[Extract] "Should we think a little Laterally?" - James Rees - Botanical Water Technologies - a podcast by Antoine Walter

James Rees is Chief Impact Officer at Botanical Water Technologies and Board Advisor at Bluerloop, Droople , and Noverram. Botanical Water Technologies strives to positively impact water scarcity by providing a new source of drinkable, sustainable, plant-based Water for social and environmental projects.

Let me bring you a bit behind the scenes to start with today. I've been recently invited to give my first-ever TED Talk, which will happen end of November in Shaftesbury, UK. So now I'm binge-watching the most successful ones to extract best practices. And the link to today's topic is twofold.

First, one of the most watched TED Talks ever, and maybe my favorite one, is Simon Sinek's one advising all of us to start with Why. 

Let's follow that advice! Why should we adopt new technologies in Water? Well, because we're facing new challenges. Why does the roll-out of these technologies take a while? Well, because Water is a highly political and sensible field with low rewards and harsh punishments. 

And why does it matter so much that new technologies get to roll out faster, succeed and bloom? Well, because that's how they will maximize their impact.

Now, remember, I said the link was two-fold; here's the second one. Binge-watching TEDs to identify patterns takes a while, but it's doable. But is there a similar directory of instructions as to how to succeed as an early or mid-market water technology company? Of course not.

There are incredible pieces of ecosystems: think of the accelerator programs, like Imagine H2O or Elemental, which we addressed on that microphone. Think of the incubation or pilot programs like the Xylem Innovation Labs or Isle Utilities' Trial Reservoir, which we addressed on that microphone. There are market data and analyst companies like BlueTech Research or Global Water Intelligence, which we addressed on that microphone. And, of course, there are associations, conferences, and brilliant podcasts outside of this one, and there is that very microphone.

But who's connecting the dots? People, humans. You'll hear with James in a minute how we're just scratching the surface of the importance of connecting those dots and how one can actually do that. And if we start with why, the reason why we shall connect the dots is that it takes a village to solve today's water challenges. Many players still speak many different languages, and someone needs to translate. 

So I'll leave the floor to James after reminding you that if you like what you hear, please share it around. Tell your friends, colleagues, or LinkedIn network what you found interesting or inspirational, and if you don't like what you hear, please reach out to me and tell me what I should be doing differently or better. Come on, do it, and I'll meet you on the other side. 

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