Vote for Long-Term Strategic Thinking

Earlier this year, I made the public comment on Twitter that “without long-term strategic thinking and execution, all businesses are ephemeral.” I used the example of the number of Blockbuster stores in 1989 (1,000) and 2009 (7,400) and 2019 (1).

Today I am thinking about how this ephemeral quality applies to our planet, climate change, and our youth.

On November 16, Time magazine called for nominations for the Person of the Year 2019 on Twitter.

On the same day, I Tweeted that the winner should be Greta Thunberg. This presis was an easy call. The 16 year-old’s activism demanding that her own country (Sweden) and the rest of the world stop CO2 emissions pollution helped encourage climate strikes and one of the biggest global demonstrations in history with early numbers confirming seven million participants. #weekforfuture was a big success, and I was delighted when she was in fact named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2019.

Greta maintains that every election is a climate election because the health of our planet is the health of ourselves and our children and the future. I would say yes to this and would add that youth should be encouraged to be participants in positive global change.

My own daughter flew to Bolivia to assist those suffering from the fires in the Amazon. I was so proud of her efforts to create positive change. She helped deliver $50,000 in supplies to villagers and firefighters.

Young people need to be given opportunities. I was only 23 years old when I founded WebOS with the Financial Times calling it a game-changing technology. This early business venture led to many others, and now I have more years of experience to work with. My experience shows that youthful energy can and should be directed to do good work.

Malala Yousafzai is another example of a young person doing good work. She spoke out against oppression and was shot by Taliban members in Pakistan. She was later awarded to Nobel Peace Prize after she (and other girls with her) recovered. Today I support her Foundation that helps women and girls in developing countries get an education.

Every time I invest in a business, I have this eye for the future in mind. I think about the future generations, how they will live and play and work and travel and dream. We need clean, efficient places to do these things. We need a global mentality that treats the planet with respect. We need strategic, long-term planning and execution for new, youthful business and investments. Otherwise, we are all ephemeral.