Andres Indset is well-known to those Ukrainians who follow the latest trends. His book The Quantum Economy should have been released in Ukrainian translation in April this year. Ukrainian fans had a chance to listen to “Digital Jesus” within MIM-Kyiv’s Reinforce.Ua project.

Andres Indset told the audience that he used to be a classical capitalist and was worried about other people’s opinions about himself. He did not feel successful no matter how much money he was making. The understanding business world and the love of philosophy made Andres Indset blend those two things. His reflections, lessons, and Ukraine's touch were the highlights of his lecture.

In the 1970-ies, humankind was optimizing the art of being right through technology and in the stive of progress. We are witnessing overall positive progress. It is possible to progress in the future if we remain human, create new technologies, innovations, and attempt prosperity. Then the future will look better compared to what it looks like today. It is directly related to business and the economy. We see the trends now. In spring, during the Davos World Economic Forum, the changes were clear. This year shamans were among the guests and cryptocurrencies were among the hottest topics of discussion. Things that were worth millions yesterday turned useless. It shows the complexity and absurdity of the world we created.

Another art lost in the 1970-ies is the art of being wrong. It is about the learning experience. It is when somebody has better ideas than yours, openness to discussion, and different opinions. The value of prosperity for all was shaped in the 1960-ies. It was a good journey, people started to live longer, fewer people were at war and fewer people were starving from poverty. However, the planet was forgotten, and what it meant to be a human being was forgotten as well. Those caused conflicts, issues, and problems, and that caused the complexity of the crisis we are living through. People need to rediscover the art of being wrong. Kyiv is a good place to rediscover this art with its companies reigniting the economy. Those who believe in a better future because when people are impacted by the crisis and negativity, like pandemics, lockdowns and war they get tired and stop acting. It is not an issue of technologies or finance but an issue of people who can act and do not do enough. It is the spirit of Ukraine that can be a birthplace of reigniting and reinforcing the global economy.

People also need to understand that everything is interrelated and interdependent because we have only one planet. But do Western countries do enough? The oil-reach Norway, Anders Indset’s home country can invest in new technologies which become profitable in 20 – 30 years. But they started to act when this awful law erupted. TV kills future generations. It is time to show that faith in technologies and economic prosperity should be based only on actions and innovations. Unless we optimize processes, we are going nowhere. Challenge is not about knowledge, but about understanding.

Earlier, we were thinking of winners and losers categories. But the economy is different. It is infinite. It has short-term and long-term, local and global, prosperity and austerity. We are trying to optimize what we created in the past. Instead, we need to discuss how we can create better problems. Creating better problems should be at the heart of your business. The art of doing business is the art of creating better problems rather than transactions or rates or squeezing out. Business should be about everybody and for everybody and serve local communities as well. Technology can answer many questions. We are talking about artificial intelligence or sustainability, but do we understand what it means and how we should act? Those are mere words, not actions. We need to have a trigger other than the crisis that will make us act. We need to believe in a better future rather than react to the crisis.

If you want to understand the future, you need to think about the economy. The old economy is dead, but the new one may never happen. I call it quantum economy because business is similar to quantum physics. It depends on the models that we created. We have to play as long as it takes because is it not a football game limited by the number of people and timeframe. The economy is infinite and dynamic. It is based on capitalism, but capitalism with understanding and accounting for the social and human elements.

If we try to solve the crisis by limiting ourselves, we need to remember that we will not solve the problem if our lives worsen. Environmentally, we will never fly less, or fly less enough to help the situations. The answer is in making environment-friendly planes. In addition to saving and a circular economy, we need to think about better products, better business models, and incentives to change. It is the only solution to the environmental crisis. If we change our habits, we can save only a little part of the planet. That’s why we need technologies that will restore the Earth's structure. It is a huge business opportunity.

Ukrainians are writing the future history every day. I think you should write your stories, your narratives about doing business. I think that a positive future is possible, and you lead the change. Future is not a noun, it is “to future”. We need to understand what we do about the future. If you are a leader, translate your values to your team and ask more questions about what is going on. Secondly, always speak the truth. The truth is the foundation of a society and the road to independence. Technologies are neither bad nor good. That’s why we should understand what we are talking about when we speak about digital transformation because we are at the beginning of the digital tsunami. We see economic potential in the blockchain. Thirdly, is how we call for change. Put the word “interested” on your refrigerator. Whenever we see this word, we understand how important to be there, at the moment. If you are interested, you become interesting. We like interesting people. Interested organizations get all talents because they are interested in people. And lastly, if we do not understand something, we need to be brave enough to discuss that. We need to be vulnerable. Vulnerability is the birthplace of relations and trust. We need to talk about our relations to become stronger. When we see pain, we fight for the things that make us humans.