The workshop will cover the major drivers of change set to radically impact our markets and organisations and we will give you processes and tools to help you prosper through this turmoil. Understanding the different contributions of entrepreneurs, leaders and managers within your organisation will help you make change much more profitable. Already our new profiling tool is providing executive teams with insights to help their decision-making during change.

• Entrepreneur – dreams about the future. Strong on ideas. Brilliant at vision
• Leader – plans for tomorrow. Strong on people. Brilliant at behaviour
• Manager – delivers today. Strong on process. Brilliant at capability

The innovator lives in the future, the leader plans for tomorrow and the manager delivers today. For the evolutionary process of change you need all three.

• Is your business not getting its ideas out to market? You need more leaders.
• Not making money from your ideas? Too many entrepreneurs and not enough managers.
• Revolution followed by revolution? Too many managers and too few entrepreneurs.

A group of 50 Young Global Leaders (YGLs) are about to launch the Paris Initiative for the G20 at an international roundtable under the High Patronage of the French President, which will take place in Paris on 29 and 30 June.

The objective is to set up a brainstorming by civil society actors to formulate recommendations for the forthcoming French presidency of the G20 in 2011. This group of young leaders – composed of several ministers and former ministers, NGO founders, corporate executives, university professors and journalists – along with Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, will gather in Paris on 29 and 30 June.

Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett are asking the nation's billionaires to pledge to give at least half their net worth to charity, in their lifetimes or at death. If their campaign succeeds, it could change the face of philanthropy.

Buffett, Gates, and Gates -- who have a combined net worth of around $100 billion -- have already committed most of their money to charity. Click on the photo for more pictures.

Jean-François Rischard, a former vice president of the World Bank and the best-selling author of High Noon, told the audience that the world needs a "new generation of students" who are more creative and collaborative in their approach to tackling global problems such as the warming of the planet, poverty, financial instability, water shortages, and biodiversity breakdowns.

The speech was heavy on the global big picture, with charts, diagrams, and lists on a large screen on the stage, but there were not a lot of specifics about how education, and more specifically, educational technology would help solve those problems.

But near the end of the presentation, Rischard called on those in the audience and educators worldwide to engage in the kinds of changes that would help tackle the world's most pressing issues. "We need a new generation with far more knowledge, much better skills, and a different mindset," he said. "This has to come from heads of states, this has to come from you, educators."

He argued that if schools took the approach of creating a more multidisciplinary and multicultural curriculum centered on solving the biggest global problems, the result would be better schools producing more creative, analytical, and collaborative students who would grow up to be far more effective than the present generation of adults in addressing the fast-changing and increasingly complex issues of today and tomorrow.

But, he said, "institutions of education tend to be much more change resistant when they should be the opposite." That comment drew loud applause.

Opening Keynote—Jean-François Rischard
Global Problem-Solving and the Critical Role of Educators and Technology for Education

Sunday, June 27, 5:45–7 pm, Wells Fargo Theatre (simulcast throughout CCC)

Start your live online school

Supercool School is an online school platform that empowers everyone to create customized education environments for live online learning.

This community is part of the WENOVSKI Design Thinkers Network and is meant for anyone who wants to participate or organize an UnConference or Dinner Jam on design thinking or related topics.

It's an invitation to arrange IRL meet-ups as an addition to the online conversations we have.

At Current, Levine takes pride in what he describes as its innovative culture, where people are willing to try new things and retire what isn't working. From its inception in 2005, Current has invited its audience to participate and collaborate in ways that integrate web and television platforms. Users can post or "clip" stories - a URL, a portion of an article, a comment - from other sources. Other users add comments and vote, which helps determine the placement of clips on the website and what might be highlighted on Current TV, the company's cable television channel.

Users also produce 5- to 7-minute stories, called "pods," that profile a character or idea. The company has compiled an online library of thousands on many topics. Its film review program includes video movie reviews submitted by viewers. And as part of a recent music show, Current posted a featured hip-hop artist's audio and video files on the website, allowing users to remix their own versions, some which appeared on television.

Current aims also to have "young, fresh, aggressive reporters," Levine said, who appeal to an audience as more "authentic and approachable" than standard cable TV reporters and hosts.

Winning an audience has been a challenge in an era when many media companies are struggling to reinvent themselves. In November, Current cut 80 jobs, about a fifth of its staff, as it shifted emphasis from production of pod-centered shows to half-hour and hour-long shows, some of which are acquisitions and co-productions. The longer formats are a more effective way of telling in-depth stories, Levine said. He insists that Current remains committed to strong audience participation, however. Even though the company will acquire fewer pods, it may increase other areas of user-produced content, such as simple webcam videos, articles, and comments.

"We're in a two-way dialogue, and over time, we're trying a number of ways to make that happen," Levine said. "It's a shift, and a balance."

On the Media

Transformation is in the air. Business leaders across industries are recognizing that “old school” management isn’t up to the task of nonstop innovation. As a result, companies that were once run from the top down are steadily shifting to a more networked style of management in which employees and customers play a greater role in driving innovation. Networked cultures tend to be more creative, more agile, and better able to anticipate the needs of customers.

How do you create a culture of innovation? By recognizing one simple fact: If you want to innovate, you’ve got to design. Design and design thinking are the tools that create new products, new services, new business models, new markets, and new industries. The best way to leverage innovation—as outlined in my latest book—is to build a “designful company”. (Buy the book.)

To find out where you are on the culture curve, take this simple test: Share a total of 10 points across each of the 10 pairs below. For example, if your company is more siloed than collaborative, you might score it 6 and 4. When you’ve finished, add up the two columns to measure your progress. If your totals come out to 60 and 40, for example, you could say that you’re 40% along the path to an innovative culture.

Designers have traditionally focused on enhancing the look and functionality of products.  Recently, they have begun using design tools to tackle more complex problems, such as finding ways to provide low-cost healthcare throughout the world.  Businesses were first to embrace this new approach—called design thinking—now nonprofits are beginning to adopt it too.