From January 22 – 25, 2014 the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting takes place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.  The meeting brings together some 2,500 top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world, including health and the environment. The 2014 topic is „The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business“.

The question is, what comes out of this meeting?  Media coverage is guaranteed, provocative and not so provocative speeches will be given, experts have panel discussions, participants will be inspired (or not) by old and new problems and ideas alike.  And then what!?  Will it be like in most other conferences where people meet, network, listen to speeches, participate in discussions, just to go home and return to their daily routines?  I reckon that in the majority of cases, this will be the case.  This is frustrating and yet, not too surprising.

An idea is worthless if you don’t embrace it and follow through

Fact is that most conferences and seminars share the same fate.  While the quality of such events can be outstanding, the actual outcomes and returns of them are miniscule and often negligible.  What a waste of time, money and energy you are tempted to think.  And it is true, it often is a waste – safe for the networking, good food, nice location and maybe even fun.  The actual return on investment (ROI) remains low. – This doesn’t have to be this way!

How can ideas spark innovation?

I am lucky and honored that this time I will be in Davos.  Not to attend the WEF Annual Meeting.  I neither have the money nor the influence to get invited to this prestigious event.  But I will be in Daovs-Klosters nevertheless.  I will conduct a workshop for fellows of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation with the title “Finding the Spirit of WOW Projects: Turning ideas into projects for cuccess and have fun at the same time”.

What we will do is to pick some problems and ideas shared during the panel discussion “Ethical Capitalism: Worth a Try?” at the Open Forum Davos and grow them into concrete project proposals.  I will show the workshop participants how to apply a simple yet very effective technique to get down to the real issues at hand and develop a foundation for WOW projects to evolve.  Time allowing we will present our findings and proposals at a debriefing event of the Open Forum Davos.

 

 

And it doesn’t stop there:  The hope is that participants will follow through with their project proposals and implement them.  Where and how, will be decided in onsite.

Invitation to fun and innovation: On a chairlift and the slopes of Davos-Klosters

http://www.igluski.com/images/davos_i5245603.jpg?height=240&width=440http://www.skisolutions.com/uploads/image/photo/3456/resort_carousel_Davos_skiing.JPGI want to continue this discussion.  For this purpose the Institute for Project and Business Transformation and I would like to invite individuals who are interested in learning more about the technique of turning ideas into WOW projects.  However, I don’t want to meet in a conference room.   Instead, let’s meet in the resort, i.e., on chairlifts and the slopes of Davos-Klosters.  What better location could there be where you can integrate good ideas, physical exercise and natural beauty. Planned dates are January 26-29, 2014.

Please contact me directly if you are interested and want to join this select group.