ELIAS: CREATING A GLOBAL INNOVATION ECO SYSTEM
ELIAS (Emerging Leaders for Innovation Across Sectors) is a network of twenty global business, government, and civic organizations dedicated to finding productive solutions to the most confounding dilemmas of our time. Each member is a powerhouse in its realm—BASF, BP, Oxfam, Nissan, the Society for Organizational Learning, Unilever, the UN Global Compact, UNICEF, the World Bank Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund, among others.
Together ELIAS members are examining problems by combining systems thinking, deepened personal awareness, and listening skills with hands-on prototyping in order to develop and test new cross-sector approaches to some of today’s most difficult challenges.
The ELIAS pilot program convened a group of 25 high-potential leaders from these organizations and sent them on an intensive learning journey that included training in leadership capacity building and hands-on systems innovation.
After shadowing each other in their work environments (each fellow spent several days in the life of one or more peers in another business sector), the group travelled to China in the fall of 2006, where they engaged in discussions with Chinese thought leaders, consulted with sustainability engineers, journeyed to rural China to observe emerging challenges, and capped the trip with a week of contemplative retreat.
• One of the prototyping projects developed by the ELIAS pilot group is the Sunbelt team, which is exploring methods for bringing solar- and wind generated power to marginalized communities, especially in the global South. This decentralized, distributive, democratic model would significantly reduce CO2 emissions and foster economic growth and well-being in rural communities.
• Another team is testing alternative energy resources, such as the indigenous development of renewable and hybrid sources of power for the Chinese automotive industry.
• An Africa-based team is testing mobile community-based life education as a way to uproot the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
• An ELIAS fellow from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade applied the U process to government policies for sustainable sugar production in Indonesia. His idea was to involve all key stakeholders in the policymaking process.
The results were stunning: for the first time ever the Ministry’s policies did not result in violent protests or riots by farmers or other key stakeholders in the value chain.
Now, the same approach is being applied to other commodities and to standards for sustainable production. The Indonesia-based ELIAS team plans to launch a country version of the ELIAS cross-sector innovation platform in early 2008 that will focus on the severe flooding problems in Jakarta.
• A Brazil-based team is focused on integrating the whole demand-and supply chain for organic agricultural products. They are creating infrastructures, raising awareness, and building skills and support networks of small farmers using organic agricultural methods.
The goals include improving contractual fairness and creating a transparency that allows the entire value chain, from the farmers to the consumers, to see one another, connect, and co-evolve.
The ELIAS team from Brazil also intends to launch a country version of the ELIAS innovation platform in Brazil in 2008.
• In the Philippines, one ELIAS fellow of Unilever teamed up with former colleagues who now work in the NGO sector to form a venture (MicroVentures) that advises and finances women micro-entrepreneurs in the Philippines by leveraging the Unilever business and its network at the community level. What started as an idea by a few people two years ago has turned into a vibrant and rapidly evolving global network of changemakers and prototyping projects.
In addition to company-city- and country-specific projects and programs, ELIAS fellows have developed a global ecology of prototyping initiatives and an alumni network of high-potential leaders in some of the most innovative institutions in business, government, and the NGO sector.
Together, this global network hopes to use a web of activities develop the capacity to respond to some of the key challenges of our time in truly innovative ways (Field 4 responses).
Other outcomes of participation in the ELIAS program include:
- Prototypes of cross-sector innovation that address that shared challenges of
• creating value for the triple bottom line—the environment, society, and the
• economy—with the ultimate goal of advancing global sustainability
- A steadily growing network of leaders from the public, private, and civic sectors
• that will enhance and accelerate the benefits to individual members
- Information and ideas for innovative solutions to individual members’
• challenges
- An enhanced capacity among leaders to deal with the complexity of
globalization
• and sustainable development through practical innovations.
We, at MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS offer curated courses and consulting services on Theory U and Leadership from the Emerging Future from the commitment to alter the consciousness with which organizations, society and leadership operate.
One of our Leadership and Change Management workshops offered for senior leadership teams and entrepreneurs globally is *Leadership from the Emerging Future* a 3 month video conference based workshop series. We have had participation from 28 industries and 8 countries till now.
Our Cohort 12 starts from 24th February 2020.
For more information contact manoj@managementinnovations.co.in; 91-9106456275
MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS 