Tiki-Taka our way to a sustainable future!

Another edition of the FIFA World Cup is coming to an end. While we have a surprise entry in the semifinals - Morocco; the rest are our usual suspects. But, as I was watching and marvel at the agility, speed and teamwork, I could not help but notice a lesson for all of us.

Now, I am sure there are many of us romantics who would still swear by an individual player's beautiful run, vanquishing 4 or 5 defenders before scoring a memorable goal. Many a South American legends - Pele, Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo, etc have done it time again. I still remember the 1986 finals and Maradona's 11 second magic . Come 2010, the Spaniards and Barca embraced the, now normal approach, Tiki Taka. For those who were mesmerized by it, oh yeah, it was just that - languid, poetic, smooth and well orchestrated. I just loved how Casillas and team did it again and again. For those, who need a 101, take a look at this . Like any strategy, this has had its issues. But, this isn't about football and we don't need to get into that.

So, why am I bringing this up now? The coordination, team play and agility in football is very important for any successful team. And Tiki Taka epitomised it. It is very effective and the success achieved by Spain and Barca is for everyone to see.

And this brings me to climate change, startups, success & impact. It is clear - the enormity of the problem and the sense of urgency it demands. And this means, we can't wait and hope for someone or entity to have it's Maradona run to score a goal. And even if a startup or an enterprise does score a goal, will the match be won is any body's guess. And importantly, can we all keep our hopes on that ONE brilliant individual? All eggs-in-the-same-basket situation, right?

However, let's imagine a world where corporates, startups, the government and customers are on the same team. And we all have the same common goal - a brighter, predictable and sustainable future. Now, we begin to play. There is delectable passing and sharing of information and finding complementing partners - one is an expert at running, while the other at passing :: one has technology while the other works on the ground and finally we always have a likeminded investor standing behind with the money. And imagine Government agencies are paving the way seamlessly, ensuring red tape is eliminated! Iniesta would be proud of. We dodge all the problems share the burden and net the goal. Yay! This would become a very predictable and dependable approach. We can definitely win the match, not just score one goal. We can surely meet global INDC commitments and keep global temperature rise under 1.5 degree celsius.

So, Whats stopping us from Tiki-Taka-ing, stopping us building an ecosystem of partners to solve this? Why are we still thinking in silos?

We Smarter Dharma have partnered with WRI India , Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd. , EcoCollab and others to create a business charter to accelerate decarbonising built environment. So, who else wants to have fun with us?