Interview with me on Bob Pritchard

I was recently interviewed on the radio surrounding my views of Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing in the current environment - and you can hear it here starting at minute 17:45 https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/96778/the-iphone-turns-10

The essence of money - wisdom of the ancients alive!

What is Blue Ocean Strategy?

An integral relationship with planet Earth

Thomas Berry wrote in his book "The Great Work"

"Our Western culture long ago abandoned its integral relation with the planet on which we live.

Obviously the universe, the solar system, and the planet Earth are the primary given in any discussion of human affairs. We awaken to a universe. We have no immediate access to anything intellectually or physically prior to or beyond the universe.  The universe is its own evidence since there is no further context in the phenomenal world for explaining the universe. Every particular mode of being in the phenomenal order is universe-referent. While this was the clearly understood by former peoples, its is also evident in our times, since our scientific endeavors do not provide us with any explanation of the universe except the universe itself. This acceptance by science merely confirms what we know from simple observation. The universe, in the phenomenal world, is the primary value, the primary source of existence, the primary destiny of whatever exists.

A second observation to be made concerning the universe is that it does not exist as a vastly extended sameness. The universe exists in highly differentiated forms of expression. So too the planet Earth exists as a highly differentiated complex of life systems. The only security of any life expression on Earth is in the diversity of the comprehensive community of life. As soon as diversity diminishes then security for each life-form is weakened. This has become abundantly clear in recent studies of the biosystems of Earth, such as Biodiversity, edited by E.O. Wilson in 1988, and Wilson's own book, The Diversity of Life, in 1992.

A third observation might be that these various forms of expression are so intimately related that nothing is itself without everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. Any being can benefit only if the larger context of its existence benefits. This law can be seen in the honeybee and the flower. Both benefit when the bee comes to drink the nectar of the flower: the flower is fertilized, the bee obtains what it needs for making its honey. The tree is nourished by the soil; the tree nourishes the soil with its leaves. It is the ancient law of reciprocity. Whoever receives
must also give."

Upcreation

"Upcreation - self-organization that brings forth an emergent level of complexity that encompasses, without destruction, the previous lower levels of organization."

“In the right circumstances self organization can often also be legitimately called self-creation. Without an outside agent, the parts cohere into a new organization that brings forth an "emergent" level or self not present before. Since the new emergent level of complexity encompasses, without destruction, the previous "lower" levels of organization, I call this self-creation of higher levels ‘upcreation.’”

Kevin Kelly 

Bring on the Symbiocene

The reality that the biosphere has been dramatically affected by human activity over the last 500 years is undeniable.

The challenge of this reality is that our human way of operating, which is to relate to humans and human needs as our primary, if not sole priority, is that we have significantly negatively impacted the life support systems on the planet born of billions of years of coevolution with all other species.

In a simple manner of speaking, we think we're alone on the planet, when in reality all life is one organism. The analogy of a cancer cell is often used, yet I feel a caterpillar who is eating her host to near death is more apropos.

We are ready to become butterflies, a collective bodhisattva metamorphosis as it were.

I feel that the notion of moving from the anthropocene to a new era based on cooperation with eachother, and all life is a great contribution from the article "Exiting the Anthropocene and Entering the Symbiocene" by Glenn Aalbrecht.

He states: "In The Symbiocene, human action, culture and enterprise will be exemplified by those cumulative types of relationships and attributes nurtured by humans that enhance mutual interdependence and mutual benefit for all living beings (desirable), all species (essential) and the health of all ecosystems (mandatory). Human development will consist of creative actions that use the very best of biomimicry together with other eco-industrial, eco-technological, eco-agricultural and eco-cultural innovation."

Further, in order to create this new epoch, we must adopt new strategies, new paradigms, and essentially redefine what it means to be human. For this redefinition to come about, we must fundamentally change the very manner in which we think, relate and emote. 

Leading neuroscientists such as Richie Davidson and others are harnessing the tools of wisdom traditions and modern science to literally show the path for humanity to rewire our brains so we can evolve as a species.

Once we collectively embrace the recognition that connection, cooperation and compassion are the pathways for our greatest success, survival and thriving as a species, we will recognize that such traits and ways of being are the VERY strategies which may have gotten life to succeed and get humanity to this point. In effect we must listen, and learn, from the patterns of life developed around us for the past 4 billion years, and mimic nature's strategies for the next wave of human evolution.

One of the leading efforts to intentionally evolve humanity through cooperation and addressing the root causes of human suffering is called Leap Forward. Leap forward shares the recognition that: 

"for the first time in human history, we have the knowledge and technology to intentionally evolve toward an eco-centered humanity. We can rewire our competitive nature by creating new systems that reward compassion and cooperation. We are ONE human family living on this ONE planet. We need to take care of each other and our home." 

This notion of mimicry is known as "biomimicry" and defined by the Biomimicry Institute as "Biomimicry is an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies."

Yet on a collective scale, on the level of epoch shifting memes and strategies, Aalbrech feels that we must move beyond biomimcry to this larger recognition highlighted by Leap Forward. 

He shares:

"beyond biomimicry we must also have symbiomimicry. Many simply think it is enough to copy the shapes and form of life, but they make no connection to life’s processes. We don’t just copy the form of life, we replicate in all types of human creativity, the processes of life that make the mutually beneficial associations between different life forms strong and healthy. Examples such as the ‘wood-wide-web’ suggest to me that organising resources and processes so that the young, weak and vulnerable get their fair share in order that the totality has the greatest chance of survival and flourishing is fundamental to life. Symbiomimicry in human enterprise will both generate and distribute resources such that, in nurturing all humans, we nurture the life support system on which we all depend."

This notion of learning from and applying nature's strategies over time is the basis of the ideas I am advancing with my clients and our initiatives.  We aim to inspire solutions for the greatest challenges in finance and economics by architecting novel financial intermediation strategies to create whole systems solutions for humanity to literally invest in the creation of the new humanity, in a symbiotic relationship with the biosphere region by region. We apply what we call "eco-systemic biomimicry" to develop new funding models which meet the needs of the investor and set living economy projects up for success and scale.

Our core focus is through a bioregional framework working with cooperative circles of inquiry to develop novel investment strategies in harmony with the regions around the world.

Our work has only begun, building on the cumulative knowledge of decades of efforts and successes of those in the field known as "impact investing."

We have adopted some guiding principles:

Systemic: we take a whole systems approach creating sustainable systems that integrate the needs of society with the integrity of nature

Biomimcry: we take inspiration from natural processes in developing resilient financial and economic strategies

Regenerative: we design strategies that restore, renew or revitalize the regions and natural resources in which they work

Cooperative: we believe in working in deep partnership to allow new symbiotic forms that will support multiple stakeholders to emerge

It is our core belief that a new economy born out of the vision of symbiosis with the biosphere will take a transformation in every way that we currently work in the economy today. And the transmutation from one form to another must be born out of the material of the old - just as a caterpillar shifts into a butterfly. In the same manner we aim to shift the caterpillar of banking, finance and investments into a new reality for humanity and all of life to thrive for many epochs to come. 

Spent: Looking For Change (Documentary)

Think Global Trade Social

Think Global Trade Social is a comprehensive overview of why social enterprise can serve the evolution of humanity and the opportunities to shift global capital to good.

Sacred Economics with Charles Eisenstein - A Short Film

Project to improve access to capital for impact entrepreneurs in Los Angeles

I and my team are grateful to be working closely with the Milken Institute to improve access to capital for women, minority and other underserved businesses such as sustainable food, clean technology, renewable energy, etc.

Here is the text of the memorandum from our work on the Milken website:

The Milken Institute California Center collaborated with the Small Business Administration’s Los Angeles office, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the co-chair of the California Economic Summit’s Capital Action Team to assemble a group of banking executives, community leaders and policymakers to develop a scalable model for a revolving small business loan fund at either the regional or state level.

The topic for this roundtable was generated from recommendations for expanding small business lending made during previous Policy and California's Economy (PACE) roundtables. Those discussions emphasized the need to resolve the risk barriers associated with smaller loans and address economy-of-scale issues in community-based lending. One idea focused on a regional and/or state loan fund that could coalesce risk, clear technical and geographic hurdles and ultimately spur small business growth.

To establish and implement an effective funding tool, participants urged the structure of a potential fund that would in concept resolve a number of challenges: minimize administrative time, coordinate referrals from financial intermediaries and streamline the data and analysis process. In terms of providing initial structure to a loan fund, the conversation was divided into three themes:
Technical assistance and analysis

The group focused on applying big data solutions to village lending models to build capacity. The benefits include harnessing the power of crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, artificial intelligence, systems thinking, advanced systemic modeling and community intelligence to improve evaluation, due diligence, risk mitigation, performance and outcomes. They emphasized that the technical assistance component should be focused on risk mitigation while developing a consistent solution that can be scaled across a wide range of contexts (e.g., SME lending and investing in the Southern California region).

Capital coordination
The group found that increasing the flow of communication in SME financing could potentially expand the deployment of capital. They identified a number of "low tech" solutions that involve supporting the efforts of financial intermediaries, entrepreneurs and economic development organizations to coordinate more effectively.
The conversation progressed to coordinating transactions with the goal of prioritizing lending as a community of financial institutions rather than among individual or competing groups. Such collaborative approaches have long been successful among financial institutions in cooperative syndicates for large transactions. It was clear to the group that such cooperative practices had not yet been applied to SME transactions and could dramatically increase the success of such financings if they were.

Risk mitigation
Participants discussed the industry resources available to mitigate risk and infrastructure to facilitate the flow of information. Credit enhancements such as guaranty programs from the state treasurer’s office and its California Capital Access Program (CalCAP), as well as the Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank or I-Bank (i.e., the Small Business Loan Guarantee Program), are underutilized and can provide sustainable support. One issue is these government programs’ small staffs, which limits outreach and other capabilities.

Participants also spoke about the need for better referral networks and creating regional hubs. Using enhanced referral networks, incubators and technical assistance programs, big banks can channel small business loans they cannot finance to lenders who can. There remains a need for better application and sharing of best practices. One area is how best to educate and evaluate loan officers and provide incentives based on criteria other than volume. However, risk is real in small business loans, particularly if there is a product mismatch. Funds that leverage expertise in a specific sector, such as the California FreshWorks fund, could further mitigate risk.
Final thoughts and next steps

Banks often face tough situations as they are pressured to make more small business loans, then criticized for taking on too much risk. Even amid technological advances, relationships remain a prime factor in deal sourcing and risk mitigation. Accordingly, community banks and community development financial institutions have more experienced lenders, as well as established relationships, than big banks. How can we scale up the approaches and experience of community bank loan officers? Can technology solutions (i.e., algorithms that mimic loan officers’ decision-making processes), data-sharing clearinghouses or other nontraditional approaches also help mitigate risk?

With further collaboration, we can assess how technical assistance and data analysis can mitigate risk while providing a better platform for coordinating capital. In the near term, the California Center will facilitate this in a series of subgroup task forces as well as a larger private session at the upcoming 2015 California Summit

Social enterprise: an idea whose time has come

The movement of startups is about more than business, it's about reinventing our culture.

This is an excellent article on the startup movement.

"I’ve realized that, despite outward appearances, the Startup Movement is not just about startups. It is actually a deeper cultural shift that cuts to the heart of the human condition.

"It reflects a dissatisfaction with the way much of the world has gone for the last several decades. 

"It marks a transformation in how we view our societies, how we convene our communities, how we create value together as human beings.

"It’s a counterpoint to the governing economic paradigm – what economists call neoliberalism – which has prized efficiency and productivity above everything else, even when it has corroded relationships that bond us together in our communities and social networks.

"We are moving from an economic model that treats individuals as replaceable cogs in an anonymous yet efficient system, to one that recognizes that individuals are the only ones who can make the system better through their innovations, inventions, and creations.

"This notion might sound simple, but its impact is profound. If you examine the scholarly research on what makes entrepreneurship and innovation thrive – whether in Silicon Valley, Santiago, or anywhere else – the conclusions are strikingly consistent. 

"Innovation is not a solo sport. 

"It thrives in supportive, diverse, connected, pay-it-forward ecosystems. It dies in selfish ones."

Great article on "integral economics" a pathway based on integral theory.

Integral Economics: A Manifesto

Christian Arnsperger
FRS-FNRS, Belgium
Email: christian.arnsperger@uclouvain.be

December 2007

1. Introduction

Engineering an intersection between economics and the Integral approach—i.e., gradually fleshing out and promoting a truly Integral economics—may well be one of the most urgent tasks in social science today. At least, I myself (as a standardly trained economist who turned heretical at some point) believe it is, and that is why I have written this paper which, for all its defects, might stand as a “manifesto” of sorts for those of us who think it’s about time economics was pulled out of its current, arch-positivistic quagmire.

Let me emphasize that what I offer in these pages isn’t just a cheap juxtaposition of an economics that I find increasingly intellectually dissatisfying with an Integral vision that I find more and more promising. Although these two things are true, they wouldn’t be of much help if it weren’t for the fact that, on the basis of a (hopefully) thorough knowledge of the current mainstream of economic science, I believe I’ve encountered a more or less exact meeting place between the two disciplines—or, actually, between the discipline of economics and the meta-discipline of Integral methodology. This distinction is extremely important, especially in light of the fact that—within the realm of social science at least—economics has increasingly been claiming the status of a meta-discipline entitled to include and engulf all other disciplines such as sociology, social psychology, and so on. In fact, it may well be that forcing today’s mainstream economics to face up to the existence of an Integral framework out there is the only way to undo its pretension at becoming the (pseudo-)integral framework for social science.

Crossroads: Labor Pains of a New Worldview | FULL MOVIE

From Ego-System to Eco-System Economies: Otto Scharmer

Does Money Make You Mean?

Four Horsemen - Feature Documentary - Official Version

The Dawn of System Leadership

This is an excerpt of the article "Dawn of System Leadership" in Stanford Social Innovation Review

"The deep changes necessary to accelerate progress against society's most intractable problems require a unique type of leader—the system leader, a person who catalyzes collective leadership."

"We believe system leadership is critical for the times in which we now live, but the ideas behind it are actually quite old. About 2,500 years ago Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu eloquently expressed the idea of individuals who catalyze collective leadership: 

The wicked leader is he whom the people despise.
The good leader is he whom the people revere.
The great leader is he of whom the people say, “We did it ourselves.”

"The real question today is, Is there any realistic hope that a sufficient number of skilled system leaders will emerge in time to help us face our daunting systemic challenges? We believe there are reasons for optimism. First, as the interconnected nature of core societal challenges becomes more evident, a growing number of people are trying to adopt a systemic orientation. Though we have not yet reached a critical mass of people capable of seeing that a systemic approach and collective leadership are two sides of the same coin, a foundation of practical know-how is being built."

"Second, during the last thirty years there has been an extraordinary expansion in the tools to support system leaders, a few of which we have touched on in this article. We have observed numerous instances where the strategic use of the right tool, at the right time, and with the right spirit of openness, can shift by an order of magnitude the ability of stakeholders to create collective success. With the right shifts in attention, networks of collaboration commensurate with the complexity of the problems being addressed emerge, and previously intractable situations begin to unfreeze."

"Last, there is a broad, though still largely unarticulated, hunger for processes of real change. This is undoubtedly why a person like Mandela strikes such a resonant chord. There is a widespread suspicion that the strategies being used to solve our most difficult problems are too superficial to get at the deeper sources of those problems. This can easily lead to a sense of fatalism—a quiet desperation that our social, biological, economic, and political systems will continue to drift toward chaos and dysfunction. But it can also cause people to be more open to seeking new paths. Compared to even a few years ago, we find that many today are exploring new approaches that move beyond the superficial to ignite and guide deeper change. Organizations and initiatives like those described in this article have succeeded because of a growing awareness that the inner and outer dimensions of change are connected. As our awakening continues, more and more system leaders who catalyze collective leadership will emerge."

The Great Work...

“History is governed by those overarching movements that give shape and meaning to life by relating the human venture to the larger destinies of the universe. Creating such a movement might be called the Great Work of a people…. The Great Work now, as we move into a new millennium, is to carry out the transition from a period of human devastation of the Earth to a period when humans would be present to the planet in a mutually beneficial manner.”

“The Great Work before us… is not a role that we have chosen. It is a role given to us, beyond any consultation with ourselves. We are, as it were, thrown into existence with a challenge and a role that is beyond any personal choice. We did not choose. We were chosen by some power beyond ourselves for this historical task. The nobility of our lives, however, depends upon the manner in which we come to understand and fulfill our assigned role.” From The Great Work by Thomas Berry

"New Dawn of Financial Capitalism"

Excellent article from Institutional Investor Magazine "New Dawn of Financial Capitalism" frames some new thought to address the weaknesses of the current financial paradigm.

(1) Professionalisation of Asset Owners (2) Reintermediation of finance (3) adoption of the power of information technology for analysis by asset owners (4) development of new models to invest in the real economy.