From Utopya to the world

Are we living in a dystopia?

The times in which we live have become dramatic and turbulent, unthinkable only a couple of years ago. Blinded and numbed by the comfort bubble of the Western world, we have forgotten that such situations are not new in our history. And that anything could happen, at any time. Who would have thought, just a couple of years ago, that a global pandemic would bring the whole world to a grinding halt had such an unsettling impact on millions of people?

Who could have imagined a general supply crisis in the Western world? What economic guru could have predicted runaway inflation, accompanied by an economic crisis that we thought was a thing of the past? How many experts could have warned us of an invasive and cruel war in the heart of Europe causing the biggest intra-European migration crisis we have seen since the Second World War? Who would have thought that the world order would be so vulnerable, and we would live in a state of uncertainty awaiting what a new world will look like?

Additionally, there are social and environmental problems, which are now magnified by the current situation. Challenges such as the deterioration of ecosystems, the growing inequality between the haves and have-nots, migratory crises, leaving behind entire populations who are missing out on the possibilities of sustainable development, the lack of hope due to not having a future, and many more so.

Faced with such an unpromising situation, there are two possible positions: we can sit back, complain that the world is in a continuous state of deterioration and let others take the initiative, or we can ask ourselves, “Can’t we do more? Why settle for being a mere spectator?” I include myself in the second group and I am convinced that there are many of us who think like this…

 

Innovation has to serve a purpose and that purpose can’t just be anything.

I have been working in innovation for more than 20 years. During this time, I have learned, practised, taught and applied the most cutting-edge and proven methodologies to create novelty aimed to awaken the creative being that lives in each and every one of us. I have worked together with my teams in a systematic and sustained way with the aim of discovering people’s hidden motivations that explain their behaviour and, as a result, to be able to create the best products, services, and experiences to ensure the success of the companies and institutions that we worked for.

During all this time, we have also had the healthy habit of using this knowledge altruistically. At least once a year we have wanted to use all this knowledge in the service of a noble cause. Reflecting back on this, perhaps we did this to feel truly useful and to give more meaning to what we do. Therefore, I firmly believe that all this experience, methodologies, approaches, tools (the whole body of knowledge developed in the corporate world) can and should be used to improve the world. Because innovation must serve a purpose. And that purpose cannot be just anything.

 

Generating social and environmental value is highly compatible with creating economic value.

The main obstacle that I have experienced to the success of these initiatives, for them to be sustainable over time, is precisely the belief that these initiatives must be non-profit. Furthermore, if an initiative does not generate economic value, it is extremely difficult to obtain the prolonged dedication of the needed resources (human and material), and therefore impossible to maintain the initiative itself over time. I have been confronted too many times with “unsustainable sustainability”, at least in the corporate world.

In the end, all this leads companies to spend money on Corporate Social Responsibility or Sustainability programs. In many cases, this is nothing more than a bundle of marketing activities to manipulate consumer perception. This phenomenon is better known as “Greenwashing”. In a few cases, they are concrete incremental improvements, but very limited in time and intensity to really change things. As it is not part of their core business activity or mission statement, it is understandable that companies divulge and adopt such practices.

On the other hand, foundations and philanthropic entities in general often do extraordinary work. But in my opinion, the lack of economic return makes them highly dependable on external funds provided by their parent company or public institutions. As these organisation can change priorities very quickly, it makes some initiatives unsustainable over time. Such a dependency also means that resources are not always devoted to the challenges that really need them most. Not to mention political causes and other interests, which force efforts and resources to be squandered on projects that are not really the most essential, the ones most in need, the ones that provide solutions and generate the greatest positive impact.

In addition, the challenges of today are vast, complex, intertwined, and involve many stakeholders with sometimes conflicting interests and very diluted responsibility. This requires a different approach.

What is needed is a for-profit organization, that incapsulates sustainability and places  solving great social and environmental challenges at the core of its mission. Using the mindsets, approaches, methods, and processes that we know work to solve problems and create successful new solutions, striking a balance between social impact and economic return.

Faced with the apparent dichotomy of choosing between making money and doing good, I choose both. I choose to create abundance in the broadest sense of the word. I choose to demonstrate that it is possible to generate social and environmental value, and at the same time generate economic value. 

I choose to demonstrate that it is possible to generate social and environmental value, and at the same time generate economic value. 

These are the reasons that led me to leave my professional career in large multinationals to dedicate myself body and soul to this initiative. Some people may think that all this is utopian. That solving these challenges, and generating economic wealth, is nothing more than a dream. However, I firmly believe that we can generate changes in our reality through the pursuit of our dreams or our visions.

If you can dream it, you can do it, as Walt Disney used to say. However, being able to do something does not necessarily lead to an actual impactful result. It requires us to take it a step further, which can be small or huge, depending on whether it is taken or not: after dreaming it, it must be done.

 

Welcome to our Utopya

Believing in utopias away from our reality of dystopias is to honour our own history. Otherwise, we would still be deftly hanging on to trees, hoping that another volcano does not erupt and make our lineage disappear. We need to be aware that everything we enjoy today is thanks to people who had the imagination to dream it, and the courage to make it happen. But they did not do it alone. And neither can we do it without help.

If you are also a dreamer and you want to take action creating a better world, a world that is more humane, more conscious, more respectful of our environment, that creates more opportunities for everyone I welcome you to Utopya. 

If you want to be part of a community where everyone can be who they really are without having to pretend, where others are appreciated and helped, where perseverance, responsibility, simplicity, integrity, positive action, freedom are honoured… and enjoy the journey giving meaning to our lives, join Utopya’s growing network.

You don’t even have to change jobs to be a Utopyan. We are an inclusive network where everyone and every organization can ask to join and contribute their bit to solve our big social and environmental problems, and create wealth in harmony.

If you feel the call,
Welcome to Utopya, Innovation for good.