Big Ideas, Big Dreams: Economics Spotlight Series
This year I’m writing a series of articles spotlighting some big (economic) ideas that have the potential to drive big dreams. “Big dreams” are not necessarily everyone’s immediate response to economic ideas, but it is how I’m wired.
It was the final two years of my school days when I first discovered economics. It was the first time I felt like I completely ‘got’ an academic subject. Until then, I assumed I was one of those OK all-rounder types. I loved it so much that I decided to study it at university. In the final year of my degree, economics suddenly found itself beginning something of an existential crisis. Economists began to disagree with each other about some of the core ideas that my generation (and a few before) had learned about for years. The discourse brought into question fundamental assumptions that I’d never thought to challenge until then. It was such an awakening for me! Here began an exciting and creative period for what many consider a pretty dry and uneventful subject.
Countering this excitement was also a frustration. I was coming to the end of my studies, not starting out. As I graduated and started my professional life, I wanted to see where these new economic ideas could take us. I continued reading and following new and emerging economic thinking that deeply challenged the status quo.
My professional life took me in the direction of people leadership and human resources. I was always looking for ways to incorporate some of the big ideas I was learning about into the way we run our organisations and ultimately our economy. That fascination still drives me now and that’s the context in which I’m writing this ‘Big Ideas, Big Dreams’ series.
The big ideas I’m spotlighting not only inspire me and my dreams for the world, they are central to my work everyday and worthy of spreading. Through this series I hope to inspire you too, to dream bigger in the work you’re doing. The ideas might challenge your patterns of thinking and, in the nicest possible way, occasionally burst your bubble. So many of these thinkers have done that for me, so I hope they do it for you. They have the potential to influence decisions we make, the ideas we shape and the action we take every day in our work.
The world needs big ideas, more now than ever before. Ideas are the beginning of something new, exciting and important, but only if we choose to do something different because of them. An idea alone isn’t enough. It’s got to get into our actions if it has any hope of testing its validity.
That is the invitation from me to you this year. Try something new, informed by one or more of these ideas.
Socially, culturally, environmentally and economically, our work impacts so much and so many. If we’re to meet the urgent global challenges we face, we’ve got to speed up the process of putting our best, biggest and boldest ideas into action.
In each article I’ll share with you a big idea from a big thinker. I’ll talk about why their idea matters and ask how it might influence you and your work. I’ll share with you the impact it’s had on me and mine, to help get you started.
My six part series will include:
Joseph Stiglitz
Amartya Sen
Nick Bloom
It was incredibly hard to choose just six, as there are so many more who have influenced my thinking. Perhaps this will be series one? Let’s see how we go! Thanks for coming along for the ride.