During the last few years, I have been fortunate enough to work throughout the world with some of the brightest minds in art, business and politics. Everywhere I travel, I meet progressive people who are incorporating North European principles into their business and design practices.
I recently finished reading the President of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios Ed Catmull's book The Creativity Inc. I am astonished at his Nordic approach to business and creativity. Turning to the world of politics, Bernie Sanders may be the most Nordic politician that America has ever produced. This reflected in his directness and no nonsense approach to presenting relatively complex issues in a way that is both compelling and easily understood. And Simon Sinek is probably the most Nordic-thinking leadership guru of today. He believes that leadership is not a rank; that good leaders make sacrifices, take risks, set an example lead by values. Sinek claims communication isn't about speaking but listening. Very Nordic.
The Nordic countries have been leading the way on quality of life indexes; education, environmental credentials and innovation. Here are three reasons why I believe Nordicism, the mimimalistic, democratic and studious way of thinking from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, is the future of any succesful business.
1.Equality
One of the key points of Catmull's book is creating an organizational culture where everyone can feel ownership, pride and involvement in the work done. He believes this leads to a fruitful environment where something valuable and meaningful can be born. He uses the example of how Toyota's productivity skyrocketed in 1947 as a result of rethinking the production line: instead of only quality-control inspectors and upper management having the power to halt the assembly line, anyone who spotted a mistake was able to do so and fix it. People felt like their work mattered. You don't have to ask permission to take responsibility.
This kind of philosophical worklife democracy is something very Nordic but, it's not enough to believe in it. "Lite bättre", a Swedish saying for "Do it a little bit better" is something Swedish hockey coach, Kurt Lindström used to use as a motivational chant when guiding the Finnish team to their first ice hockey world championship trophy in the nineties. The management of a company needs to come up with as many ways as possible to reinforce the urge to participate and improve. A modern office is like a home where the family members come to daily and feel that they are respected and they can come as they are.
The concept of equality goes beyond hierachy. Female-leadership is vigorously shaping the future of business. Like Finland did in 1906 when it was the first European country to give women the right to vote. Businesses that don't have female leaders won't have a future in the future. This might sound obvious but it's not, only 25 companies in the Fortune 500 are run by women.
Equality is the key to unleashing creativity in any organization.
2.Balance
The Nordic countries are known for their 8 hour work days, paid parental leaves and long summer vacations. Most offices are empty after 5 pm. Sweden is even trialling the concept of a six-hour work day. One could even think that people are just simply lazy slackers up there, but last week Finnish gaming company Supercell became the first European "decacorn" start-up, a technology company worth $10billion - after a buyout from Chinese internet leviathan Tencent.
It doesn't make sense, right?
But this time and age we live in is very organic. As the selection of brands is vast, it's more difficult for people to differentiate between brands and thus we expect transparency and responsibility from companies - as customers and as workers. Adriana Huffington has been one of the most prominent speakers of how the quality and amount of sleep matters in life.
Can it be that companies can have better results with less resources when the employees are well-rested, well-treated and motivated?
It has definitely worked with a company like Rapunzel of Sweden one of the Nordics' leading hair extension companies operating mainly on the internet with customers in more than 60 different countries.
As my friend Tuija Seipell, the editor of Thecoolhunter.net design-blog, states:
"There's no such thing as a work-life balance. There's just balance."
"Less is more" is not just a phrase, it's something all the Nordic societies truly reflect. Minimalism isn't having as little as possible, it's about having as little as needed.
3. Design
The Nordic countries are known for their minimalistic aesthetics and design brands. It's been a nest for some of today's leading fashion brands like Acne, Cos, Filippa K and Cheap Monday and the leading architects of their generation like Eero Saarinen, Alvar Aalto and Bjarke Ingels.
In the Nordic countries design isn't just for the shallows! It's integrated into the whole society. Walk into any Finnish home and you'll find Marimekko & Iittala tableware. It's no big deal.
"It's not just how it looks or feels, design is how it works."
Steve Jobs said almost 15 years ago when introducing the first iPod.
Sure, the Nordic countries also have a strong heritage of engineering but focus will shift in the future. Less mechanics, more aesthetics. Hopefully the most creative engineers will graduate from Nordic universities.
Good design is good business. A brand like Muji is a big believer of Nordicism. Their products are beautiful, useful and minimalistic. Like any modern hockey or sports team, Muji has a playbook; a practical handbook for coaches seeking better performance and better team comrodary. At Muji employees can raise any problems they encounter, come up with solutions and tweak their copy of "the playbook" or Mujigram as they call it. These updates are synced across all stores. Since hitting a rocky patch in 2001, Muji has bounced back to become bigger than ever with around 400 stores in Japan and another 300 operating internationally. Good design is good business.
As the world is getting more and more cluttered with information and things we don't really need... both brands and industries need to become more experiential.
Why?
Because 90% of any brand is emotion and good design evokes emotions. Succesful companies think of how they want to make their customers feel. Good design is a multi-sensory experience. We simply need more experiential, design-devoted brands in the future.
The rest of the world needs to embrace design on an everyday level like the Nordic countries do.
Although the most active protagonists are not Nordic, to me it seems the future of any successful business is being as Nordic as possible. This especially goes for the Nordic businesses, artists and politicians.
Believe in equality in the society and business, work-life balance and the power of good design.
Believe in Nordicism.