We can all see dark clouds gathering ahead. The western world is in the throes of a recession, there’s a financial crisis that has got its foot stuck in the door, regulators are battling solutions behind not-so-closed doors. Meanwhile people are losing jobs, capital is drying up, and just about everything has hit the fan.

A fellow participant at the MLabs conference recently shared a case on the campaign to save 100,000 Lives by Institute for Healthcare Improvements. Intrigued by the target number (being a business leader that attracts the most) I set out to read how this ambitious & bold target of saving them in 18 month's time was achieved.

Our society today is faced with many intimidating challenges and for this state to improve, those truly committed to improving it cannot shun away their individual responsibility and dwell in the easy languor of the past. Equal opportunity lies in front of each one of us to bring about a positive impact, individually or collectively.

As I travel to MLabs' inaugural conference on 'management innovation', my thoughts drift back to the first time I interacted with the brain behind this unique initiative. Ideas that I have nurtured since long came up as I spoke with Prof Gary Hamel and along with it the delight that some of these ideas have successfully been implemented in HCL.

I was at the INSEAD global leadership Summit recently where I was invited to speak on a very relevant topic for today's times- 'Responsible Leadership and Sustainable Growth'. The discussion and the subsequent questions on the sidelines of the event set me thinking. Is developing sustainable technologies still a nice to have?