THIS WEEK
Changing demographics will require organizations to rethink long-term expectations.
Plus: granny flats, microneedles, and equity in astronomy.
Featured story
Photo by Anna Dziubinska / Unsplash
STRATEGY
Redefining growth and prosperity
Organizations come to consultants for answers, and we take pride in defining problems and bringing solutions to bear. More often than not, the process begins with asking the right questions.
Luminary Labs CEO Sara Holoubek recently delivered a talk at the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program, co-sponsored by the HBS Digital Initiative, where she offered a different way to think about long-term planning across sectors and industries. The talk, now available online, starts by reframing an important question. Instead of asking “How will the future of [the thing we’re working on] change humanity?,” organizations should ask “How will the future of humanity change [the thing we’re working on]?”
In the coming decades, an aging population and slowing population growth will impact everything — from geopolitics and the global economy to healthcare and the future of work. If you’re planning for 2030, predicting how technology will change is less helpful than understanding how demographics will change.
—
Ideas can come from anywhere, and expanding access to scientific tools can help us solve global problems. Stanford University’s Manu Prakesh, a Tool Foundry accelerator cohort member, shared the motivation behind his inventions with NPR’s Short Wave podcast.
Cool jobs & opportunities
New Media Ventures is funding “a new wave of activists and entrepreneurs wrestling with the challenges facing our democracy.” Respond to NMV’s open call by March 2.
