This is the final post about the workshop “Co-creating the future of work” held at Galileo Festival in Padua.
In the first two posts we reported on the experience of the UNIVERSITY team (link) and the BRIDGE team (link); today we want to share with you the experience of the BUSINESS TEAM.
“If we had to summarize the experience at Galileo Festival 2015 in two adjectives, we would say that it was CHALLENGING and STIMULATING.
business area
It was not easy for us, who still live the university environment, to confront and provide concrete proposals to the business world, but I believe that the result has rewarded us for the effort.
We enthusiastically accepted to participate in the workshop, as we had already met Peoplerise in other occasions, such as the workshop Città Impresa 2015 which was the first step of the project, and their passion had infected us.
We appreciated the willingness of discussion of Mariapaola La Caria, entrepreneur, who launched our CHALLENGE “Be your own entrepreneur, and let self-entrepreneurship develop in your company. How do you do it?” We found ourselves having to face the challenge in first person to be able to come up with SOLUTIONS.
the overcome obstacles
The presence at our side and the valuable advice from our coaches Antonio Di Stefano and Alessandra Scala, helped us in this challenging path. At first we found ourselves facing common answers that were not very useful for our work, and from the mutual confrontation arose the need to change the way we asked the questions to the speakers, asking them about real situations in which they found themselves and how they handled them, but also about the difficulties they had to face. By breaking down the normal interview approaches and questions, we noticed how the answers changed as well and how much more personal and heartfelt they became, while they at the same time became more useful for us.
A second obstacle, in the last part of the project, was the difficulty of translating ideas into CONCRETE SOLUTIONS. There were some tense moments, but thanks to the patience, collaboration and discussion between everyone, we managed to come up with ideas that the business world appreciated during the presentation.
The reciprocal discussion within the group, heterogeneous in terms of training and experience, was a useful stimulus and baggage for any necessary change, but also because in front of a wall beyond which we were unable to go through, we were able to find an alternative to go beyond.
We were very impressed, and pleasantly surprised, by the consideration given to us by the speakers, as well as by the quality of the answers; this is very rare in the university environment and in everyday life: to be at one’s OWN ACCOUNT and not to be treated as kids! We went from mere spectators to ACTORS, actors in a project of change that we are asking for our future
reciprocal collaboration
These were just the first two steps of a path which is worth continuing, investing and discussing, or rather CREATING. The work that has been done so far should not be abandoned, but instead cultivated and implemented: there is still much to do! Collaborating in this project has broadened our views, but it has also stimulated our curiosity and desire to learn. A famous phrase of Steve Jobs at the end of a speech at Stanford University is “Stay hungry, stay foolish”! Hungry to understand, to know, to discover the unknown; and be foolish because in the usual way we fall into the common, we surrender at the first obstacle with the usual phrase “in Italy it’s like that, we can’t do anything about it”, while those who have the courage to look at it from and with another point of view and/or with other eyes are so crazy to create the change they want to see in the world.
A next step could be a pairing/collaboration with a business reality to be able to implement the proposed solutions.
We recommend everyone to participate in the next editions of the workshop mainly for two reasons: first of all because it is useful and constructive to discuss with other students with different backgrounds and build a solution to a problem through the mutual contamination of ideas; the second reason is because it does not happen every day at university that you have the opportunity to meet entrepreneurs and managers, to be able to interview them up close and without filters, so that you also can take valuable advice for your future career.
the emerged solutions
Among the solutions that have emerged, some that we believe to be of greatest importance are: the CREATION of SPACES by the companies, both as places and as occasions, in which the members of the company can shape their own dreams/projects; and the ORGANIZATION of RISK assisted by active participation in the achievement of objectives, access and clarity to all information, including the company’s economic information, and last but not least, remuneration linked to performance.
We want to make our dream come true , and you?”
Domenico Di Toro & Giacomo Legnaro
