We live in an evolving world. In order for us individually, and as a society, to be successful, we must re-imagine.
- Magic Johnson re-imagined himself from a basketball player into an entrepreneur.
Father Gregory Boyle re-imagined a program to get youth out of gangs into a thriving social enterprise.
- Walter Knott re-imagined a boysenberry farm into an amusement park.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger re-imagined himself from a body builder, to actor, to Governor and back to actor.
- Henry Kaiser re-imagined cement to ships to healthcare.
- Sheryl Sandberg re-imagined herself from the Treasury Secretary’s Chief of Staff to the COO of Facebook.
Change is both scary and exciting, but if we don’t change, we risk becoming irrelevant, redundant and not equipped to fully participate in the world around us.
Reimagining was the topic I was asked to discuss in my keynote address at the opening session of the California Workforce Association’s Annual Conference. Today, I talked about how I have evolved throughout my career, the opportunities I had to help The Walt Disney Company re-imagine itself and how businesses are reimagining themselves for social and environmental good.
The business world has and is reimagining itself in so many ways. How can we re-imagine a structural change where all components of society are working together for the greater good? Global competitiveness, economic vitality, poverty alleviation, environmental sustainability, good paying jobs, healthy citizens, civic participation, educated population, quality of life and world peace. All of these are interconnected and interdependent. Unfortunately many governments, nonprofits and businesses function as if they are separate, and as a result we have some serious structural issues that need to be fixed. Shared Value, Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy and Skills-Based Volunteering are some of the strategies and tools working towards a more integrated approach to problem solving.
From time to time we should take out a blank sheet of paper and put down what we want to be, and what we need to be. Then work backwards on how we will get there. And get there working collaboratively, efficiently in an intelligent manner. Life is too short not to re-imagine how we can be better, and society can be better. The world is depending on each of us! http://www.calworkforce.org/