CREATIVE COLLISION defies description, which is why we always use the term “non-conference”. It’s a forum for discussion, a platform for ideas exchange, a stage for speaking and a sandpit for experimentation, ideation and creativity. Most of all however, it is a place where large and small businesses, NGOs and social innovators, academia and government can meet to spark ideas and forge unlikely partnerships.
Capturing the energy and ideas from the event is always a slippery task. So we have turned to the session leaders themselves for their key takeaways, asking them how their learnings from the 2020 event can be used to build back better with Shared Value.
Here are their reflections on the key challenges of adopting Shared Value:
OPENING: Challenge of Leadership Bosco Law, Deputy Chairman & CEO, LAWSGROUP
“CSV is one key answer to long term business success. We strongly believe only when the government, corporates, creative individuals, and all stakeholders come together and adopt CSV, that we can create a powerful cultural and creative momentum, and maximise social and economic benefits for the community.”
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT: Challenge of Fragmentation Dorothy Lam, Co-Founder & Chief Catalyst, Dream Impact
“The Social Experiment was such a heart-warming exercise to physically experience the audience as a collective crowd. To see where people stood on their values, what social issue is their greatest passion and what role they see themselves in their team. In this time of fragmentation, we need to move collectively and seek collaborations internally across departments and externally across sectors.”
IMPACT AUCTION: Challenge of Scaling Helen Lo, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Ohmykids
“The challenge of scaling is difficult, especially for SMEs. This is why we need to mobilise the resources and pipelines of big corporates, government and civil society to revolutionise from within, and to cover everything from responsible sourcing, to fair trade, to conscious selling. Remember, CSV is all about building a healthy ecosystem where everyone in the circle wins, including you, me and the world.”
CANDID CAFÉ: Challenge of Disruption Alix Farquhar, SVIHK Advisor, Client Director of BRIDGE
“It was important to ‘get real’ about the many disruptions that we have faced throughout this tumultuous year; crises in economy, business, politics, certainty, wellbeing, climate, health. Each of these disruptions have brought both loss and opportunity. In 2020, we have met the reality of our global interconnectedness, and it will take a collective effort to capitalise on the opportunity: no person or organisation can do it alone!”
CORPORATE (SOCIAL) INNOVATION: Challenge of Innovation Vince Siu, Curator, Global Shapers Community Hong Kong Hub
“How do we make innovation indispensable to our organisations? By framing our problems in digestible and accessible ways, delivering quick wins and real impact, then replicating these successes and processes at a larger scale. When done right, these can lead to real change in our organisations – and to the community at large too.”
CSV Showcase: Challenge of Adoption/ Execution Heidi Spurrell, CEO, Food Made Good Hong Kong
“We learnt that businesses with a clear mission, vision and values set provide a strong foundation for long term survival. Social responsibility can go hand in hand with profitability but also provide resilience in uncertain times. Persistence and hard work is also essential in entrepreneurship – you must be ready to not give up.”
BUILD BACK BETTER: Challenge of Transformation Kate Okrasinski, Director of Innovation, MAKE Studios
“Now is the time to integrate Shared Value to drive sustainable recovery and growth. Using Design Thinking, we unlocked the power of tri-sector ideation to address real business challenges of today. We started by ideating solutions using the Shared Value’s framework and a Build Back Better mindset. We then challenged our ideas with the long-term environmental challenges we face and refined our idea to ensure viability in the long run. Together, we discovered the power of Design Thinking as a tool for uncovering, developing and navigating Shared Value in both the near and long-term future.”
‘HOT SEAT’ STAKEHOLDER SIMULATION: Challenge of Communication Rachel Catanach, SVIHK Advisor, President & Senior Partner of Greater China, FleishmanHillard
“The ‘Hot Seat’ Stakeholder Simulation highlighted the importance of communicating with employees. They are the frontline to stakeholder success and are often the last to know about a company’s Shared Value strategy. If employees can’t articulate what the strategy means for their role, then it’s likely to be difficult for the community to understand and embrace it as well.”
EXEC LABS: Challenge of Ideation Robert Sinclair, President of Global Supply Chain, Global Brands Group (A Member of Fung Group)
“The experience enabled me to recognise that diverse business realities also share similar challenges. Be it GBG, Medix, or Suez Asia Ltd., the pivot to purpose and balance between purpose and profit is a profound transformation of our respective organisations, requiring a re-think of values, of incentives, organisational structure, culture, business models and ultimately, of metrics on how you measure success, keeping in mind the social and environmental obligations we all share. The more we engage other organisations via a process of ideation, the better we can ‘build back’ and share the learnings collaboratively.”
SHARK TANK 2.0: Challenge of Financing Thomas Huang, Country Manager, Happyer
“We learned that financing doesn’t just involve asking for money, it involves asking for people’s support to push the initiative forward. You really have to understand the audience you’re pitching to, your objective, value add and clear next steps (what is your ask?).”
CLOSING Kiril Popov, Programs & Partnerships Lead, Explorium HK, powered by Fung Group
“In CREATIVE COLLISION 2020, the team at Shared Value Initiative Hong Kong has built an amazing platform that brings together like-minded collaborators around impact-driven ideas and using ecosystem thinking to drive change in Hong Kong and beyond. From the opportunity to share insights and experiences, to making new connections and co-creating innovative solutions, CREATIVE COLLISION perfectly embodies what we stand for at Explorium.”
- Read the CREATIVE COLLISION 2020 Agenda & list of Speakers
- View the Event Photo Gallery
