My Son Cries for Rain - Act for Sustainability Now!

Due to the semester break, we came to my hometown, Izmir, as a family, on Sunday. Thus, while I was relieving my mother's longing for grandchildren and children, whom I had not seen since the end of summer, I also made a change for myself by working remotely. 

Coming to Izmir is also a good opportunity to reminisce and meet friends. For this reason, I made a program on Tuesday evening with my ex-manager and my graduate friend in Karşıyaka, where I lived while I was in İzmir, and I took my son Okan after work and set off. My wife had already gone to Karşıyaka in the afternoon and met with her friend, and when I finished my work, father and son got into the car and got involved in the evening traffic. 

There was a lot of traffic on the Yeşildere road, and our radio was on. In the radio program we listened to, it was mentioned that we may encounter the problem of thirst and drought in the summer since there is almost no rain in the winter months and the probability of sufficient rain and snowfall in the coming days is low. Thereupon, I told Okan that we do not take diligent care of the world, and that in case of thirst, we will have difficulties in the summer. We talked about how the decrease in the availability of water, the source of life, will affect my life. Then the traffic started to flow, I concentrated on the road, there was silence for a while. Then, when one of Okan's favorite songs was played on the radio, I hung up on Okan, saying "you don't accompany me". He broke his silence by saying "I cried dad". 

Okan cried silently in the back seat, thinking that we are responsible for this situation with what happened to our world, what we did and did not do, and that we will all be punished for this responsibility in the coming period. Okan asked “What can we do now?” as he wiped his eyes with a napkin. I said, “we can take responsibility, protect nature, protect natural resources, set an example for our environment, and raise awareness.” After saying these things at first, I could not speak any more. The fact that a 9-year-old boy was upset and worried about these “big” issues was almost like directly hitting the wall for me. 

Then we parked the car in the parking lot of the shopping mall where we were going to meet with my wife and friends and got out of the car. While Okan was entering the mall with a used napkin in his hand, he saw the trash cans. One read "recyclable waste" and the other read "all other waste". “Can I dispose of the napkin in recyclable waste?” He said, “Of course,” I said, and after he threw, we moved on. 

As I was writing these lines the next day, I thought that even though it was late for yesterday, we still have things to do for today and tomorrow, and if we all do our part, we can leave a sustainable world for our children and grandchildren to live in. I am kicking off this day with this awareness, what about you? 

25/01/2023, Izmir, Turkiye

Pau Garcia Milia on "Why Big Corporations Should Innovate Like Start-Ups"

Pau Garcia Milia is a renowned speaker, entrepreneur and innovation expert who recently held a conference on innovation that I had the opportunity to join. The conference in Dubai was attended by a large number of PMI Duty Free employees who were eager to hear Pau's insights and thoughts on innovation.

Pau began the conference by highlighting the importance of innovation in today's fast-paced world. He explained that innovation is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for businesses and individuals to stay ahead of the curve. He also emphasized the need for continuous innovation, as the world is constantly changing and evolving.

One of the key takeaways from the conference was Pau's discussion on the role of technology in innovation. He stressed that technology is an enabler of innovation, but not the only driver. He also talked about the need to understand the user and their needs, as the ultimate goal of innovation is to solve real-world problems and improve the quality of life.

Pau also spoke about the importance of failure in the innovation process. He encouraged attendees to embrace failure as a valuable learning experience, and not to be afraid of taking risks and trying new things. He also emphasized the need for a culture of experimentation, where failures are seen as opportunities to learn and improve.

In conclusion, the conference on innovation by Pau Garcia Milia was a valuable learning experience for all attendees. Pau provided a fresh perspective on innovation and the role of technology, while also encouraging attendees to embrace failure and take risks in their pursuit of innovation. If you have the opportunity to attend one of Pau's conferences in the future, I highly recommend it! Thanks to PMI Duty Free Connect Conference organization team to have Pau in our event.

PS: The content including the text and image is mainly created by the technique shared by Pau in the conference and certainly, there are some personal touches on the text and image. Personally I am not new to Chat GPT and Canva but the way Pau used these tools in his speech confirm that I should keep on benefiting from these tools. 

Yağmur İçin Ağlayan Oğlum

Yağmurlu bir Pazar sabahında cama vuran yağmurun "camlar pislendi" diye düşündürmesi yerine "oh be nihayet barajlar dolmaya başlayacak" diye mutlu ettiği şu anlarda geçtiğimiz günlerde yazıp paylaşmaya çekindiğim aşağıdaki satırları artık paylaşabilirim.

 25/01/2023

Sömestre tatili sebebiyle geçtiğimiz Pazar günü ailece memleketim İzmir’e geldik. Böylece hem yaz sonundan beri göremediğim annemin torun ve evlat özlemini dindirirken, uzaktan çalışarak kendim için de bir değişiklik yapmış oldum.

İzmir’e gelmek demek, hatıraları yad etmek, dostlarla buluşmak için de iyi bir fırsat. Bu sebeple Salı akşamı için İzmir’deyken yaşadığım Karşıyaka’da eski müdürüm ve yüksek lisanstan arkadaşım ile program yaptım ve mesai sonrası oğlum Okan’ı da alıp yola çıktım. Zaten eşim öğlenden Karşıyaka’ya geçip arkadaşıyla buluşmuştu ve ben de işlerimi bitirince baba-oğul arabaya binip akşam trafiğine dahil olduk.

Yeşildere yolunda oldukça trafik vardı ve yolda radyomuz açıktı. Dinlediğimiz radyo programında içinde bulunduğumuz kış aylarında yağmurun neredeyse hiç yağmaması, önümüzdeki günlerde de yeterince yağmur ve kar yağma ihtimalinin düşük olması sebebiyle yazın susuzluk ve kuraklık sorunu ile karşılaşabileceğimizden bahsedildi. Bunun üzerine Okan’a dünyaya iyi bakmadığımızı, susuzluk yaşanması halinde yazın zorlanacağımız söyledim. Hayat kaynağı suyun bulunurluğunun azalmasının hayatımı nasıl etkileyeceğinden bahsettik. Sonra trafik akmaya başladı, ben yola konsantre oldum, bir süre sessizlik oldu. Ardından radyoda Okan’ın favori şarkılarından biri çalınca “eşlik etmiyorsun” diye takıldım Okan’a. Sessizliğini “ben ağladım baba” diye bozdu.

Dünyamızın başına gelenler, yaptıklarımız ve yapmadıklarımızla bu durumdan sorumlu olmamız ve önümüzdeki dönemde bu sorumluluğun cezasını da hep beraber çekecek olmamızı düşünerek arka koltukta sessizce ağlamıştı Okan. Peçeteyle gözlerini silerken “şimdi ne yapabiliriz?” diye sordu. Sorumluluk alabiliriz, doğayı koruyabiliriz, doğal kaynaklara sahip çıkıp çevremize de bu konuda örnek olup bilinçlendirebiliriz dedim. İlk anda bunları söyledikten sonra ben de daha fazla konuşamadım, 9 yaşında bir çocuğun bu konulara üzülüp endişe duyması beni adeta duvara toslatmıştı.

Ardından eşimle ve arkadaşlarımla buluşacağımız AVM’nin otoparkına arabayı park edip araçtan indik. Okan elindeki peçetelerle AVM’ye girerken çöp kutularını gördü. Birinin üstünde “geri dönüştürülebilir atıklar”, diğerinde de “tüm diğer atıklar” yazıyordu. “Peçeteyi geri dönüştürülebilir atıklara atabilir miyim?” dedi, “tabi ki” dedim ve attıktan sonra ilerledik.

Ertesi gün bu satırları yazarken dün için artık geç olsa da bugün ve yarın için hala yapabileceklerimiz olduğunu, hepimizin üstüne düşeni yapması halinde çocuklarımıza, torunlarımıza da yaşayabilecekleri sürdürülebilir bir dünya bırakabileceğimizi düşündüm. Bu bilinçle bugüne başlıyorum, peki ya sen?  

Nicholas Taleb's "Skin in the Game" | Remastered by ChatGPT

ChatGPT is gaining popularity and its capabilities are expanding. Inspired by the success and efficiency of ChatGPT, I decided to utilize its abilities to recreate my latest blog post. I have a blog dedicated to sharing quotes from the books I read, which can be found at myhighlightz.blogspot.com. I recently shared a link to my latest post on this blog and asked ChatGPT to turn it into a new blog post. The outcome was impressive.

Original Content: https://myhighlightz.blogspot.com/2023/01/skin-in-game-nassim-nicholas-taleb.html

And what ChatGPT brings:

The Importance of Taking Risks: A Look at Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "Skin in the Game"

In today's fast-paced and ever-changing world, it's easy to become risk-averse. With news of financial crises and economic downturns constantly being thrown in our faces, it can be tempting to play it safe in order to avoid losses. However, according to Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the key to success in life is to take risks and have "skin in the game."

In his bestselling book "Skin in the Game," Taleb argues that the individuals who are truly successful in life are those who are willing to put themselves on the line. They're the ones who are willing to take risks and to put their own money and reputation on the line. They're the ones who are willing to take a stand and to make a difference, even when it's difficult or uncomfortable.

But it's not just individuals that can benefit from having "skin in the game." In the business world, the best leaders are those who are willing to take risks and to put their own money and reputation on the line. They're the ones who are willing to invest in their own company and to put their own livelihoods at risk in order to create something great.

This mentality of having "skin in the game" is important for any individual or organization. It ensures that there's a sense of accountability and that decisions are made with the potential risks and rewards fully understood. By having "skin in the game," individuals and organizations are more likely to make decisions that are in their best interest and that will ultimately lead to success.

So, next time you're faced with a difficult decision, remember to take a cue from Nassim Nicholas Taleb and put your own "skin in the game." It may be uncomfortable, but it's the only way to achieve true success in life and in business. 

That's the result ChatGPT brings. It is a product of a few seconds and it makes sense when you read it. I am totally satisfied with the result. What do you think?

If you want to learn more about my blog, just watch this video for myhighlightz:

Toward a Sustainable, Inclusive, Growing Future: The Role of Business

I recently read a paper by McKinsey & Company which discusses the sustainable and inclusive growth against the challenges that await us. Surely this sustainable and inclusive growth will require the support of business leaders. Let me share my highlights from this paper.

Companies are hearing louder and louder calls from investors, employees, consumers, governments, and others to take action for sustainability and inclusion. But figuring out how to do so while pursuing their financial objectives will be a daunting challenge.

Realizing a better global future requires achieving three interlocking goals: sustainability, inclusion, and growth. In a sustainable world, climate change would be contained through net- zero emissions of greenhouse gases, and natural capital and biodiversity would be preserved. In an inclusive world, economic empowerment, opportunity, and progress would be shared by everyone. And in a growing world, economic activity would expand through greater productivity and innovation, providing the financial resources and new forms of growth needed to realize sustainability and inclusion.

As populations age in many parts of the world, labor forces are shrinking, requiring new ways to encourage labor participation and productivity growth. Meanwhile, the expanding knowledge economy is driving demand for workers with more technological and cognitive skills, while automation and artificial intelligence are increasingly displacing routine work.

Economic growth is necessary for the world to start closing the empowerment and sustainability gaps. The reason is simple: growing economies produce financial resources, services, and technologies that can be brought to bear on global challenges. Every percentage point of growth creates income that is consumed, saved, or invested; some of that income will raise households to empowered levels of spending, and some will contribute savings that help build the infrastructure needed for the net-zero transition. Growth does lead to some counteracting forces; two major examples are income inequality and energy consumption, both of which tend to increase in tandem with growth. Nevertheless, the baseline growth that we expect this decade will be critical in order to partly fill the empowerment and sustainability gaps by 2030.

But growth alone will not provide enough financial resources to close the gaps. Business-led innovation, can make growth more inclusion- and sustainability-oriented in several critical ways under the right conditions. For starters, as innovation boosts overall growth, more income flows to households and can be spent by those below the empowerment line or saved and invested for sustainability. Furthermore, innovation can help close the empowerment gap when it is paired with policies that help boost workers’ wages and labor force participation in sectors with rising productivity, making growth more inclusive. Innovation can also make inclusion and sustainability more “affordable”—for example, as companies invent ways to bring less costly healthcare or internet access to low-income people, or as they figure out how to produce low- emissions technology more cheaply. And when innovation provides low-emissions technology more cheaply, it helps close the sustainability gap further by shifting consumers’ preferences toward that technology; electric vehicles are a good recent example.

Because growth is necessary for the world to achieve greater sustainability and inclusion, companies will necessarily play a vital role simply by driving baseline growth during the challenging global circumstances ahead. After all, companies are the most powerful growth engines in the world economy: in OECD countries, businesses account for about 70 percent of GDP, and companies with more than $1 billion in revenue account for about 30 percent. They drive productivity growth in various ways, including R&D and digital transformation, and they build human capital. They are particularly important in drawing workers into more formal, productive, and skill-enhancing jobs in lower-income economies. In short, they have the reach and innovative capabilities required for transforming and shaping how the economy grows.

But delivering baseline growth will not be enough. Closing the gaps entirely will require companies to pursue new strategies of innovation and collaboration with government stakeholders. Opportunities for them to innovate, supporting more growth and helping make inclusion and sustainability more affordable, are legion. Companies can shift the ways they create and share benefits with their immediate stakeholders— workers, customers, suppliers, communities, and shareholders—in order to be more inclusive. They can create products and services that support inclusion: healthcare, affordable housing, critical infrastructure, bank accounts, and so forth. And they can work to adjust their impact on the environment.

At the same time, companies do not always have incentives to tackle the world’s inclusion and sustainability challenges, even when their capabilities and innovation are needed. For example, a company may be reluctant to invest in training programs for its workers if the business case is not obvious—if those workers are likely to then move elsewhere, say, or if the company fears losing ground to competitors that do not bear the same costs. A company that can create new products to reduce the cost of public goods, such as broadband networks to expand digital inclusion or advanced power plants to reduce emissions, may not have reason to anticipate eventual returns on its investment absent government support.

The world’s goals for sustainable, inclusive growth are thus not always aligned with companies’ financial incentives—but the calls to do more are loud. One reason for those calls is that companies are tightly linked to existing challenges to inclusion and sustainability. The share of their income that goes to their workers has fallen, for instance. And among large companies headquartered in the G20 countries, Scope 1 emissions, which are defined as emissions from a company’s owned or controlled sources, account for about 15 percent of total emissions worldwide each year. Such connections suggest that companies will necessarily be partners in the new growth imperative.

The world’s sustainability and inclusion deficits cannot be filled immediately, but that should be a rallying cry for companies, not a reason for inaction. The scope of the challenge makes it that much more critical for them to determine which problems make sense to tackle while realizing the financial returns they need, particularly when inaction could bring financial risks. Two main approaches are possible: acting through market opportunities that are already available and helping shape new ones where incentives are not yet aligned.

It is paramount for companies and the public sector to work together to understand how incentives may come into place and help businesses that want to implement a robust agenda for ESG and sustainable, inclusive growth.

If you are interested in the full report, here it is: toward-a-sustainable-inclusive-growing-future-the-role-of-business.pdf (mckinsey.com)