011 David Price: People-Powered Innovation
“To what extent are we going to let these things be someone else’s problem, the next generation’s problem? Or are we actually going to say, let’s re-evaluate the economic wealth disparities around the world?" This episode I’m speaking to David Price OBE. He’s had an incredible portfolio career, first as a musician, then working in education during the 80s and 90s, before founding UK culture change consultancy We Do Things Differently. He is the author of Open: How We'll Work, Live and Learn In The Future and this year published his most recent book, The Power Of Us: How We Connect, Act, and Innovate Together. The Power of Us is an urgent call for leaders, teams and individuals to challenge the status quo. In our conversation, we talk about how the response to Covid-19 has shone a light on the people-powered innovation which is reshaping our world. David says that we’re now seeing a global wave of self-determined and self-organised activism, a sense of community that has been empowering for all of us. David takes us behind the scenes of some of the world’s most innovative organisations, harnessing the power of collaboration and diverse thinking to effect real change – and demonstrates what we can learn from them. He also offers a practical tool kit of ideas to show us how we can foster our own cultures of creatives to transform our lives and rebuild this world, better for the future. And he also explains how urgently change is needed, across the world. "We are faced with something that is quite shameful when you think about it," he told me. "Globally, only 30 per cent of employees are engaged by their work. That means 70 per cent arent. And they are leading lives of unmitigated misery." For David, the answer is not in trying to change cultures from the inside, but in starting anew, building a different model, a better one, with a culture of trust and autonomy for the future. We also talk about how you can find your way out of a career and life that you are not passionate about by trying new things, looking for new learning opportunities and taking time out for your hobbies in your daily life so that you can get closer to your purpose and passions. And we even discuss the end of line managers! If you are the two-thirds of people not loving their careers, this episode is for you.