Recently, Lee Green, VP, IBM Brand and Values Experience, hosted a DMI Night Out — NYC, giving attendees an in depth look into IBM’s contributions over the past 100 years. With the night’s dialogue centered around Inspiration Design Entrepreneurship: Initiative, Innovation and Risk, Lee shared how IBM’s centennial celebration paid homage to the ‘pursuit of progress’ and how strategic thinking makes the world work.
In October of last year, IBM took this premise to the next level through their Think Campaign, an interactive exposition which explored this question: what does the evolution of human progress look like? Using several mediums, IBM began to chart the design of progress through short films, icons, exhibitions, books and more. IBM’s worldwide celebration of service, also known as the Think Campaign, begins a second century of social engagement in which they have invited all to join globally. According the Think Campaign website, as of 2011 IBMers have completed 3,201,216 hours of service, which is equivalent to 400,152 eight hour days or 1,096 years of service.
The 100 Icons of Progress is a notable segment of the Think Campaign which highlights “iconic moments” of knowledge and discovery linked to IBM’s own research, contributions, and even environmental responsibility. IBM discusses what contributions they have made to the progress of environmental sustainability over the past 40 years. These accomplishments range from the removal of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) from its products in the late 1970s to making the 2011 Supercomputing Green500 List for the most energy-efficient supercomputers.
While busy charting the course of human progress and completing millions of hours of social service, IBM was still able to make headlines for their profitability in 2011. In January 2012 the New York Times reported that “the IBM formula continues to pay off,” helping them to bring in a 4 percent net income increase and a revenue increase of 2 percent. IMBs hopes to collect data that can be built upon, shared, and used to inform more strategic choices to ensure continued progress for Centuries to come.
The 20th Century gave birth to the industrial and information ages. As we get into the second decade of the 21st Century we are now finding that we are entering the age of choices. Data has been collected, technology has improved, and thinking has evolved — we have made, progress. However, it is imperative that our choices are strategically designed to ensure progress is continued for centuries to come.
