The Awesomeness Manifesto – Umair Haque

The Awesomeness Manifesto – Umair Haque

We live in a power hungry world where so many so called leaders are simply dressed up authority figures -  they are not true leaders at all. The next generation of true leaders will use entirely new approaches to convey their fresh ideas. Today’s manipulative and over-regulated business processes and authoritarian prescriptive business mindset will not survive intact.

I  know, because I spend a lot of time working with a lot of young people - and they are quite happy to toss what is truly wrong in business out of the window and start again.

Umair Haque, a consultant for big business  has written a preview of tomorrow in something he calls the Awesomeness Manifesto.

"SO. What is awesomeness? Awesomeness happens when thick — real, meaningful — value is created by people who love what they do, added to insanely great stuff, and multiplied by communities who are delighted and inspired because they are authentically better off. That’s a better kind of innovation, built for 21st century economics.

I’ve talked to many boardrooms about awesomeness. Beancounters feel challenged and threatened by it, because it feels fuzzy and imprecise. Yet, it’s anything but. Gen M knows “awesomeness” when we see it — that’s why its part of our vernacular. It’s a precise concept, with meaning, depth, and resonance."

Awesomeness may sound fuzzy and imprecise .  Haque’s point is that the new generation leader knows awesomeness when they see it. The Awesomeness Manifesto is chock full of ideas for business built on sustainable value where the central role is to make the world a better place.

Haque talks about the power of Love, sustainability, remixing value, and the new way of innovation.These are the four pillars of his Awesomeness Manifesto:

Ethical production: without an ethical component, awesomeness isn't possible. The buy low, sell high mentality is yesterday’s mantra.

Insanely great stuff: put creativity front and center and you’ll get an emotional reaction from anyone who sees it. Delight the customer.

Love: Apple creates products people love. Their employees love to show off how awesome these products are and customers love shopping in Apple stores. Compare this with Best Buy.

Thick value: this is real, meaningful, and sustainable. Thick value, not thin value, actually makes people better off.

Finally a business guru who understands!

awesome!


Want to help kickstart awesomeness? The Manifesto is now a collaborative, open-source project, to which anyone can contribute. READ this post for details.

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/haque/2009/09/is_your_business_innovative_or.html