May 3, 2011 20 Comments

Seeking 12 Million Jobs at the Milken Institute Global Conference

Panel at Milken Institute Global Conference

I was invited to attend the Milken Institute Global Conference 2011 by my friend Leo Bottary on behalf of Vistage International. Having never been, I wasn’t sure what to expect. My first thought: holy cats, there are a LOT of powerful people here. My second thought: most of them are way smarter than me. My third thought: wow, this is going to be quite an event.

All of these things were true.

Help Wanted: Seeking 12 Million Jobs

This was the panel led by Vistage Chairman and CEO Rafael Pastor, and featuring people like John Engler (former Governor of Michigan), and Susan Windham-Bannister, President and CEO, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and a few other smart cookies. The topic was to answer questions like this: How will the Great Recession and its aftermath change the structure of employment in the future? And the answers were interesting, challenging, and pointed towards some really difficult business and government decisions left to be made for us to have any success with finding more jobs for people.

For instance, Susan Windham-Bannister from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center explained a program where they spend some government money to help grow new businesses, and then seek out venture money to further develop these companies. On the one side, government wants to create more jobs, which leads to a better level of prosperity for a state. On the other side, venture capital firms want to keep overhead low, so it was my feeling that perhaps these two forces were at odds with each other. Never the less, that’s the environment as it stands right now, and that’s the challenge facing business and government.

2.2 Trillion Dollars in Unmet Infrastructure Needs

Thoughts of how this gets solved were tricky. Mary Kay Henry, International President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) pointed out that there are 2.2 trillion dollars in unmet infrastructure needs, and that there seems to be a big gap between that number, which would create many jobs, and the funding, which seems to favor projects other than infrastructure. Meanwhile, to point out again what Susan Windham-Bannister was saying, funding something like a $13 Million pumping station allowed Genzyme to build an additional $10 million business unit that created 300 jobs.

So, how will those challenges be handled? How does one decide when “roads and bridges” are what’s going to fuel growth and contribute to a better quality of life?

The ROI On These Projects Is Huge

John Engler, former Governor of Michigan and president of Business Roundtable, pointed out that fixing up the US air traffic control issues is a $40 Billion project, but that this adds nothing to the deficit over time. He also pointed out that similarly, improving electrical power efficiency is a huge opportunity that reduces waste spending and thus provides a strong ROI for the project. The question/problem/opportunity then becomes, why is it that government gets in the way all the time?

Engler said this poignant gem: “China didn’t set up US regulatory rules. We did this to ourselves.” One other gem of his was calling for some kind of testing acceptance between Europe and the US in things like safety compliance. For instance, he said, if they crash a car in Europe to measure its safety and it passes, that same car should be deemed safe in the US. That would speed up acceptance of things like drug trials and medical device implementation, and it would give us a faster marketplace for growth.

One of my favorite bits was when Rafael Pastor asked this question: Is unemployment cyclical or structural? Meaning, is unemployment just something that comes in waves, or is it something that’s symbolic of a system/structure problem? His point was that one’s view of this problem partially helped prescribe a point of view. I found that question something I hadn’t much considered before, and that, such as it was, is what I found most of all at this event.

If you want to learn more about the panel you can actually watch it here.

What I’m Learning at #GC2011

These people are economists, nonprofits, financial wizards, and futurists. I got to meet with Jeff Clavier from SoftTech for a moment. Tomorrow, I’ll spend some time with Bill Gross, and others. It’s a far cry from the crowd I normally spend my days with, and that has proven interesting, but also instructive. For what I also thought about after spending this time with these people is that what you and I know, this whole social media thing, is every bit as important as we sometimes think it is.

Because one thing I’ve noticed is that these conversations don’t spread far enough. People are writing into notebooks, not tweeting to their constituencies. People are meeting with old friends, not opening themselves up to serendipity. People are, more than ever, going to need what we know how to do, to wire up these global conversations that travel in and around the real global economy. They’re going to need to follow more people like @bill_gross, who made it easy for me to keep track of two rooms at once.

But we, on the other hand, are going to need to turn out social media skills on things far more interesting and challenging than our Klout scores. We have to look at what influence really means. We have to understand how to equip and empower more than 140 characters worth of value. We have to realize how trust spreads in this new frontier. We have to help people with strong voices in person become strong stewards of those voices in their new digital tongue.

So, not only were the panelists seeking out 12 million jobs, but you and I have the opportunity to think bigger than what we’re doing right now, and see what we can do to improve the lot of people all over the globe. It’s big. It’s more than what we normally think about in the course of a day. And it’s everything.

What say you?

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  • @elizabethonline

    It’s funny that you say this is something bigger than a lot of us think about on any given day, because it goes beyond that. There are people on SM thinking about these things, but “social proof” algorithms drown it out. Does my Klout score stink bc my blog stinks or does my Klout score stink because my blog talks about challenging problems in the modern social and educational climate that no one wants to read because that’s harder than talking about Charlie Sheen?

    Maybe both, frankly. Either way, perhaps you’re issuing a call to a smaller group of people on Twitter to a) absolutely not stand for being drowned out themselves and b) bring people like those you met at Milken into the fold.

    …and finally: I am *so* jealous that you went to this!

  • Deborah Mourey

    Brogan, thanks for this. Glad to see powerful ppl from Vistage working together on challenges. To create jobs we’re going to need all the brain power we can! cyclical, structural- it just doesn’t matter. We’ve never been in this kind of situation before and it requires radically new thinking to help us find global solutions. silos just are not going to cut it, whether they be geographic, industrial, commercial, etc. While the challenges are huge, so is the opportunity to work together to find solutions.

    You belong in that company. thanks for being my eyes and ears in places where I don’t get invited and can’t be but hope to build on the momentum and smarts. You’re a bit more than a typist… lol deborah from rochester

  • Ian Smith

    Chris, I’m building a set of workshops to address part of the underlying issue behind job creation so your post was fascinating. Here is the shocker – 27.3 m US enterprises, 26.7m employ 19 people or less. If we could move that dial just a little ie if more enterprises could grow quicker, the law of large numbers kicks in and you quantum leap employment.

  • http://raulcolon.net Raul Colon

    Chris,

    I think sometimes many of us get so into learning what tools and what ways we can be more social. We forget a critical part and that is connecting the being social to practical and effective solutions for other problems.

  • http://twitter.com/susangiurleo susangiurleo

    Chris, this post gives me chills because it’s how *we change the world*.

    Many people ‘in social media’ exist in a an echo chamber. Our value to our clique is minimal. We think and work small.

    But our value to the thought leaders who make policy and academics who make new discoveries, scientists who find ways to treat diseases, health care providers who can educate internationally about prevention, is immense.

    The opportunities are huge and THIS is the work that excites me, personally.

    The hard work is in bridging the divide between those people who have the meta ideas and concepts and the people who know how to efficiently spread the word.
    We talk different languages now, but connections are being made and your being at this conference is a wonderful thing.

    BTW- those people aren’t smarter than you. They know different things.
    Do what you do best and teach them what you know.

  • Lilyn

    Cool post, but the one thing that I’ve noticed and this (and many other events) is the lack of diversity. Being an African-American who’s also a bit of a techie, I sometimes wonder if event organizers even think of diversity when they plan these events. Amina Salum Ali and Susan Windham-Bannister are among those represented, but as always, there could have been more. I believe diversity provides for a richer conversation.
    Also, I agree with your point that the conversations aren’t leaving the conference. Getting some execs. to even think about posting, tweeting or sharing info. in other ways is difficult. Most think they may open themselves up for ridicule or just don’t have the time. Heck, some even feel they will need to get ‘approval’ from the powers that be at their organizations or companies or that they feel the need to get an OK by legal.
    Believe it or not, some companies have social media protocols and/or policies that could bar them from participating in certain online activities.
    Just a few thoughts.
    Best.
    L.

  • http://profiles.google.com/josart77 JoAnn Sanborn

    So glad that you were invited, and that you’re sharing this information with us. It’s wonderful to know that really smart people are looking for solutions that will work as we go forward. I’m hopeful for the future, but some days it’s really hard and the way not at all clear. A post like this is encouraging. Thanks, Chris

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  • http://www.thewritedesignco.com/ BillionDollarBlogger

    I say that this is a great opportunity for live blogging, and I wish I had been there. Not just as a live blogger, but for the information I know you gained. Ah, I’m sooooo jealous of you right now. Let me know what you find out about that unemployment question. As a Chicago South Side resident and community blogger, it is much higher in our communities and to know if unemployment is cyclical, structural, political or social would be great to know.

    One more thing about live blogging, I am looking to grow the live blogging arm of my business. So, please share other opportunities you discover. Thanks much.

  • http://blog.owengreaves.com/ owengreaves

    Hi Chris,

    Thanks for sharing, I would have loved to be at that event as well. If I may put something on your radar, I will be speaking at the World Futurist Society Conference in Vancouver July 8th – 10th, I’m told somehwere between 1,000 – 1,500 Futurists from around the world come together and share ideas and thoughts on a variety of topics. I’m speaking on The Future Of Business, specifically the Open & Free Business Model.

    If it were at all possible, you should try and attend this event, some of the brightest minds in the world will be attending and sharing. We are trying to answer similar questions and there are some answers too. Anyway, I thought I would drop a note, if you prefer we can take this to email.

  • http://www.margieclayman.com Marjorie Clayman

    This is very heady stuff, and I too wish that I could have gone. I’ll watch that panel when I have a free moment.

    As I mentioned on Twitter yesterday, my beloved Buckeye state, for all of the joking, is actually in quite a dire situation right now. Our schools are losing all of their money, our talented people are leaving the state as soon as they can, and our governor, well, he decides that an infrastructure improvement that could create tons of jobs plus make peoples’ lives better isn’t a top priority.

    Are these problems cyclical or structural? I would think probably both. Something happens in the structure of our society to create problems, like the prospecting on Wall Street. But instead of finding effective ways to get ourselves out, we make it worse. I always think about that Steve Martin sketch on Saturday Night Live.

    “A new way to avoid going broke – if you don’t have money, don’t spend it! Revolutionary!”

    Our politicians, cities, states, all need to get that kind of basic thinking down before things will really get better.

    I think where Social Media could play a huge role is making more clear and more public what we want the priorities to be. Could you organize as many people as possible from your state on twitter and have them tweet about the need for a new bridge, a new school system? Heck yeah. Hashtag that baby. Create a chat for it. And that’s just Twitter. The possibilities are really endless, aren’t they?

    Thanks for sharing the wealth of knowledge. Sorry I wrote a post here. =p

  • DaraBell

    Those guys at Vistage very happy to connect I find. Open an engaging is the way forward. I see most people tend to have around 222 friends on Facebook.

    Big goals are important especially where growth and prosperity are concerned. Japan had some hairy ones after the war and their economy grew very rapidly. Only concern is we could get swamped in goals. There are quite a out there about MDG’s, urban development goals etc etc.

    Sure they appreciated your thoughts!!

    Dara

  • http://ClimbingEveryMountain.com Mary E. Ulrich

    Forgive my scepticism Chris, but my Facebook page was hacked yesterday. I mention it because as much as I want to just “trust” other countries, businesses and people–it is a scary world with evil people who want to do selfish things. I mean–I am a total nobody and someone thought it was worth causing havoc with my stupid meaningless Facebook account.

    We need the government to keep us safe from many things we can’t possibly control. And it is foolish to think we can trust private companies. For instance, according to Wikipedia, “Thalidomide was sold in a number of countries across the world from 1957 until 1961 when it was withdrawn from the market after being found to be a cause of birth defects in what has been called “one of the biggest medical tragedies of modern times”.[4] Fortunately, a government inspector, Frances Oldham Kelsey, refused to approve it for the US, even AFTER it had been approved in other countries.

    Think about recent scandals with lead in toys from China, food corruption…. There are many things that only the government can monitor.

    I agree with Marjorie Clayman comment, I would leave Ohio too if I could because it is not a safe place to live with my son who needs support from the government. Certainly there needs to be a balance. And there needs to be government oversite, whether from social media, or active involvement in boards and committees. But, no mistake about it. We need a strong government.

  • Anonymous

    One of best posts of late. Nice gap analysis of this segment with regards to social media.

  • http://www.dcctvsecurity.com DCCTV

    I like to learn by doing and have taught my classes this way, but Khan takes this into a wonderful direction that is being used by schools. Thinking and learning grows exponentially when you interact.

  • http://www.realestateactive.com Jeff Bridges

    Hope that it is going to be the end of struggles for many jobless souls out there. And since the community status starts on each and every small family, it is meaningful to fill in their tables and fridges by offering them jobs that they can count on to for the rest of their existence.

  • http://www.shop-bag.net

    Heya..thanks for the post and great tips..even I also think that hard work is the most important aspect of getting success.
    What a fun pattern! It’s great to hear from you and see what you’ve sent up to. All of the projects look great! You make it so simple to this.Thanks!

  • Anonymous
  • http://hobbyarticledirectory.net/ hobby article directory

    Nice post! good discussion and get valuable knowledge from the creme mind of business all over the world….

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