Innovation requires a safe environment. When I first moved to Dubai, I met two guys for coffee. I was invited by one of them because we met each other during an online mastermind and he knew I was new to the city. One of the guys was highly intellectual, and the other one was highly empathetic. Both ran coaching businesses. We had a lovely cup of coffee that I think lasted for six hours discussing books and phenomenons. It was lovely.
At that time, I had only been in Dubai for a week and they warned me that these types of discussions will not occur very often.Of course they were very grateful for our time we spent together because they had the opportunity to think, to have more complex, meaningful thoughts.
Six months later, I can honestly say they were wrong. I don’t go out much and, despite that, I keep bumping into the most amazing people. One of my neighbors has a space tech startup. It’s an astronaut startup.
I love to walk. I walk alone, around downtown Dubai. But during the day, I am either writing reports, CIMs or on Zoom calls. One day, during a webinar, one of the other participants DMed me on Zoom and asked if I live in Dubai because he had seen me around town. This guy is a former alcoholic trader that has been sober for many years and is now running a VC fund in Dubai.
I sold a watch on Chronos and the guy who ended up wanting it was a German living here. He sells cars, but most importantly he is a very chill guy, a very trustworthy guy that offers great deals for his clients. That may not sound like much but I think it is. It reflects integrity.
I met another guy who basically invented his own type of training and diet for men who can’t grow muscle. He spends most of his day in a flow state. Back home where I’m from, most people don’t even know what flow state is.
Let’s not forget a guy that I just saw on the street and said to him “nice shoes”. He is probably the best wine collector/wine trader in the entire world. I say this because the royal family found him on LinkedIn and immediately hired him. He just really likes collecting things and doing arbitrage with cultural artefacts.
All of these people actually excel in whatever it is they’re doing. All of these people have moved from Western countries to Dubai. Other people back home would point their fingers and say that they are avoiding taxes. But think about it. If these people excel at what they do, taxes become irrelevant. They’re not here because of no taxes, which is a myth, by the way. They’re here because they were actively seeking out places in which they could have the peace, quiet, and safety to excel. They wanted to go beyond the level they were back in their home countries.
I think all these people, like myself, are most of the time alone, but not lonely. I think they give themselves the space necessary to evolve. They finally decided for themselves that they deserve it. They finally recognise that this is what they need in order to go from good to great and work on things that are greater than themselves.
Talented people require safety and stability to be able to express themselves fully. This means they should not be interrupted by the inadequacies of the systems they live in. A nation’s systems should provide a safe, stable environment. It is the only way to drive innovation.
If you’d like to read a sequel to this article regarding a nation’s systems, click here.