It was my great honour and pleasure to be invited to speak at the WCIW conference in Seychelles, in Victoria, Mahé by Marie-Antoinette and Jim Friedman. The three-day event was about Creative Collaboration and building a Creative, Sustainable Economy for Seychelles. We had different speakers at our ‘Business as UNusual’ workshop and also had a hot seat session.
As the Creativity and Innovation Champion for Switzerland, creativity and innovation are close to my heart, and I love being a part of something that celebrates and promotes individual and collective creativity and collaboration as a way to both make money and enhance sustainability. This is exactly what we are talking about when we say we blend people, profits and the planet, and that if we change the way we do business, we can change the world
THE BUSINESS AS UNUSUAL WORKSHOP
Our Workshop takes attendees through the Me-to-We Framework in a hands-on co-creation experience. Since most people operate from a place of ME, thinking first about what they want and how they can get it, and selling ideas outward, we begin by looking at core strengths and setting ourselves up for success.
Through hands-on work on a real project, we move beyond Me thinking to consider THEM. By thinking about who the client is and what they want, we introduce a strategy businesses integrate into the client ecosystem. Then we teach how to mitigate risk and co-create value with your clients by inviting them into your world to become part of your US team and become your “sustomers” (sustainable customers).
Finally, the WE portion of the event shows how to build a mutually supportive ecosystem that consistently produces irresistible offers, and how to iterate for reliable results.
In Seychelles, we encountered a powerful crowd with people from diverse industries including education, students, tax-advise, organic agriculture, carpentry, UN advocacy, politics, hospitality, fishing, conservation and coral restoration, construction, recycling, local farming, car rental, fashion, pet trading, yoga teaching, sewing, business development, mentorship and coaching.
The event saw some powerful presentations, which we touched on last week, powerful conversations and an exchange of ideas, which we will discuss more next week when I share the workshop outcomes.
As an attendee, Peter Sinon said, ‘The event presented opportunities to network and raise awareness on a number of critical issues. It touched both the personal and wider setting within which we operate and through the sharing of experiences one leaves the workshop hungry of more.