Last week’s recording of the webinar “In Praise of Organizational Excellence” HERE  https://youtu.be/wnA-ObZMAk8  features Perry Kinkaide – as host, interview of Dawn Ringrose: author, researcher, and life-long champion of learning from others in the pursuit of organizational excellence.  Dawn reviews the principles of organizational excellence and research and their application in organizations large and small, public and corporate, and a comparison of Canada with Other Nations. Audience engagement enriches the webinar by discussing the application of the principles in economic and business development, contrasting management and administration, the relevance of excellence in keeping up with the rate of change specifically the impact of emerging technologies, the importance of measuring performance, and finally what to expect in Canada’s future. – Editor

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Pioneering Insights throughout 2023 in Technology, Leadership, and Societal Challenges

As I reflect on 2023 three major problems and solutions stand out that should be top priority for leaders in 2024. Prevention – for solving homelessness through education resolving the failure of public transition services, giving priority to increasing the resilience of our youth. Productivity – addressing the decline in GDP and forecasts that unless reversed, Canada will continue the drift to a third-world economy. Personalization – purging wait times, priorizing people over supply, and ending public service monoplies. The timing is perfect – public awareness is high, an election is near, and advances in artificial intelligence complimentary.

These insights emerged throughout 2023, discussed among KEI’s 45 newsletters and associated webinars – visit KEInetwork.net  I intended to reriew them all in a summary for you but the task was just too personal and – to be honest, too overwhelming for me to otherwise relax over the holidays.  So I asked my personal assistant – ChatGPT, for help by prompting it to review and summarize the KEI Network’s 45-newsletters published in 2023. Here is ChatGPT’s reply:

      Click the image or HERE

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Beneficial Ageism

Otto von Bismarck, the Chacnellor of Germany, in 1889 introduced the welfare state setting the age of entitlement at 65 – covering 28% of the populaton. Today in Canada people live to an average age of 83, with 28% of the population over age 88.8. Yet entitlements for seniors still kick in at 65, serving as an incentive for Canadians to retire on average at age 64. The 24.8 years of benefits help counter the downside of ageism. is there a problem here? Should the age of entitlement/ retirement be raised? Should CPP contributions be increased and/or benefits lowered? Should an estate tax be introduced, with conrtibutions dedicated to paying down public debt accumulated during the last 50 years? Who dares to care?

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2024 – Personalization? A New Beginning!

2023 has been a year of economic hardship for navigating change. We reviewd several of these issues in the spring of 2023 including energy and decarbonization, fading interest in ESG, supply management and the slow recovery of China’s economy. Also addressed were concerns about inflation, interest rates, and increasing debt; housing shortages and declining productivity. The public during 2023 has been preoccupied with global threats like climate change, politics to the south,  plus immigration and wars abroad. Domestically we’ve had to gapple with rising food and energy costs and attacks on personal freedoms plus growing frustration with public services and the lack of leadership to address these issues.

The most prevalent issue dominating local headlines has been increasing homelessness, linked to the failure of public service monopolies to support people in transition, including those in health and education, corrections and child welfare, and among immigrants and Indigenous people. We reviewed these in depth in the fall with resolving homelessness proving to be as complex as a “moonshot;” but change is underway.

Public services are in transition triggered by popular unrest and confronted by the power of AI in personalizing services. AI has openned access to the knowledge vault, once exclusive to professions and their public service monopolies. The tsunami of change is overwhelming. AI, though misunderstood and distrusted by some, has emerged as an unstoppable force of creativity and personalization. The impoact continues unabated, affecting jobs and services, trust and lifestyle, advancing the internet of everything, and enhancing our autonomy. Look no further than the impact that free access to knowledge is having in transforming the welfare state’s operation of health, education, and other transition services.

Looking ahead to 2024, there are several inter-related sources of change to watch. First is the ongoing overhaul of energy including the revitalization of nuclear and promise of fusion energy. Next, watch for the following, both of which are expected to dominate pending elections. The economic and social impact of AI on us personally as AI continues to increase our confidence in ourselves, others, and our communities. And second, governments expected to acknowledge and restore their primary role as one of governance, transitioning public to personalized services, and in so doing restoring democracy—for the people, by the people, and of the people.

2024 – a new beginning! – Editor

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“Help” and “Thank you!”

 Your opening of the KEI Network’s weekly newsletters and your viewing and/or participating in the associated webinars are indications that I have not been wasting my time or yours. Thank you!  The publishing and the hosting are personal, reflecting the thrill I get out of learning and sharing too. While I expect to take a seasonal break through January and February, returning in March – I’d like your help.

First though, I want to thank and recognize the sources of supply that KEI relies upon for bringing you the news and views, the videos and webinars:

THANK YOU!

Mediashaker – electronic publishing                    St Arnaud Pinsent Steman – accounting services

City of St. Albert – site and studio support                         Rogers Communications

Toronto Dominion – financial services                             Websitesinedmonton – website service

Stripe – payment processing                     BlueScreen Systems – computing services

YouTube and Murf.ai audio-video production                               Google and OpenAI – research

As for your help, please consider making a donation to defray some of the costs by visiting KEInetwork.net

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