistance from overseas where as until very recently Japan was a major international aid donor to the third world. There was a major earthquake in Burma and a series of natural disasters globally have exposed the fissures in the global governance architecture , and the inability of major powers and UN affiliated organizations (which are under funded and under staffed) to deal with the aftermath of these catastrophe’s .

Haiti is still, unbuilt and has faded into the back burners of media coverage as it lives on feeding the 24 hour beast with ‘breaking news’ and the battle for TRP’s. This calls to the big question of how in the very near future we will deal with such major incidents when western powers themselves are in the midst of post recession restructuring and President Obama is sweating out to get his Budget passed by Congress.  The ‘money bags’ of the persian gulf are too busy quelling internal rebellions and ‘Middle Kingdom’ is busy building the ‘The Great Firewall’  and gobbling up resources in Sub Saharan Africa. China has to act like a Global Power if it believes it is. Well India is currently too busy basking in the glory of post World Cup Cricket victory and in enacting an anti-corruption legislation to worry about global issues although currently it is a member of the UN Security Council.

The response to disasters has to be local and at the maximum at a regional scale. Regional bodies like the ASEAN and the African Union have more to do with rebuilding communities than the UNFP and the UNHCR. A new International Body for Disaster Response and Prevention can be of massive use, if it has the financial teeth. International Civil Society Organizations are the backbone of global efforts for relief  such as the Medicines Sans Frontieres, Christian Aid and the Red Cross along with local groups who are the eyes on the ground. Religious charities have played a major role in post disaster responses such as in post war Lebanon and Kashmir as in post Katrina New Orleans. Technology assists in Disaster Management in a big manner as as Ushahidi- a not for profit tech company which used its  real time mapping capabilities in South Sudan during its referendum (http://www.ushahidi.com/) and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative along with George Clooney played a huge role in averting another genocide in Juba between the Dinka and the Nuer tribes as well as by the North Sudanese Army + Janjaweed. Crimes against humanity are a man made catastrophe and hence falls in to the scope of disaster relief.

Local level resilience is the key to disaster response..this takes time as knowledge is stored in institutions and mechanisms for response are built. This needs to account the local social dynamics and the history and culture of the area. Technology plays a catalytic role but the society is the substrate for building perpetual resilience in response to load factors. Private Sector has a major role to play in disaster relief as a part of new paradigm of creating shared value and extended CSR. The first agency to respond after the Aceh Earthquake and Tsunami was the logistics firm TNT. Private Sector has their supply chains in place which can be leveraged for disaster response as Coca Cola has access to the smallest hamlets in sub saharan africa which the government even does not possess!