Monday Morning, Economics
The Myth of Flatness: How Booms, Busts and Bridges Shift Perspective and Opportunity

Issues
Bend an ear around any water cooler, meeting, or board room and you’ll hear “Globalization” at every level of conversation in business and government. Often voices of popular opinion–makers, such as Thomas Friedman, echo through these discussions, reinforcing unchallenged assumptions that 1) democracy and free markets are necessary for economic development and stability and 2) are, themselves, a byproduct of technology. When strategic dialogue is based on these ideas alone, it runs blind to the complexity of a global economy that is increasingly interdependent and prone to sudden turns. What we take for a smaller, flatter world most certainly creates new competitors and markets, yet it also means that seemingly unrelated issues such as war, global warming and aging populations will converge on the future to close existing divides and open others. Whether slow–growing cracks or earth–shattering rumbles, economic fissures must be watched and measured, with one eye on the near and now, the other on the far and future.

Objectives
We’ll use the “dismal science” to uncover value in unexpected places and, in so doing, poke at assumptions, broaden perspective, and examine shifts in resources, markets, and culture in economic terms. Ultimately, we want our audience to ask themselves smart questions about strategy that moves them beyond conventional wisdom; equips them with sharp eyes for emerging opportunities; and a definition of sustainability that assumes a long and wide view of the shifting landscape.

Monday Afternoon, Politics
Leaders in Reverse: Playing Short–Term Gains against Long–Term Needs

Issues
The sad irony of political leadership throughout the world is that it’s trapped in reactive battles for power and popularity. As the recent mortgage crisis demonstrates so clearly, “leaders” too often borrow against tomorrow for short–term wins and long–term consequences. Is short–sightedness simply baked into the design of the political process? Is “political leadership,” in fact, an oxymoron? Would think tanks, beholden to no one but their funders, take on even more of the long–range planning and policy construction? Is the mantle of community leadership – from neighborhoods to nations – fixed, or is it likely to be shared, shifted or stolen?

Objectives
Since system constraints exist in institutions of every kind, politics can teach us a lot about the function of power, leadership, competition, diplomacy and service. This segment will explore how and where leaders must serve or buck the institution that grants them power, the strengths and weaknesses in the system, current pressures, and the mutual dependence between leadership and change.

Tuesday Morning, Religion
Social Shapers: Incendiary Devices and Helping Hands of the Faithful

Issues
Because religion integrates personal, public and political identities so seamlessly, it is a powerful influence on how societies create, reject or adapt to change. Where civic structures are immature or insufficient, religious groups often fill in the gaps with resources that would otherwise be impossible to access. As the quest for and experience of truth unifies believers and non–believers alike, it also separates them in conflicting agendas of “right, might and fight.” How are we to accommodate such irreconcilable differences in our view of the future? And how deeply are religious movements driving politics, immigration and urbanization – and a new middle class – in the 21st century?

Objectives
This segment will provide a view of the past and the future in the context of world religions and take a look at its effect on markets and economic advancement along the entire wealth continuum. We’ll entertain the viability of efforts to mend or win the “Culture Wars” and “Clash of Civilizations” and what it means for business and political partnerships the world over.

Tuesday Afternoon, Technology
Solving for “X”: New Tools, Players and Solutions for What Inspires Us

Issues
Technology is the most observable edge of change, offering new capabilities to extend or replace how we mediate our world, our systems, our advantage. New technologies are little prisms of wonder that tease our imagination into brave new worlds of possibility. Consider how much of our economy has been stimulated in response to game–changing technologies such as automobiles, television, aircraft, the Web and cell phones. Much more awaits us still, calling us to invent new futures with new tools, players and solutions for what inspires us.

Objectives
Distinguish between what’s hot and what’s important in technology and evaluate the promise of innovations that could:

• fill the growing divide in energy, water and air quality
• leverage the democratizing effect of technology for improvements in media, politics, health care, education and work force.
• prepare for the disruptive influence – both collision and collaboration – of bridge–building projects such as One Laptop Per Child, that will forever alter how business is done.