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Eric Stryson
MD, pan-Asia think tank - Global & Regional Awareness - Purposeful Leadership - Re-Designing Society
Eric Stryson is the Managing Director at The Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT), an independent pan-Asian think tank based in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur since its foundation in 2004. GIFT focuses on understanding the shift of influence from the West to Asia, the interplay between business, society, and the state, and the evolution of global capitalism rules. With a unique approach to leadership learning, GIFT offers exposure to contemporary issues shaping markets, policy, and society in the 21st century.
Highlights
I read a lot of commentary on technology in education: The potential & pitfalls of AI; The banning of devices. But are students learning how to think critically about technology in society?
It is arguably the most important subject kids need to learn as they become active members of society.
Lest we collectively remain blind to the social costs of existing digital tech applications: consumption, distraction, polarisation, etc
Continuing to allow market forces to set the agenda, even against public interest .
Bold new approaches are needed for preparing students for a technology-enabled future.
This is what we are now working on in Hong Kong, for K-12 students, in preparation for our annual experiential leadership programme.
In 2022 the HKSAR Government released the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology (I&T) Development Blueprint with the vision to establish Hong Kong as an international I&T hub. https://lnkd.in/gW23f_jE
A key objective is to cultivate the local talent needed to realise the ambition – in addition to attracting talents from around the world.
But how to best prepare these future tech talents - and professionals in all fields?
To leverage China’s industry strengths and Hong Kong’s access to capital and international super-connector status.
It requires expansive international mindsets.
The future workforce, to say nothing of future tech leadership, must be able to think critically, not simply follow trends from Silicon Valley.
If we believe technology is a problem-solving tool, what problems does Hong Kong need to solve? Who will teach the next generation?
We examined this in 2021 in our report Redefining ‘Smart City’ for Resilience in the New Normal. https://lnkd.in/gGa58TxT
What public goods can be enabled by technology and need to be prioritised?
How to put money to work in developing the technology applications that will benefit all of society, not only tech owners?
These are questions that go beyond simplistic notions of how to scale an app and monetise attention.
Cultivating a broader view on technology should start early.
Teachers at all levels need new training, new skills and a practical understanding of current and future technologies.
It all needs funding.
All of it needs to be driven by bold and visionary policy making.
Share your comments below and talk to us if you want to help us as we shape this project.
Many companies are seeking to transform their cultures. At university, I studied social psychology with a leading figure in the psychology of influence (incl. cult dynamics), Professor Philip Zimbardo. He led groundbreaking research into the effects of our environment on human behaviour, most notoriously in the Stanford Prison Experiment.
Lately, I have been considering how this applies to the mindsets and behaviours within large organisations, and the desire for creating internal cultures that prioritise staff wellbeing and positive outcomes in society.
This is a topic that should be of interest to all business leaders, indeed all staff at large companies, and especially those who aspire to higher ranks in organisations.
Some of the defining dynamics we have observed within big companies reinforce mindsets that are not only undesirable but sometimes downright harmful.
🔸 Abdication of personal accountability. “It’s not my problem.”
🔸 Perverse rewards systems misaligned with public interest.
🔸 Pay packages that are over inflated relative to value provided to society.
🔸 Plausible deniability for bad behaviour - no chain of custody for decision making.
🔸 Internal politics that erodes moral sentiment and even basic critical thinking
🔸 Administrative burden stifling time to think, reflect, or nurture curiosity.
🔸 Proliferation of always-on communication that scrambles focused and deep thought. This is not just a big company phenomenon.
The list can go on.
I disagree with the anachronistic counter argument that big companies necessarily make life better. They strive to convince us as much.
Certainly, we benefit from an array of products and services that improve quality of life.
Yet the reality is that centralised administrative functions, supply chain efficiencies and financial leverage are foremost tools to concentrate economic gains.
Small and medium sized companies can do just as well. And often more humanely.
We continue to work determinedly to change mindsets throughout the ranks at big companies.
This should be seen as one of our greatest challenges as a society – simply because of the vast resources they command, and vast impact on people and natural systems.
Too often governments are castrated from effectively reigning in self-interested corporate overreach, and thereby protecting public good which is their job.
I am an optimist in imagining a better state of affairs.
We need to be realists when confronting the structural causes of harm.
If I am honest, deep down I am pessimistic that such monstrous administrative structures can ever be adequately reformed. Striving for intellectual humility, I am open to being proven wrong.
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
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