Philosopher Daniel Dennett says the definition of happiness is to find something bigger than you are and dedicate the rest of your life to it. Perhaps that’s why some businesses thrive – because they have people behind them who subscribe to the idea that the role of business is to make the world a better place, and everything else becomes energized by that goal. Business meets needs, solves problems, innovates, improves lives, creates jobs and offers everyday joy.
The premise of Peter Diamandis and Stephen Kotler’s new book, Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World is on a similar wavelength – that entrepreneurs can solve global-scale problems.
The book is touted as a guide to ‘exponential digital chutzpah’ in a world where failure for entrepreneurs is more likely to result from thinking too small than too big. It teaches entrepreneurs how to thrive in the face of advancing technology, using a framework called the ‘six D’s of exponentials’:
- Digitalization – while our ancestors relied on telling stories around the campfire as a form of transmission, now we can share instantly with the push of a button.
- Disruption – it’s happening in any and every industry, with innovation creating a new market and disrupting an existing one. Kodak even became a victim of its own invention.
- Deception – a period where exponential growth by new technologies goes unnoticed and is downplayed by existing industries. Then it takes over in a big way.
- Demonetization – technology is making not just things, but knowledge, free. In a virtual sense, digital cameras made film free by making it digital.
- Dematerialization – at odds with our society of consumerism. Smartphones aren’t just smart – they’re also a camera, watch, notepad, calculator…and that’s before you start downloading apps. They’ve caused entire product lines to almost disappear.
