This past Monday evening I attended the first ever Boston World Partnerships mixer (aka: networking event) in Cambridge. I have been involved with networking groups before, including local chambers of commerce, BNI and EFNE (Entrepreneurship Foundation of New England), but this group had a distinct energy.
BWP is a true collaboration between state agencies, private universities and corporations. The intention is to promote Boston as a region of innovation, and a great place to live and do business. The mission is focused on two main areas: attracting new talent (individuals, companies and agencies) to the area and keeping the young skill that is already here (entrepreneurs and students).
This is not a WIFM (”what’s in it for me?”) crowd.
In fact, one of my most engaging conversations was with James Dowd, Co-founder of Help Guest, an emerging web-based application support company. James’ business uses a flexible, real-time model to support both consumer and commercial customers who ‘just need to solve a problem’ and move on with their other tasks. Maybe you need to know how to embed a video into a PowerPoint presentation. Simply click on the appropriate Help Guest service provider and a remote support representative will take control of your computer, implement the file for you, and viola – you are your way, The services are billed by the minute so you only pay for what you really need.
During our conversation, James and I discussed the “Entitlement Generation” (aka: Generation “Y” or the “Always On” generation as I have started calling it) from the perspectives of parents, co-workers and employers. Our conclusion actually surprised me, even though I’ve been redefining my view of positive entitlement since reading Malcolm Gladwell’s most recent work, “Outliers.”
James recalled an experience where his team was problem solving, and a young colleague come up with the most tenable solution by…get this…calling her friend over at their main competitor and brainstorming. Gasp! Doesn’t this fly in the face of hierarchical propriety? Yes, it does! And that’s what I love about it.
Gen Y seems to inherently believe that they can do whatever they want to do. Frequently this characteristic is seen in a negative light (I admit that as a parent it can be challenging) but this mindset is one that can help us to break free of stale models that are no longer pragmatic.
Recently, the European Union forced mobile phone manufacturers to accept standardization of power adapters. Apparently, the manufacturers are pretty excited about this, since they will actually save money on design, production and shipping. But it took years of haranguing and maneuvering to accomplish what seems to be a no-brainer in terms of sustainability and usability (seriously, why do you need to purchase new adapters for every device?).
Why did it take so long? Because competitors are not traditionally rewarded for working together. Our old ideas of capitalism are protectionist. So as the world economic leaders move forward toward solving our current global financial crisis together, I can begin to believe that some of the things that are happening right now are for the better. Don’t worry though, I’m not looking at this through rose colored glasses, and will have much more to say about banking in a separate blog, coming soon.
Back to Boston World Partnerships, I also met high energy, high impact people like Alexis Schroeder from “The New Prosperity Initiative” which publicizes the efforts of people and organizations doing socially innovative work to end poverty, and Danielle Perretty of Essential Design, a leading-edge research, design and engineering organization that accelerates successful creation of breakthrough products and services. If you have been listening to too much NPR lately and feel somewhat down about the state of the world, I encourage you to take a look around at some of the fantastic ideas that are being realized at this very moment.
My thanks to the BPW team for an exciting evening. I can’t wait until the next one!
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