The goal in business is to create profit. While solving problems creates value, solving society’s biggest problems requires coordination beyond a single organization. As growing technology adds complexity to our world, no organization controls all the moving parts required to enact real change. Visionary leaders must work across organization boundaries to solve our greatest issues—and make a meaningful profit.

The cocoa and chocolate industry exemplifies this approach to growing profit: business leads the efforts that includes corporations, NGOs, and farmers to solve some of Western Africa’s toughest societal challenges, while benefitting shareholders with higher profits as a result.

This interview topic, based on Rod Wallace’s TedX talk, will lead your audience to discover how businesses can earn a profit by collaborating with others to solve some of society’s largest problems. The interview can inspire business audiences to deliver meaningful profit, and it can inspire general audiences to engage with businesses that can make a difference.

This interview topic explores the link between digital technology and our current societal issues. Your audience has likely discussed aspects of this subject with friends and colleagues; this interview can help them to contextualize their next discussion with new facts and to understand the variety of business opportunities that digital technology’s complex challenges are creating.

As Wallace identified in his book Drowning in Potential [link to book page], more than 60% of our economy is dedicated to industries failing to deliver the basics: healthcare, education, food, finance, housing, and more are failing America in critical ways.

In this interview, Wallace, a PhD economist with traditional economic training, can help the audience understand why our economic growth measure is exaggerated and what it means for our economy overall—and for the evaluation of potential investments.

In this interview, Rod Wallace can help your audience understand the relationship between technology and the potential for a society to prosper. Technology enhances the potential benefits that a society can deliver to its citizens. However, only if the society’s cultural, governmental, and economic systems are working effectively does this potential translate into benefit for the people.

Wallace positions the discussion in terms of economic history. Several thousand years ago, societies around the world had to find ways to adapt to new tools, or “technology,” from the agricultural revolution.  While agriculture only directly impacts how we use the soil, successful societies embraced the concept of economic specialization in order to effectively use the new technology.

Today, we struggle to prosper from the new technology introduced by the digital revolution. In many ways, we have come full circle. Today, our biggest challenge is bringing the work of all our specialists together so we may fully benefit from digital technology.

Wallace can provide your audience with five questions their neighborhood community must be able to answer in order to prosper in our digital age and can offer them new information to discuss with colleagues, friends, and neighbors.

This interview topic focuses on the complexity of the American healthcare system. Our healthcare industry boasts dedicated employees and spectacular technology. For example, a nurse in a typical urban hospital interacts with 130 different types of specialists on a regular basis and has access to constantly evolving technologies. Yet due to coordination problems, created by all of the moving people and parts this complexity makes the nurse’s job more difficult.

Your audience can learn about the importance of a shared vision in healthcare and the importance of understanding how different elements of the system impact each other. They will walk away with one question any state politician should be able to answer about their state’s healthcare system and three questions they can ask their healthcare provider to ensure their provider’s advice is truly well-rounded.

This interview topic focuses on the complexity of American education. As the options for education are expanding and new technology is thrown into the mix, our education leadership is fragmenting. No organization, be it governmental, nonprofit, or private, controls all the moving parts required to enact real change. Visionary education leaders must provide a higher level of leadership that aligns across organization boundaries. 

Your audience can learn about the importance of a shared vision in education. Wallace will share three questions they can ask their local school board, principal, or teacher to help clarify whether they agree or disagree with their school’s approach.