Alt jeg gør, og alt jeg gør professionelt -- mit liv -- er formet af syv års arbejde som en ung mand i Afrika. Fra 1971 til 1977 -- jeg ser ung ud, men jeg er ikke -- (Latter) -- Jeg arbejdede i Zambia, Kenya, Elfenbenskysten, Algeriet, Somalia, i projekter med teknisk samarbejde med afrikanske lande.
Everything I do, and everything I do professionally -- my life -- has been shaped by seven years of work as a young man in Africa. From 1971 to 1977 -- I look young, but I'm not — (Laughter) -- I worked in Zambia, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Somalia, in projects of technical cooperation with African countries.
Jeg arbejdede for en italiensk NGO, og hvert eneste projekt som vi startede i Afrika slog fejl. Og jeg blev oprørt. Jeg tænkte, i en alder af 21, at vi italienere var gode mennesker og vi lavede et godt stykke arbejde i Afrika. I stedet for, alt det vi rørte ved døde.
I worked for an Italian NGO, and every single project that we set up in Africa failed. And I was distraught. I thought, age 21, that we Italians were good people and we were doing good work in Africa. Instead, everything we touched we killed.
Vores første projekt, det der inspirerede min første bog, "Ripples from the Zambezi," var et projekt hvor vi italienere besluttede at undervise zambiere til at dyrke mad. Så vi ankom der med italienske frø i det sydlige Zambia i denne total pragtfulde dal der lå ned mod Zambezi floden, og vi lærte de lokale mennesker hvordan man dyrker italienske tomater og zucchini og … Og selvfølgelig havde de lokale mennesker overhovedet ingen interesse i at gøre det, så vi betalte dem for at komme og arbejde, og nogle gange kom de også. (Latter) Og vi blev overraskede over at de lokale, i sådan en frugtbar dal, ikke havde noget landbrug. Men i stedet for at spørge dem om grunden til de ikke dyrkede noget, sagde vi, "Tak skæbne for at vi er her." (Latter) "Lige i tide til at redde det zambiske folk fra at dø af sult."
Our first project, the one that has inspired my first book, "Ripples from the Zambezi," was a project where we Italians decided to teach Zambian people how to grow food. So we arrived there with Italian seeds in southern Zambia in this absolutely magnificent valley going down to the Zambezi River, and we taught the local people how to grow Italian tomatoes and zucchini and ... And of course the local people had absolutely no interest in doing that, so we paid them to come and work, and sometimes they would show up. (Laughter) And we were amazed that the local people, in such a fertile valley, would not have any agriculture. But instead of asking them how come they were not growing anything, we simply said, "Thank God we're here." (Laughter) "Just in the nick of time to save the Zambian people from starvation."
Og selvfølgelig, alt i Afrika voksede smukt. Vi havde disse fantastiske tomater. I Italien, ville en tomat vokse til denne størrelse. I Zambia, til denne størrelse. Og vi kunne ikke tro, og vi fortalte zambiere, "Se hvor nemt landbrug er." Når tomaterne var fine og modne og røde, hen over natten, kom der cirka 200 flodheste op af floden og de spiste alt. (Latter)
And of course, everything in Africa grew beautifully. We had these magnificent tomatoes. In Italy, a tomato would grow to this size. In Zambia, to this size. And we could not believe, and we were telling the Zambians, "Look how easy agriculture is." When the tomatoes were nice and ripe and red, overnight, some 200 hippos came out from the river and they ate everything. (Laughter)
Og vi sagde til zambierne, "Tak skæbne, flodhestene!"
And we said to the Zambians, "My God, the hippos!"
Og zambierne sagde, "Ja, det er derfor vi ikke har landbrug her." (Latter)
And the Zambians said, "Yes, that's why we have no agriculture here." (Laughter)
"Hvorfor sagde I ikke det?" "I spurgte aldrig."
"Why didn't you tell us?""You never asked."
Jeg troede det kun var os italienere der lavede fejl i Afrika, men så så jeg det amerikanerne lavede, der englænderne lavede, det franskmændene lavede, og efter at se hvad de gjorde, blev jeg temmelig stolt over vores projekt i Zambia. Fordi, ser I, i det mindste fodrede vi flodhestene.
I thought it was only us Italians blundering around Africa, but then I saw what the Americans were doing, what the English were doing, what the French were doing, and after seeing what they were doing, I became quite proud of our project in Zambia. Because, you see, at least we fed the hippos.
I skulle se det ragelse -- (Bifald) -- I skulle se det ragelse som vi har givet til intetanende afrikanere. Vil man læse bogen, læs "Dead Aid," af Dambisa Moyo, zambisk kvindelig økonom. Bogen blev udgivet i 2009.Vi donorlande fra vesten har givet det afrikanske kontinent Vi donorlande fra vesten har givet det afrikanske kontinent to billioner amerikanske dollars i løbet af de sidste 50 år. Jeg vil ikke fortælle jer om den skade som de penge har forvoldt. Bare læs hendes bog. Læs det fra en afrikansk kvinde, om den skade vi har forvoldt.
You should see the rubbish — (Applause) -- You should see the rubbish that we have bestowed on unsuspecting African people. You want to read the book, read "Dead Aid," by Dambisa Moyo, Zambian woman economist. The book was published in 2009. We Western donor countries have given the African continent two trillion American dollars in the last 50 years. I'm not going to tell you the damage that that money has done. Just go and read her book. Read it from an African woman, the damage that we have done.
Vi vesterlandske mennesker er imperialister, kolonialistiske missionærer, og der er kun to måder vi håndterer folk på: Enten patroniserer vi dem, eller vi er paternalistiske overfor dem. De to ord kommer fra den latinske rod "pater," hvilket betyder "fader." Men de betyder to forskellige ting. Paternalistisk, jeg behandler enhver fra en anden kultur som om de var mine børn. "Jeg elsker dig så højt." Patroniserende, jeg behandler enhver fra en anden kultur som om de var mine tjenere. Det er derfor hvide mennesker i Afrika kaldes "bwana," boss.
We Western people are imperialist, colonialist missionaries, and there are only two ways we deal with people: We either patronize them, or we are paternalistic. The two words come from the Latin root "pater," which means "father." But they mean two different things. Paternalistic, I treat anybody from a different culture as if they were my children. "I love you so much." Patronizing, I treat everybody from another culture as if they were my servants. That's why the white people in Africa are called "bwana," boss.
Jeg fik et slag i ansigtet da jeg læste bogen, "Small is Beautiful," skrevet af Schumacher, der sagde, det vigtigste ved enhver økonomisk udvikling, hvis mennesker ikke vil hjælpes, så lad dem være. Dette bør være det første princip i bistand. Det første princip i bistand er respekt. Denne morgen, herren der åbnede denne konference lagde en pind på gulvet, og sagde, "Kan vi -- kan I forestille jeg en by der ikke er neokolonial"?
I was given a slap in the face reading a book, "Small is Beautiful," written by Schumacher, who said, above all in economic development, if people do not wish to be helped, leave them alone. This should be the first principle of aid. The first principle of aid is respect. This morning, the gentleman who opened this conference lay a stick on the floor, and said, "Can we -- can you imagine a city that is not neocolonial?"
Jeg besluttede da jeg var 27 år gammel kun at reagere på mennesker, og jeg opfandt et system der hedder Enterprise Facilitation, hvor man aldrig påbegynder noget, man motiverer aldrig nogen, men man bliver en tjener af den lokale passion, tjeneren af det lokale folk der har en drøm om at blive et bedre menneske. Så hvad gør man -- man tier stille. Man kommer aldrig til et samfund med nogen ideer, og man sætter sig med de lokale mennesker. Vi arbejder ikke fra kontorer. Vi mødes på en cafe. Vi mødes på en pub. Vi har ingen infrastruktur. Og det vi gør, vi bliver venner, og vi finder ud af hvad den person vil gøre.
I decided when I was 27 years old to only respond to people, and I invented a system called Enterprise Facilitation, where you never initiate anything, you never motivate anybody, but you become a servant of the local passion, the servant of local people who have a dream to become a better person. So what you do -- you shut up. You never arrive in a community with any ideas, and you sit with the local people. We don't work from offices. We meet at the cafe. We meet at the pub. We have zero infrastructure. And what we do, we become friends, and we find out what that person wants to do.
Den vigtigste ting er passion. Man kan give nogen en ide. Hvis personen ikke vil gøre det, hvad gør man så? Den passion som personen har for sin egen vækst er det vigtigste. Den passion som man har for sin egen personlige vækst er den vigtigste ting. Og så hjælper vi dem med at gå ud og finde den viden, fordi ingen i verden kan slå igennem selv. Den person med ideen har måske ikke viden, men viden er tilgængelig.
The most important thing is passion. You can give somebody an idea. If that person doesn't want to do it, what are you going to do? The passion that the person has for her own growth is the most important thing. The passion that that man has for his own personal growth is the most important thing. And then we help them to go and find the knowledge, because nobody in the world can succeed alone. The person with the idea may not have the knowledge, but the knowledge is available.
Så for flere år siden fik jeg denne ide: Hvorfor, for en gangs skyld, i stedet for at ankomme i samfundet for at fortælle mennesker hvad de skal gøre, hvorfor, for en gangs skyld, lytter vi ikke til dem? Men ikke i til møder i samfundet.
So years and years ago, I had this idea: Why don't we, for once, instead of arriving in the community to tell people what to do, why don't, for once, listen to them? But not in community meetings.
Lad mig fortælle jer en hemmelighed. Der er et problem med møder i samfundet. Entreprenørerne kommer aldrig, og de fortæller aldrig en, til et offentligt møde, hvad de vil lave med deres egne penge, hvilke muligheder de har identificeret. Så planlæggelse har sine blinde vinkler. De smarteste mennesker i ens samfund kender man ikke engang, fordi de kommer ikke til ens offentlige møder.
Let me tell you a secret. There is a problem with community meetings. Entrepreneurs never come, and they never tell you, in a public meeting, what they want to do with their own money, what opportunity they have identified. So planning has this blind spot. The smartest people in your community you don't even know, because they don't come to your public meetings.
Det vi gør, vi arbejder en og en, og for at arbejde en og en, skal man skabe en social infrastruktur der ikke eksisterer. Man skal skabe en ny profession. Professionen er familielægen af entreprenørskab, familie lægen i business, der sidder med en i ens hus, ved ens køkkenbord, i cafeen, og hjælper en med at finde ressourcer til at transformere ens passion til en måde at tjene penge på.
What we do, we work one-on-one, and to work one-on-one, you have to create a social infrastructure that doesn't exist. You have to create a new profession. The profession is the family doctor of enterprise, the family doctor of business, who sits with you in your house, at your kitchen table, at the cafe, and helps you find the resources to transform your passion into a way to make a living.
Jeg begyndte dette som et forsøg i Esperance, i det vestlige Australien. Jeg lavede en Ph.D. på det tidspunkt, og prøvede at gå væk fra dette nedladende vrøvl hvor vi ankommer og fortæller en hvad man skal gøre. Så det jeg gjorde i Esperance det første år var bare at gå rundt på gaden, og efter tre dage Havde jeg min første klient, og jeg hjalp den første fyr der røgede fisk i en garage, det var en Maori, og jeg hjalp ham med at sælge til en restaurant i Perth, for at blive organiseret, og så kom fiskerne til mig og sagde, "Er du fyren der hjalp Maori? Kan du hjælpe os?" Og jeg hjalp disse fem fiskere med at arbejde sammen og få denne smukke tun, ikke til konservesfabrikken i Albany til 60 cents per kilo, men vi fandt en måde til at bruge fisken til sushi i Japan for 15 dollars per kilo, og landmændene kom til mig og sagde, "Hey, du hjalp dem. Kan du hjælpe os?" På et år, havde jeg gang i 27 projekter, og regeringen kom til mig for at sige, "Hvordan kan du gøre det? Hvordan kan du gøre --?" Og jeg sagde, "Jeg gør noget meget, meget, meget svært. Jeg tier stille og lytter til dem." (Latter)
I started this as a tryout in Esperance, in Western Australia. I was a doing a Ph.D. at the time, trying to go away from this patronizing bullshit that we arrive and tell you what to do. And so what I did in Esperance that first year was to just walk the streets, and in three days I had my first client, and I helped this first guy who was smoking fish from a garage, was a Maori guy, and I helped him to sell to the restaurant in Perth, to get organized, and then the fishermen came to me to say, "You the guy who helped Maori? Can you help us?" And I helped these five fishermen to work together and get this beautiful tuna not to the cannery in Albany for 60 cents a kilo, but we found a way to take the fish for sushi to Japan for 15 dollars a kilo, and the farmers came to talk to me, said, "Hey, you helped them. Can you help us?" In a year, I had 27 projects going on, and the government came to see me to say, "How can you do that? How can you do — ?" And I said, "I do something very, very, very difficult. I shut up, and listen to them." (Laughter)
Så -- (Bifald) -- Så regeringen siger, "Gør det igen." (Latter) Vi har gjort det i 300 samfund i hele verden. Vi har hjulpet med at starte 40.000 virksomheder. Der er en ny generation af entreprenører der dør af ensomheden.
So — (Applause) — So the government says, "Do it again." (Laughter) We've done it in 300 communities around the world. We have helped to start 40,000 businesses. There is a new generation of entrepreneurs who are dying of solitude.
Peter Drucker, en af de største managementkonsulenter i historien, døde i en alder af 96, for et par år siden. Peter Drucker var filosofiprofessor inden han blev involveret i forretning, og dette er hvad Peter Drucker siger: "At planlægge er faktisk uforeneligt med et foretagsomt samfund og økonomi." At planlægge er dødsstødet for entreprenører.
Peter Drucker, one of the greatest management consultants in history, died age 96, a few years ago. Peter Drucker was a professor of philosophy before becoming involved in business, and this is what Peter Drucker says: "Planning is actually incompatible with an entrepreneurial society and economy." Planning is the kiss of death of entrepreneurship.
Så nu genopbygger man Christchurch uden at vide hvad de smarteste mennesker i Christchurch vil gøre med deres egne penge og deres egen energi. Man skal lære at få disse mennesker til at komme og tale med en. Man skal tilbyde dem fortrolighed, privatliv, man skal være fantastisk til at hjælpe dem, og så kommer de, og de vil komme i masser. I et samfund med 10.000 indbyggere, får vi 200 kunder. Kan I forestille jer et samfund med 400.000 mennesker, den intelligens og den passion? Hvilken præsentation har I klappet mest af her til morgen? Lokale, passionerede mennesker. Det er dem I har klappet af.
So now you're rebuilding Christchurch without knowing what the smartest people in Christchurch want to do with their own money and their own energy. You have to learn how to get these people to come and talk to you. You have to offer them confidentiality, privacy, you have to be fantastic at helping them, and then they will come, and they will come in droves. In a community of 10,000 people, we get 200 clients. Can you imagine a community of 400,000 people, the intelligence and the passion? Which presentation have you applauded the most this morning? Local, passionate people. That's who you have applauded.
Så det jeg siger er at iværksætteri er der hvor det sker. Vi er slutningen af den første industrielle revolution -- ikke vedvarende fossile brændstoffer, fremstilling -- og pludselig, har vi systemer der ikke er bæredygtige. Eksplosionsmotoren er ikke bæredygtig. Freon måden at vedligeholde ting på er ikke bæredygtig. Det vi skal kigge på nu er hvordan vi fodrer, kurerer, transporterer, kommunikerer for syv milliarder mennesker på en bæredygtig måde. Teknologierne eksisterer ikke til at gøre det. Hvem kommer til at opfinde den teknologi for den grønne revolution? Universiteter? Glem det! Regeringen? Glem det! Det vil være entreprenører, og de gør det nu.
So what I'm saying is that entrepreneurship is where it's at. We are at the end of the first industrial revolution -- nonrenewable fossil fuels, manufacturing -- and all of a sudden, we have systems which are not sustainable. The internal combustion engine is not sustainable. Freon way of maintaining things is not sustainable. What we have to look at is at how we feed, cure, educate, transport, communicate for seven billion people in a sustainable way. The technologies do not exist to do that. Who is going to invent the technology for the green revolution? Universities? Forget about it! Government? Forget about it! It will be entrepreneurs, and they're doing it now.
Der er en dejlig historie som jeg læste i et futuristisk magasin for mange, mange år siden. Der var en gruppe eksperter der blev inviteret til at diskutere fremtiden for byen New York i 1860. Og i 1860, samledes denne gruppe mennesker, og de spekulerede alle på hvad der ville ske for byen New York i 100 år, og konklusionen var entydig: Byen New York ville ikke eksistere om 100 år. Hvorfor? Fordi de kiggede på kurven og sagde, hvis befolkningen bliver ved med at vokse i samme takt, for at flytte New Yorks befolkning rundt, ville de have brug for seks millioner heste, og gødningen der ville blive skabt af seks millioner heste ville være umulig at håndtere. De druknede allerede i gødning. (Latter) Så 1860, de ser denne beskidte teknologi der kommer til at kvæle livet i New York.
There's a lovely story that I read in a futurist magazine many, many years ago. There was a group of experts who were invited to discuss the future of the city of New York in 1860. And in 1860, this group of people came together, and they all speculated about what would happen to the city of New York in 100 years, and the conclusion was unanimous: The city of New York would not exist in 100 years. Why? Because they looked at the curve and said, if the population keeps growing at this rate, to move the population of New York around, they would have needed six million horses, and the manure created by six million horses would be impossible to deal with. They were already drowning in manure. (Laughter) So 1860, they are seeing this dirty technology that is going to choke the life out of New York.
Så hvad sker der? Om cirka 40 år, i året 1900, i Amerikas Forende Stater, var der 1.001 bilfabrikanter -- 1.001. Ideen om at finde en anden teknologi havde overtaget fuldstændig, og der var bitte, bittesmå fabrikker i udkantsområder. Dearborn, Michigan. Henry Ford.
So what happens? In 40 years' time, in the year 1900, in the United States of America, there were 1,001 car manufacturing companies -- 1,001. The idea of finding a different technology had absolutely taken over, and there were tiny, tiny little factories in backwaters. Dearborn, Michigan. Henry Ford.
Der er, dog, en hemmelighed i at arbejde med entreprenører. Først, skal man tilbyde dem fortrolighed. Ellers kommer de ikke og taler med en. Så skal man tilbyde dem total, dedikeret, passioneret service. Og man skal fortælle dem sandheden om iværksætteri. Det mindste firma, det største firma, skal være i stand til at gøre tre ting på en smuk måde: Det produkt man vil sælge skal være fantastisk, man skal have fantastisk marketing, og man skal have en utrolig økonomisk håndtering. Gæt engang? Vi har aldrig mødt et eneste menneske i verden der kan lave det, sælge det og passe på pengene. Det findes ikke. Den person er aldrig født. Vi har forsket i det, og vi har kigget på verdens 100 mest ikoniske virksomheder -- Carnegie, Westinghouse, Edison, Ford, alle de nye virksomheder, Google, Yahoo. Der er kun en ting som alle de succesfulde virksomheder i verden har til fælles, kun en: Ingen af dem blev startet af en enkelt person. Nu lærer vi iværksætteri til 16-årige i Northumberland, og vi startede undervisningen med at give dem de første to sider af Richard Bransons selvbiografi. og opgaven for den 16-årige er at understrege, i de første to sider af Richard Bransons selvbiografi hvor mange gange Richard bruger ordet "jeg" og hvor mange gange han bruger ordet "vi." Aldrig ordet "jeg," og ordet "os" 32 gange. Han var ikke alene da han startede. Ingen har startet en virksomhed selv. Ingen. Så vi kan skabe det samfund hvor vi har katalysatorer der kommer fra en lille virksomheds baggrund og sidde i cafeer, i barer, og ens dedikerede kammerater der vil gøre det for en, det som nogen gjorde for denne herre der taler om denne epos, nogen der vil sige til en, "Hvad har du brug for? Hvad kan du gøre? Kan du lave det? Okay, kan du sælge det? Kan du passe på pengene?" "Åh nej, dette kan jeg ikke gøre." "Vil du gerne have at jeg finder en til dig?" Vi aktiverer samfundene. Vi har grupper af frivillige der understøtter Enterprise Facilitatoren til at hjælpe en med at finde ressourcerne og menneskene og vi har opdaget at miraklet om intelligens i lokale mennesker er sådan at man kan ændre kulturen og økonomien i dette samfund, bare ved at fange passionen, energien og fantasien af ens egne mennesker.
However, there is a secret to work with entrepreneurs. First, you have to offer them confidentiality. Otherwise they don't come and talk to you. Then you have to offer them absolute, dedicated, passionate service to them. And then you have to tell them the truth about entrepreneurship. The smallest company, the biggest company, has to be capable of doing three things beautifully: The product that you want to sell has to be fantastic, you have to have fantastic marketing, and you have to have tremendous financial management. Guess what? We have never met a single human being in the world who can make it, sell it and look after the money. It doesn't exist. This person has never been born. We've done the research, and we have looked at the 100 iconic companies of the world -- Carnegie, Westinghouse, Edison, Ford, all the new companies, Google, Yahoo. There's only one thing that all the successful companies in the world have in common, only one: None were started by one person. Now we teach entrepreneurship to 16-year-olds in Northumberland, and we start the class by giving them the first two pages of Richard Branson's autobiography, and the task of the 16-year-olds is to underline, in the first two pages of Richard Branson's autobiography how many times Richard uses the word "I" and how many times he uses the word "we." Never the word "I," and the word "we" 32 times. He wasn't alone when he started. Nobody started a company alone. No one. So we can create the community where we have facilitators who come from a small business background sitting in cafes, in bars, and your dedicated buddies who will do to you, what somebody did for this gentleman who talks about this epic, somebody who will say to you, "What do you need? What can you do? Can you make it? Okay, can you sell it? Can you look after the money?" "Oh, no, I cannot do this.""Would you like me to find you somebody?" We activate communities. We have groups of volunteers supporting the Enterprise Facilitator to help you to find resources and people and we have discovered that the miracle of the intelligence of local people is such that you can change the culture and the economy of this community just by capturing the passion, the energy and imagination of your own people.
Tak. (Bifald)
Thank you. (Applause)