July 01, 2014
New York Energy Week: The Surprising Things
First principles are important. Rooting New York Energy Week in the priorities established by a community of volunteers, participants, sponsors and advisors paid off in the second iteration of the event series last month with panels of exceptional insight, unusually impactful networking and deserved attention for an industry that too often flies under the radar in the country's largest city.
The energy business has traditionally been a centralized affair, and large energy events have had their content dictated by central groups of organizers. But the business itself is going through a transition to a model of distribution generation, origination and engagement and New York Energy Week's highly unusual model of distributed leadership and its broad net for ideas is emblematic of that shift.
A distributed system can be hard to manage, but experience, systemization and clarity of purpose are remarkably effective in getting the benefits of a large organization without the cost of wasted time, effort and overhead. New York Energy Week's second year was an excellent example of how compelling ideas, clear communication and defined task sets can set free creativity in solving problems and ultimately result in events so reflective of multiple forms of expertise that they overshadow the outcome of traditional command-and-control management approaches.
More from CNAS
-
Bloomberg Scoop: Trump’s Team Said to Be Exploring Stake in Intel
Geoffrey Gertz of the Center for a New American Security joins to discuss his takeaways as the administration demonstrates willingness to intervene in the economy much more di...
By Geoffrey Gertz
-
Energy, Economics & Security / Technology & National Security
Scrapping AI Export Controls Is Self-DefeatingBeijing surely has two goals in mind: Signal to domestic companies that they ought to shun American technology as soon as possible, and manipulate Nvidia to reveal how it desi...
By Liza Tobin & Matt Pottinger
-
Game Over?
The trade wargame suggests that sustained high tariffs could create leverage and urgency to spur action toward a productive restructuring of the international trade system....
By Emily Kilcrease & Geoffrey Gertz
-
Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
Trump Hits India with 25% TariffThere have been signs of trouble in the U.S.-India talks, according to a Lisa Curtis from the Center for a New American Security, joining Bloomberg TV, including the U.S. want...
By Lisa Curtis