Spark for the Fire: How youthful thinking unlocks creativity by Ian Wharton

Author:Ian Wharton [Wharton, Ian]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Harriman House
Published: 2013-11-25T05:00:00+00:00

JEAN: Out of all of this, what we are really doing is building a community of people who never accept the unacceptable. And that permeates through all that we do. It involves either transforming an existing business, or starting a new business with purpose at the centre. We have seen several incredibly successful businesses prove this. If you look at Marks & Spencer for example, they have saved over £100 million through their ‘Plan A’ initiative.

A few examples that match Jean’s goals at Unite include an initiative happening right now in the slums of Manila called A Litre of Light. Created by Illac Diaz and the MyShelter Foundation, the project originates from a piece of simple design innovation that brings light to otherwise dark interiors deprived of electricity. Using a simple plastic bottle, filled with water then installed into a purpose-cut hole in the tin roofs of people’s homes, the eco-friendly device refracts light from the sun into the room below.

This easily replicable ‘solar bottle bulb’, which generates an equivalent of 50 watts of light, is now providing sustainable energy practices to millions in underprivileged communities nationwide. Simple technology, from innovation with purpose, that grants a greatly improved standard of living for lots of families.

And we can find a similar story in Peace One Day. Film-maker Jeremy Gilley first set out to produce a documentary about the issue of peace and chronicle his campaign to establish an annual day of non-violence. In 1999 Gilley founded the non-profit organisation Peace One Day, whose efforts later inspired the member states of the United Nations to unanimously adopt the first ever day of global ceasefire, 21 September. In 2007 their efforts meant 4.5 million children were able to receive the vaccination for polio.

The essence of these two accomplishments originate from creativity driven by purpose, and we can class both Gilley and Diaz as successful entrepreneurs as a result. But ‘entrepreneur’ is a term that can quickly become lost in meaning, even if its role and defining characteristics are as important as ever.

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