Creating value – Umair Haque is my new hero

Listening to Grant Young’s (of Zumio) presentation on Creating Platforms for Social Innovation, I was drawn to his references to Umair Haque, Director of the Havas Media Lab and a frequent blogger for HBR.

I had encountered some of Haque’s writings before, but hadn’t dug too deeply into his work. But his message of a profound crisis in corporate capitalism, and the need for more authentic forms of value creation – or in his words, “thick” vs “thin” value – are spot on.

I’ll list a few of my favorite Haque essays, and then embed a couple audio/video clips. To get a taste of his writing, check out:

• The Value Every Business Needs to Create Now – July 2009
• The Generation M Manifesto – July 2009
• A User’s Guide to 21st Century Economics – January 2009
• From Business Models to “Betterness” Models – May 2010

While all but one of the above essays are over a year old, their message is absolutely current. If you prefer to hear Haque deliver his message, check out the following clips. The first is titled Zombie Organizations – it’s less than 4 minutes long, and is a MUST listen IMO.

The second is a video of his presentation at BRITE ’09, where he speaks to a crisis in the modern corporation’s narrowly-conceived notion of value creation.

I look forward to reading more of Mr. Haque’s work.

glenn