The keynote address was delivered by Richard Hames, a corporate philosopher. Notes and observations from Hames' address:

Leadership is changing and needing to change—in response to a major transition occurring in the world. We are moving from industrial economism (which has sustained the world for the last 300 years) and a new world order. Population growth is putting huge pressure on “life critical” systems, systems initially created to sustain order in our society. These included the economy, trade, production and distribution of food, cleaning drinking water, education, and the law.

The occidental lens, through which most world systems have been developed, is no longer valid. Systems are beginning to fail. Extreme events (weather, for example) are fundamentally changing life on the planet. The pressures being exerted and the emergent failures are now creating opportunities for change, particularly in the leadership arena.

The emergent change is that we are starting to exit the CEO (competitive business achiever) meme, and to enter a “community” meme, where shared purpose (collaboration) will begin to prevail over the accumulation mindset. Hames said the vehicle to lead through this transition are the “the five literacies of leadership”.

Hames’ talk was interesting, and the five literacies coherent. However, the talk seemed to assume that the CEO meme is inherently flawed (ie: selfish and subject to corrupt practice) and must be replaced. This troubles me. Cannot CEO and community memes co-exist? 

I've just read a short, approachable article that reminded me of some rather interesting background reading I did 6–12 months ago.

Throughout the early stages of my doctoral research, I was encouraged to read about some of the "big names" in scientific endeavour: Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Crick & Watson. While my research is very much positioned in the social science field, my supervisor suggested that reading widely would help me to  understand how great minds went about their work, how they recognised "opportunities", and how they achieved breakthroughs.

A key learning to emerge from all this background reading is that Galileo, Newton and Einstein all employed an iterative technique of discovery. They cycled around an inductive–deductive loop, inferring a theory and then testing it. They modified existing tools in order to conduct previously unknown tests. And this is what made their work effective.

As we approach Christmas, and look at the night sky, we can thank Galileo for recognising the spyglass might be useful to understand the heavenly bodies. And I thank my supervisor for helping me recognise the inductive–deductive loop, a technique I've adopted for my own research.

Note: This Muse is somewhat different from many previous entries. Whereas most prior entries record aspects of my doctoral journey, or make suggestions about a range of topics, this Muse simply poses a question: "What is the purpose of economic growth?"

I'm raising this question now because I realised, while re-reading some PhD notes today, that a statement that appears several times in my papers is heavily loaded. The statement is: "High company performance is an important contributor to economic growth and societal wellbeing". Today, for the first time, I realised this statement somehow assumes that economic growth and societal wellbeing are some how "good", and therefore worthy of pursuit. But why? What is the purpose of economic growth? What is the underlying driver?

Before you get too excited, I'm certainly not devaluing economic growth as such. Rather I'm asking why we humans pursue it. I don't have a clear answer right now, but I will ponder this question over the coming days, do some reading, and try to form some views.

To kick the discussion off, Benjamin Friedman, the political economist, writing in 2006, asserted that "Economic growth—meaning a rising standard of living for the clear majority of citizens—more often than not fosters greater opportunity, tolerance of diversity, social mobility, commitment to fairness, and dedication to democracy. Ever since the Enlightenment, Western thinking has regarded each of these tendencies positively, and in explicitly moral terms."

What do you think? I love to hear your ideas—considered, wacky or otherwise!

The ugly face of conflicted interests in local council governance raised it head in Wellington again today. In September, I suggested that it was time for Councils (and Councillors) to resolve the conflict of interest that exists when they appoint themselves to subsidiary company boards.

This morning, the Dominion Post published a front page article stating that Wellington City Councillors had voted to axe perks for board appointments. This sounds like a step in the right direction, however the decision will only become effective from the next term! Further, Councillors can (and probably will) still appoint themselves to plum roles. This smacks of cronyism and the feathering one's nest for personal gain.

It's disappointing that the Council has not bitten the bullet by moving immediately to appoint independent directors to the Boards of subsidiary companies. The appointment of independent directors, through a robust appointment process, will achieve at least three positive outcomes:

• Remove the conflict of interest that exists when Councillors appoint and pay themselves
• Ensure the best possible skills are recruited to maximise business performance
• (Begin to) restore public confidence in civic administration 

Every day, news stories and articles from a plethora of sources arrive in my email inbox and news reader software. The deluge is self-inflicted—I need to read widely for my doctoral studies. Mind you, having a voracious appetite for general knowledge doesn't help much!

Every now and again, an article seems to lift itself off the screen, seemingly to attract extra attention as my eyes scan down the headings. Today, one such article was the "Top 100 global thinkers for 2012" list, published by Foreign Policy magazine. I looked at the FP list, because I was fascinated to know whether Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma or the Pakistani student Malala Yousafzai featured anywhere. To my surprise (and delight) both appeared in the top ten.

It seems that, in 2012 at least, global influence is strongly correlated with politics and activism. With one exception (Sebastian Thrum—a computer scientist who has been working on the driverless car), the top ten are all activists or politicians fighting for various causes. It's not until you read further down the list that musicians, economists and business people start to appear.

The point of this muse? Perhaps if you aspire to become globally influential, you should turn to politics in a volatile state, or embrace a vital cause. But most people motivated by these endeavours couldn't care less about fleeting appearances on "influence" lists. Rather, their primary motivation is the cause they've chosen the invest their hearts and souls in, and the enduring impact of their efforts. And therein lies a lesson for us all, as we ponder our role in society and contribution to it.

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Holiday Season in the US. Sinter Klaas is not far away for Western Europeans (5 Dec). Indeed, today marks one month until Christmas Day. With the cooling of the weather in the Northern Hemisphere, and its warming in the Southern, many people start reflecting on the year past, and the year ahead. On their hopes and dreams, and on the giving and receiving of gifts.

In the spirit of the season, and the general theme of this blog, what might your corporate governance wish be this year?

• more diversity on Boards?
• better alignment between pay and performance?
• less corruption and fraud?
• directors taking more responsibility and accountability?
• something completely different?

I'd like to think that 2013 will herald a sea-change for governance; the year in which the boardroom troubles of recent years were consigned history; the year in which Boards got on with the business of growing companies, making them strong and improving societal wellbeing as a result. Gosh, that sounds grand. Is this too much to wish for, or is this something worth striving for?