Babcock Ranch, a new sustainable community being built in
Florida, has designs on being the model for the future. The entire
7,285-hectare development, comprising residential, retail and
entertainment precincts as well as an elementary school, is entirely
run on solar power. But its real innovation lies in its transport
system. As the roads are privately owned, developers have been
able to sidestep the usual bureaucracy and regulations to create
America’s first autonomous shuttle service. Syd Kitson, CEO of
Kitson & Partners, the brains behind Babcock Ranch, says that
he hopes that once people move into their homes, they will soon
realise that they don’t need a car at all. He says that on top of
the shuttle service, there are plans for ride-sharing services,
autonomous delivery, and bike sharing.CHANGING
MANAGEMENT
Much is said about innovative Silicon Valley, but socially
progressive countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Norway have
been disrupting for a long time too. In late 2017, a few hundred
companies, including Ikea, Lego, Volvo, H&M, and Maersk, came
together to hack management. The aforementioned countries
rank highly on global happiness indexes, so they could be onto
something. Here are some interesting ideas that emerged.- Choose your own boss Every employee decides who they
want to report to. - Introduce radical transparency Set up an internal ratings
system where workers can comment on the level of
engagement and effectiveness of different departments. - Lead for a week Each employee gets to trade places with
the team leader to increase understanding on both sides
of what the functions and challenges of the roles are. - Fixed-term leadership Set the period of time for a leader
to be in their role, after which they need to move up or
sideways into another department. This encourages
cross-pollination of talent and ideas.
“IT HAS LED TO A BETTER
LEVEL OF DECISION MAKING
THAN WE COULD HAVE
EVER IMAGINED.”- JUSTIN TRUDEAU, SPEAKING
ON THE SUCCESS OF HIS
DECISION TO APPOINT A
GENDER-BALANCED CABINET
SELF-
DRIVING
CITY
INNOVATE | News