As the global economy flattens out the advantage of externally-based strategies, corporations are switching to approaches which maximize creativity and innovation to provide new streams of economic growth.(1)  Yet the business world is trapped by a set of Cartesian principles which closed the door on the mind 300 hundred years ago and then bricked it up. In what has to be the biggest own goal of western knowledge, it subordinated imagination in favour of reason, a feat of mental conjuring which has ensured that science has little to contribute on the question of what it means to be human.(2)  The science of first-person experience, of living, creating, dying, emotion, and meaning has been relegated to the bookshops’ self-help section. Whilst the humanist response can be said to be rightly justified in planning a prison break from the machine/computer view of the world, it still remains in a state of logical paralysis, having failed to provide the tools and techniques to escape to the outside world.

The business of innovation is the business of knowledge, not the knowledge of business. The reference point for creativity is the actualizing of human potential through a process of self-inquiry, self-investigation and self-observation. We have to lift the car bonnet on our Self to discover the logic behind our habits of fixing experience with labels. Innovation and creativity are the result of skills which transform pre-established patterns of thinking, talking and acting. In order to compete in an economy based on ideas, business leaders need to design and implement a new science of the mind located in lived experience and based on logical principles, which provides people with the tools and techniques to help grow and fulfill their potential. Not knowing that experience is organized by labels is like being a physicist who thinks the world is flat. Business leaders need to understand that ignoring this factor will ensure that their organizational immune system will contain a logic which will continue to reject new ideas. Without a deep understanding of this principle, good management and good communication will be bad for business. The purpose of Unfrozenmind is to help business leaders come face to face with the logic and methodology of putting the mind back into business.

Business leadership is now responsible for the stewardship of the world. It faces a set of transnational and multinational issues of a scale unprecedented in human history. It may not want it. It may not even be aware of it. But the imperative of noble leadership is there. It stares back at every Executive when they take a wash in the morning. It is in the space between their footsteps when they take a walk to their car. It is in the hushed silence when they enter the board room. It sits next to them when they drive home late in the evening. Just as their shadow follows them in the afterglow of the evening sun, so does the call to their unawakened potential. The responsibility for the care and sustenance of the planet Earth and all who sail on her falls to the business world whether they like or not. Picking up this gauntlet is a logical step in a corporate evolution that has moved from growing numbers to growing human potential.

The global economy born from the incredible technological advances of the corporate giants of the modern age is undergoing a seismic paradigm shift.(3) The traditional foundations of business are being shaken by a marketplace swing that is moving from economics to ethics. The Captains of industry can no longer afford to remain blind-sided to this change. Optimising economies of scale as a strategy is past its sell-by-date. It will no longer provide a safe haven for investors and executives who seek to avoid commoditisation. Their very future and ours depends on business leaders securing a transition to a new business model of transpersonal relationships.

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Traditional organisations need to make themselves redundant and think of themselves more as universities which seek the very highest standards of creativity and innovation through self-development and self-inquiry. The philosophy of management has now been superseded by the philosophy of knowledge and being. Executives steeped in a culture of “expert business knowledge” need to switch direction quickly. The traditional economic model of implementing results-based training courses is an outdated framework for measuring and growing executive performance. Business “true-north” has switched from the knowledge of business to the business of knowledge, from marshalling facts to transforming thinking, from knowing facts to growing ideas.(4)

Organisations that engage their people in the quest for a deeper understanding of themselves and the world they live in not only transform themselves but engage their customers and a much wider audience in a reciprocal process. In a business world which will revolve around discovering and exploring human potential, the business of innovation will fall naturally into a hierarchy of human values. The highest ideal of creativity in an economy based on human potential will be how much we can transform our thinking to be a force for good. It is not ideas, but enlightenment that will become the currency of the future. The quest for personal transformation will radically change the emotional foundation of business.

The Lotus is an ancient symbol that represents personal renewal and universal creation. The unfolding petals of the Lotus symbolise the expansion of the soul and the spiritual promise of individual and universal transformation. The “Lotus-economy” stands for the highest aspiration of imagination within a business world of innovation and creativity powered by personal transformation. Self-inquiry unleashed by a noble spirit can lead to global impact. The products and services of the “Lotus-economy” will be dreams.(5)

[1] “The key factor of the global economy is no longer goods, services or flows of capital but the competition for people.” Richard Florida, The Flight of the Creative Class: The New Global Competition for Talent, HarperBusiness, 2005, p.16;Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat, FSG, 2005; Tom Peters, Re Imagine, DK, 2003; Michael Newman, Creative Leaps, Wiley, 2003; Kevin Roberts, LoveMarks, Powerhouse Books, 2004; W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne, Blue Ocean Strategy, HBS, 2006.

[2] “If we examine the current situation today, with the exception of a few largely academic discussions cognitive science has had virtually nothing to say about what it means to be human in everyday, lived situation”, Francisco J. Varela, Evan Thompson & Eleanor Rosch, The Embodied Mind: cognitive science and human experience, MIT Press, 1993, p.xv.

[3] “The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind—computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind— creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers. These people—artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers—will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys.” Daniel H. Pink, A whole New Mind, why right brainers will rule the future, Riverhead books, 2005.

[4] “Wealth in this new regime flows directly from innovation, not optimization. That is, wealth is not gained by perfecting the known, but by imperfectly seizing the unknown.”  Kevin Kelly, New Rules for the New Economy, Viking, 1998

[5] “The sun is setting on the information society – even before we have fully adjusted to its demands as individuals and as companies. We have lived as hunters and farmers, we have worked in factories and now we live in an information-based society whose icon is the computer. We stand facing the fifth kind of society: THE DREAM SOCIETY… Future products will have to appeal to hearts, not our heads. Now is the time to add emotional value to products and services.” Rolf Jenson, The Dream Society: how the coming shift from information to imagination will transform your business, McGraw-hill, 1999.

“On 24 October 2007, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will have spent 12 of the last 18 years under detention. She may be the best known of Myanmar’s prisoners of conscience, but she is far from the only one. Amnesty International believes that, even before the recent violent crackdown on peaceful protesters, there were more than 1,150 political prisoners in the country.

Prisoners of conscience among these include senior political representatives of the ethnic minorities as well as members of the NLD and student activist groups.

To mark the 18th year of Aung San Suu Kyi’s persecution by the Myanmar, Amnesty International seeks to draw the world’s attention to four people who symbolise all those in detention and suffering persecution in Myanmar. These include Aung San Suu Kyi herself; U Win Tin, Myanmar’s longest-serving prisoner of conscience; U Khun Htun Oo, who is serving a 93 year sentence; and Zaw Htet Ko Ko, who was arrested after participating in the recent demonstrations in the country….”

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Amnesty International
24 October 2007

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“The report presents a bleak view of the future unless a radically different approach is adopted. It quotes the British energy economist David Fleming as saying: “Anticipated supply shortages could lead easily to disturbing scenes of mass unrest as witnessed in Burma this month. For government, industry and the wider public, just muddling through is not an option any more as this situation could spin out of control and turn into a complete meltdown of society.”

Mr Schindler comes to a similar conclusion. “The world is at the beginning of a structural change of its economic system. This change will be triggered by declining fossil fuel supplies and will influence almost all aspects of our daily life.”

Jeremy Leggett, one of Britain’s leading environmentalists and the author of Half Gone, a book about “peak oil” - defined as the moment when maximum production is reached, said that both the UK government and the energy industry were in “institutionalised denial” and that action should have been taken sooner.”

go to the report…click here

Ashley Seager
Monday October 22, 2007
The Guardian

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Medicine Buddha Mandala dedicated to the people of Burma, simulcast on Second Life

Paris October 8^th 2007, A Medicine Buddha Mandala constructed in Paris France, will be built simultaneously in Second Life, in solidarity with the peoples of Burma.

The Mandala, a detailed sand representation of the residence of the Medicine Buddha, will be constructed by Tibetan monks over four days. This offering comes at a particularly poignant time says Ven, Geshe Thupten Khedroup, Meditation Director of MindScience Institute. “Monks and Nuns of Burma have shown great compassion and courage demonstrating for freedom and democracy. Those who believe in human rights and human dignity must show solidarity with the Burmese people. This Mandala is dedicated to the peace and happiness of all beings, and especially to those who are suffering in Burma at this time.”

Executives from Unfrozenmind, a Strategic Innovation thinktank based in London and Community Chest SARL collaborated with MSI to simulcast this event in Second Life enable this message of peace and solidarity to be shared in an interactive way across the globe. “This is about technology with a moral compass and about the promotion of universal human values” said Alexei Levene, Marketing Director of Unfrozenmind.

Both the actual and virtual Mandalas are free events open to all peoples says Ven Geshe Thupten Khedroup “We are very happy if people can take some time out of their busy schedules to visit and share in this Mandala as well as expressing their solidarity in a peaceful environment.”

MSI Meditation Director, Ven. Geshe Thupten Khedroup will be building the Medicine Buddha Mandala between 18^th-21^st October at Espace St Martin, 199bis rue Saint Martin, Paris, France. To join the event on Second Life, please visit http://slurl.com/secondlife/UnfroZenMind/169/72/36 .

About MindScience Institute:

MSI is dedicated towards helping both Buddhists and non-Buddhists to train their minds through a practical application of ancient Tibetan techniques. Running courses, conferences and constructing Mandalas across Europe, MSI also runs Aid Projects to support children in need and monks and nuns in Tibet and India.

For more information on MSI, please see www.mindscience-institute.com

About Unfrozenmind Ltd:

Unfrozenmind is a Strategic Innovation thinktank that helps executives and organisations to create BrandNewOceans by learning to design their futures. 

Please contact:

Alexei Levene

alexei_levene@unfrozenmind.com

Tel.: +33 (0)6 22 59 22 33

www.unfrozenmind.com

About Community Chest SARL:

Community Chest is the first marketing and communication agency established both in Paris and Second Life.

Please contact:

Dylan Devillers

dylan.devillers@community-chest.com

Tel.: +33 (0)6 07 26 69 73

www.community-chest.com

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“A virtual character, or avatar, for all the virtual worlds in which people play is the goal of a joint project between IBM and Linden Lab.

The computer giant and the creator of Second Life are working on universal avatars that can travel between worlds.

The project aims to open up virtual worlds by introducing open tools that work with any online environment… .

NEENAH, Wis., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Kimberly-Clark Corporation today announced the opening of its new Innovation Design Studio, incorporating use of a proprietary virtual reality system to help identify innovations, gain key insights and strengthen customer relationships. Located in Neenah, Wis., the facility represents a powerful addition to K-C’s product, marketing research and customer development toolkits — further advancing those capabilities that touch customers, shoppers and users.

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Paris, le 7 Août 2007 - Unfrozenmind Ltd et Community Chest SARL ont annoncé aujourd’hui leur partenariat pour la transformation de la collaboration et de l’innovation dans les entreprises. Unfrozenmind powered by Community Chest® rassemble les toutes dernières avancées dans les domaines de l’innovation stratégique et des univers en 3D pour proposer à leurs clients une offre inédite dans la conduite du changement. Parce qu’ils transforment la manière dont les décideurs collaborent et proposent de nouveaux moyens de communication, les univers immersifs mettent un environnement créatif à la disposition des entreprises afin qu’elles puissent y développer de nouvelles idées basées sur la notion d’ “intraverses”, une approche nouvelle qui allie le concept de ‘multiverse’ à l’environnement intranet.

A la pointe de la création d’implantations 3D dans Second Life, Community Chest s’engage pour que l’innovation soit une plateforme pour le Noble Business. Cette conviction commune que le bien et le profit sont des objectifs qui s’enrichissent mutuellement est le fondement sur lequel repose l’offre Unfrozenmind powered by Community Chest®.

“Dans notre portfolio de produits et services, BrandNewPlanet vise à aider les entreprises à transformer les principes directeurs de la collaboration. Les environnements 3D constituent un élément de cette offre à part entière. Unfrozenmind powered by Community Chest® modifie la dynamique de l’innovation afin d’aider les entreprises à concevoir leur avenir. Nous sommes contents d’avoir forgé cette relation avec Community Chest, nous avons déjà reçu les premières preuves qu’une telle offre rencontre la demande de nombreuses grandes enteprises” a déclaré Toby Coop, Président de Unfrozenmind.

“Les entreprises les plus innovantes comprennent l’enjeu d u Noble Businness et sont constamment à la recherche de moyens leur permettant d’approfondir leur capacité à collaborer et renforcer cette vision. Second Life constitue un potentiel énorme pour les entreprises souhaitant transformer leur manière de collaborer. Dans le cadre du partenariat avec Unfrozenmind, nous aidons les entreprises à explorer ces possibilités aux plus hauts niveaux de l’innovation stratégique ” a ajouté Robert Vinet, Président de Community Chest.

Unfrozenmind Ltd

Unfrozenmind a mis en place cinq programmes d’innovation stratégique pour aider les décideurs à envisager leur avenir par la simulation de différentes possibilités (BrandNewOceans ). Les programmes de Unfrozenmind BrandNewIdea, BrandNewMind, BrandNewPlanet, BrandNewWork and BrandNewFutures visent à aider les dirigeants d’entreprises à découvrir la meilleure manière de communiquer et déployer l’imagination dans leur organisation. Unfrozenmind cherche à donner de la valeur, ouvrir la porte à une croissance organique, générér de nouveaux revenus et des gains multipliés. Unfrozenmind fait de l’imagination un avantage comparatif. Unfrozenmind, c’est la collaboration autrement.

Pour plus d’informations, contactez:
Alexei Levene, Directeur Marketing
alexei_levene@unfrozenmind.com
Tel.: +33 (0)6 22 59 22 33
www.unfrozenmind.com

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