Pascal Latouche - Open Innovation

“ Naïas is a way ,” it seems. I must admit that the answer disturbed me somewhat and also pleased me a lot. Many would just take the time to consolidate this achievement and make a good living out of it, in short, to make it a goal. This is not the case with Cindy whose goal is quite different. It’s about Cindy using Naïas as an annuity to forge other start-ups, other businesses, here and elsewhere.

Here again, in order to give a good account of what I understand of her projects/dreams, a summary is necessary. Cindy’s objectives: speak the following seven languages: English, Italian, Chinese, German, Russian, Arabic and sign language. She has ticked off 3/7 and by accident she speaks Creole and is nearly fluent in Dutch; seeing a maximum of countries in the world, she has already seen more than 30 of them; having a nice apartment in …Paris and spending the months of the year in the countries she likes according to the season; becoming a black belt in Taekwondo; being totally free in an entrepreneurial way and she’s in the 2/3 stage of that plan since Naias has yet to become an annuity. This will allow her to get involved in causes that are important to her.

All the best!

I retain two essential points from Mrs. Cindy Dorkenoo. The first is a quote: “Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness – Alejandro Jodorowsky”. The second point is an invitation to readers: “Think about building the stairs to your goals, because without intermediate steps, they will remain dreams!”

Question 2: what do you think about Mrs. Cindy Dorkenoo’s journey?

Figure 2.1. Mrs. Cindy Dorkenoo. For a color version of the figure, see www.iste.co.uk/latouche/innovation.zip

1 1 These are French higher education establishments. They are prestigious and have been attended by some of French society’s most influential, including French presidents.

2 2 French equivalent of a master’s level degree.

3 3 BA level equivalent degree.

Before this interview, I didn’t know Elodie at all. She was introduced to me by a colleague who had noticed this entrepreneur. This colleague, following my LinkedIn post encouraging entrepreneurs to provide their testimonies, told me that according to her, Elodie was an atypical profile that deserved to be listened to. In other words, within a few days, contact was established between Elodie and myself and I explained my project to her. She joined without hesitation. I remember listening to her during this first contact and thinking that it might be difficult to get her to tell her story, as she seemed, despite her assertive tone, somewhat shy and not necessarily sure of herself. It was half a mistake on my part. Elodie, although I see her in retrospect as somewhat shy, is nonetheless someone whose determination is admirable. Her reserve is not linked to shyness, but to well-considered choices that are always in line with herself.

This is so true that after our interview, or any context of acceleration, I put her in touch with some of my good contacts from my internal and external corporate network. For all intents and purposes, I think it will be useful for her. But let’s come back to Elodie, the one who in my opinion is moving forward permanently, that has made her progress to the point where she is now the CEO of a very nice start-up.

Her grandfather, a Tunisian Jew of very good social status, chose like many others to flee the country at the time when independence was asserting itself in the Maghreb. So it was penniless and having given up almost everything that his grandfather arrived in France. If I leave the story of her grandfather, it’s because this immigration had consequences. The family was taken from a social condition that must have been very comfortable to a modest social condition.

Elodie comes from parents who divorced at a very young age and has one sister. Elodie was raised by her mother in a very modest suburb of Paris. With great sincerity, Elodie told me about her parents, her family and how she perceived them.

“ My mother is a role model for me ”. In her eyes, her mother is a model of courage. Brave, the latter was so because she was a freelance nurse for years, she managed to climb the ladder in the medical field and is currently the director of an elderly care home. “ My mother’s desire has always been an example to follow ”.

“ For years my father did things he didn’t like to do ”. In Elodie’s eyes, her father’s a resilient guy. He’s been looking out for himself for a long time. He is currently a lead salesman in a ready-to-wear fashion store.

Let the reader make no mistake. These words were not pronounced as value judgments by Elodie, but with much of the love she received from both her parents. The suburbs, far from being perceived as a difficult area to live in, seem to have brought Elodie some contentment. The cultural mix, the popular environment, even in modest circumstances, provided Elodie with an environment that opened her mind to others. “ I’m better off now and I’m very afraid that my children won’t have the opportunity to get to know this working-class environment. It is a form of wealth ”.

One of the singular points of Elodie’s childhood is an early conviction instilled by her mother. It’s the belief that no matter how modest a household she was in, she could do anything. Feeling “ capable of anything ” , this conviction carried Elodie through life, and even created the young girl she was. “ I know today that if I want to, I can do it ”.

Elodie had a quiet schooling. “ I never had any pressure from my mother to succeed. She certainly wanted me to obtain the Baccalaureate, but above all she wanted me to blossom ”. A gifted student, she went to a private junior school which she didn’t like because it was too communitarian. There she was able to acquire a very good level which paved the way to a high school far from home where she was able to combine studies for a while with her passion for the theater. “ I wanted to be in the theater and I fought to get into this school ”.

This didn’t last, because finally came the time for the final orientation towards her option for the BAC and after some procrastination, it was finally mathematics that she opted for.

Applied mathematics in university was supposed to be easy to study. Yes, but for Elodie, who until then hadn’t gone to much trouble to succeed in passing her exams, the surprise was great. You really had to work! “ I didn’t have my first year and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do ”.

No problem though. Caught by the passion of writing, Elodie launched herself into a Journalism DUT 1. “ I really loved it ”. But was it going to last?

Not really yet. Indeed, after this DUT, she had some experience in journalism. It didn’t take long for the interest in journalism to wear off. Doing breaking news stressed her somewhat, doing current affairs bored her. So it was time to do something else…. She then worked in a media consulting agency on the design of projects, communication supports and events animation. This new experience, which lasted a little over two years, gave her a taste for project processes. And again, there was an end, a weariness … What to do? She chose to stop the experience there and start a business with her mother, while restarting her studies.