Category: Hate & Extremism

  • WICKED7: Where do the US Presidential candidates stand on solving the world’s most urgent problems?

    WICKED7: Where do the US Presidential candidates stand on solving the world’s most urgent problems?

    BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR and PHILIP KOTLER Which candidate offers the best chance of actually working on the world’s most urgent problems? Which candidate would make things worse? Let’s give the US Presidential candidates the Wicked7 assessment – clarifying their positions on the seven most urgent problems facing us today. Wait, what is the Wicked7 assessment?…

  • The Killer Robots are Here

    The Killer Robots are Here

    BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR The Autonomous Killing Machine (AKM) is here. The Chinese government has just “released the hounds” at the joint China-Cambodia “Golden Dragon 2024” military exercise. But this development is not a shock. In the US, Boston Scientific has been playing with killer robots for some time now: What next? We can expect drone-delivery…

  • Israel’s Chance to Turn Carnage into Peace

    Israel’s Chance to Turn Carnage into Peace

    BY JEFFREY D. SACHS Israel is running out of time to save itself—not from Hamas, which lacks the means to defeat Israel militarily, but from itself. Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, verging on the crime of genocide according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, threaten to destroy Israel’s civil, political, economic, and cultural relations with the…

  • Steel Pulse: “Only One World (Wicked Problems)”

    Steel Pulse: “Only One World (Wicked Problems)”

    On this, the last day of COP26, Grammy-winning legends Steel Pulse have a message for us: we must come together to tackle the world’s wickedest problems – because there is no Planet B. What can we do to bring people together in our communities? How can we unite across the walls of hate and mistrust…

  • We have weaponized fear and built the fear economy

    We have weaponized fear and built the fear economy

    By KARTHIGA RATNAM “I sit on a man’s back choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am sorry for him and wish to lighten his load by all means possible… except by getting off his back.” ― Leo Tolstoy, What Then Must We Do? Fear. A useful emotion. It…

  • Webinar: Population & Migration

    Webinar: Population & Migration

    With us for the webinar – a group of dynamic Palermitans: – Leoluca Orlando. As Mayor of Palermo, Orlando’s extraordinary vision and courage has changed our understanding of immigration, tolerance, and the fight against corruption. – Claudio Arestivo. A co-founder of Moltivolti – a unique regenerative business – which serves as an example for the…

  • Hate & Conflict – The Business of War

    Hate & Conflict – The Business of War

    By Karthiga Ratnam There are people dying If you care enough for the living Make a better place for you and for me… Hate, Conflict, War, Genocide. Have you ever stopped think why they exist? Who profits from it? There is such callousness to war. People casually say things like “war is men dying and…

  • WEBINAR: “Power & Corruption”

    WEBINAR: “Power & Corruption”

    REPLAY >> Join our guests as we discuss – “Power & Corruption” with: Obiageli “Aunty Oby” Ezekwesili, a former vice president of the World Bank (African Region), co-founder and founding director of Transparency International, co-founder of the #BringBackOurGirls movement and has also served twice as Federal Minister in Nigeria. Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, the Founder and Honorary…

  • How do we stop the cycle of intergenerational hate and conflict?

    How do we stop the cycle of intergenerational hate and conflict?

    By Aryssa Yoon, David Sehyeon Baek and Karthiga Ratnam Two households, both alike in dignity (In fair Verona, where we lay our scene), From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean -Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare This prologue of Shakespeare’s infamous love story about the star-crossed lovers – Romeo and…

  • The Roots of LGBTQIA+ Discrimination

    The Roots of LGBTQIA+ Discrimination

    BY KARTHIGA RATNAM AND ARYSSA YOON “It is absolutely imperative that every human being’s freedom and human rights are respected, all over the world.”– Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir The right to live. It is guaranteed in most constitutions and in the universal declaration of human rights. But today it seems that basic human rights are stifled. How…

  • WEBINAR: “Hate & Conflict”

    WEBINAR: “Hate & Conflict”

    Hate is taught. What can be done to unlearn hate and build a just society? Join Philip Kotler and Christian Sarkar with special guests Siyabulela Mandela and David Hinds (of Steel Pulse) as they discuss the third Wicked Problem – Hate & Conflict. Members of the Wicked7 Working Group will help us with the discussion.…

  • The Movement of Movements: A Last Chance to Save the Planet?

    The Movement of Movements: A Last Chance to Save the Planet?

    BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR, KARTHIGA RATNAM, & PHILIP KOTLER On this, the 90th birthday of Philip Kotler, we ask the world to come together to save the future. One way to do this is to build a “movement of movements.“ It’s time to put aside our toys – our ideologies and guns – and look at…

  • Today: Webinar on Inequality

    Today: Webinar on Inequality

    Join Philip Kotler and Christian Sarkar as they kickoff the second challenge: Inequality. The webinar includes a special presentation by Karthi Ratnam and Aryssa Yoon on Gender Inequality and Climate Change.

  • The Impact of the Death of Nature on Gender Inequality

    The Impact of the Death of Nature on Gender Inequality

    BY KARTHIGA RATNAM & ARYSSA YOON Climate Change. Environmental Degradation. Extinction Emergency. We have all heard the terms. The problem with climate change or the death of nature is that it’s usually tightly integrated with a host of other problems.  We are focusing on the impact of climate change on gender inequality. To understand gender…

  • The Powerlessness of the UN

    The Powerlessness of the UN

    BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR The only power the United Nations has is the “power of persuasion” – and that doesn’t seem to be working too well. Here’s a profound interview with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about everything from climate change to vaccine nationalism (h/t Naveen Srivastava): Besides powerlessness, a second powerful idea we hear about is…

  • Webinar: How Jobs-to-be-Done can help solve the unmet needs of society

    Webinar: How Jobs-to-be-Done can help solve the unmet needs of society

    Here’s the replay of the webinar ‘How Jobs-to-be-Done can help solve the unmet needs of society’ with Strategyn’s Tony Ulwick:

  • Mapping the World’s Wicked Problems. Kickoff – April 1, 2021

    Mapping the World’s Wicked Problems. Kickoff – April 1, 2021

    The Wicked 7 Project is mapping the World’s Wicked Problems to understand the causes and then see how we can work together to find solutions. We have divided the World’s Wicked Problems in to seven categories – Death of Nature, Inequality, Hate & Conflict, Power & Corruption, Work & Tech, Health & Livelihood, and Population…

  • The Unmet Needs of Society: Introducing Multi-stakeholder Jobs to be Done

    The Unmet Needs of Society: Introducing Multi-stakeholder Jobs to be Done

    BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR, ANTHONY ULWICK and PHILIP KOTLER In his e-pamphlet — Rebalancing Society — Henry Mintzberg points out that a balanced society can be thought of as “sitting on a stool with three sturdy legs: a public sector of respected governments, to provide many of our protections (such as policing and regulating); a private…

  • The Moral Intelligence of Ruby Bridges

    The Moral Intelligence of Ruby Bridges

    BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR The Moral Intelligence of Children by Robert Coles. Still relevant today. By refusing to face history, we are forced to live it again. How do children learn right from wrong? How do we teach values in a world that prizes profit over all else? It may just come down to a “questioning…

  • It’s Time to Depoliticize Decision-Making

    It’s Time to Depoliticize Decision-Making

    BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR & PHILIP KOTLER UPDATE: On the day we published this article, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott lifted Texas’ mask mandate – declaring the state 100% open for business. Health experts warned it was too soon. Texas Was Warned a Decade Ago Its Grid Was Unready for Cold reads the headline in Bloomberg Green…

  • The Alarming Decline in American Authentic Dialogue

    The Alarming Decline in American Authentic Dialogue

    BY CHRISTOPHER LOCHHEAD I fear the value of authentic dialogue is dying in America. Stanford research shows us that people are caring more about themselves and less for others. Clearly, social media plays a role. When you can swipe people away on Tinder or yell at people you will never meet on Twitter, a drop in…

  • The Wicked 7: The APO Interview

    The Wicked 7: The APO Interview

    Watch: The Asian Productivity Organization’s David Sehyeon Baek interviews Christian Sarkar >>

  • How to See: When Narratives Create Reality

    How to See: When Narratives Create Reality

    BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR AND PHILIP KOTLER In this video – more timely today than ever – James Baldwin explains that “reality” depends on our point of view: How you view the world is largely shaped by where you are in it. The cultural narrative we believe in dictates our understanding of reality: This makes our…

  • Interlock USA: COVID, Racism, the Economy, and Climate Change

    Interlock USA: COVID, Racism, the Economy, and Climate Change

    BY CHRISTIAN SARKAR & PHILIP KOTLER The USA is showing us how wicked problems are interlocked. How one feeds the other and the next and the next. In a society where power is corrupt, society loses its legitimacy. Not only is the social contract shredded, but so is our Constitution. The news is making our…

  • Mapping COVID-19 as a Wicked Problem

    Mapping COVID-19 as a Wicked Problem

    CHRISTIAN SARKAR & PHILIP KOTLER One way to map a wicked problem is to begin with a process of discovery. Begin with the current, observable facts and ask “why?” – going backwards in time to create a chain of causality. Remember, each cause is also an effect. To predict what will happen going forward in…

  • Selecting the Wicked 7

    Selecting the Wicked 7

    CHRISTIAN SARKAR & PHILIP KOTLER The process of selecting seven wicked problems was not one we took lightly. In our book on Brand Activism, we asked: What are the most urgent issues facing society? How did we get here? What are the root causes? What must be done now? How can we find common ground?…

  • What is a Wicked Problem?

    What is a Wicked Problem?

    CHRISTIAN SARKAR & PHILIP KOTLER To begin, here’s the article which introduced the world to the concept of “wicked problems” >> Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning by Horst W.J. Rittel and Melvin M. Webber.  In it, we learn about the 10 properties of a wicked problem: There is no definitive formulation of a wicked problem. Wicked problems have no stopping rule.  Solutions to…

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