2014's Heart-Shaped Economy

"I think, though, this is not a time to commit sociology, if I can use an expression."

   - Stephen Harper

Harper-brand conservatism considers itself to be pragmatic.  They know what works, what has always worked - carrot-and-stick motivation, trickle-down economics (though they'll never call it that) and as little government involvement in anything as possible.  Regulation-free competition in the free market is the best way to get the best of everything - it's economic natural selection.

But here's the thing - what do you do when the Free Market starts to support an emerging trend of sociology-committing?  

Because that's exactly what's starting to happen.  We'll get back to this in a minute.

As I've written about at length here and elsewhere, market conditions have outgrown the training, employment and motivation model that has sustained Canada's (mostly) natural resources and basic manufacturing-based economy forever.  What Harper and co consider to be "pragmatic" and "the natural order" is now outdated and insufficient for the complex, completely unnatural configuration that is the modern society.

At the turn of the 19th Century, education wasn't really that necessary for most people to get by - there was the family farm and perhaps a trade to learn.  Civic engagement meant community engagement, not concerning oneself with the broader economic realities of multiple domestic jurisdictions and countless foreign ones.  Competition was limited.

When we entered the 20th Century, things were different.  Social infrastructure (and the demands placed on it) were more complex and nuanced - more people had more opportunities to get ahead, life expectancies and such increased and we began to add more value beyond hewing wood and hauling water.  There was a cost to this, though, which most notably took its form in increased demand from the citizenry.

It's the 21st Century now and, sure enough, things are changing.  The people in charge may try to recreate an industrial economy policy environment, but the leaders in our midst believe that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, but are waiting to be achieved tomorrow.

These leaders are digging deep (into themselves, not the earth) and reaching out further (not only to new markets, but to explore existing ones in more pervasive ways).  They are thinking critically and encouraging their teams to do so.  They're even encouraging their end-users to be part of the process, co-designing both products/services and the producer/seller/client relationship.

Critical thinking based on a broad knowledge base is becoming increasingly popular in the education sector.  Instead of dumbing-down language for youth kids or a strict reliance on a stern-father rote-learning model ("here's everything you need to know from the person who does know - now get out there and sell it!"), kids are being encouraged to draw from varied sources, be part of solution-generating and to take ownership of themselves and their relationships from as early an age as possible.

That punk new graduate who's suggesting they'd like to see more employee engagement in the office aren't being cheeky and disrespectful - they're applying behavioural economics to work design and trying to facilitate growth in your company.  Chew on that!

Of course, cutting-edge employers and HR supports are changing the way they do employee recruitment, engagement and motivation as well.  Whereas far too many leaders today will carry airs of superiority while simultaneously down-loading service/product development, sales and implementation to their teams, fostering competition between their staff to try and generate more everything, smart employers are placing themselves as directors on a stage, bringing in the right mix of talent to create a fully-engaging experience for everyone.  It works better.

This concept of lateral, relationship-based engagement is popping up everywhere; between different levels of government (at the staff level, at least), between public and private entities and between individuals.  The silo-based models of old have cracked, and hands are reaching out to meaningfully connect with each other.

The theme for 2014, I predict, will be friction between these two realities - the failing top-down model embodied by the old elite and the emerging new one where engagement, transparency and shared solutions aren't just buzzwords, they're the ticket to success.

Like a snake shedding it's skin, it'll take a great deal of social spasms before the new model is free to grow and flourish.  There will be plenty of tensions along the way; the old world won't give up it's hold on the present so easily.

There will be old-school battles between unions and governments, big business and new employees, organizations that support people vs. those who aim to grow financially.  Some of the big cracks in our social infrastructure will grow, and sadly more people will fall into them.  Count on some protests under big banners, like we've seen recently with Idle No More and Occupy, only more organized and less passive.

The combative people are still here and will continue to do what they know best - to fight for what they believe they are entitled to instead of proactively seeking shared solutions. 

Which is why it's a fun thing that tomorrow's leaders are all about sociology - not pandering to have-nots or criminals, but understanding behaviour and context so as to shape outcomes in positive ways. Folk like Harper have just as much opportunity as anyone to master the social tools of engagement, but to do so would involve becoming everything he stands against.  

There's nothing surprising in any of this - after all, it's the behavioural economy, smarty-pants.