• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave

2

FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’

3

He sold his last company to Palantir. Now he's betting $32 million that robots can fix construction's labor crisis

1

26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave

2

FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’

3

He sold his last company to Palantir. Now he's betting $32 million that robots can fix construction's labor crisis

How Davos can become less self-absorbed and more useful

By
Vineet Nayar
Vineet Nayar
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Vineet Nayar
Vineet Nayar
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 23, 2013, 9:00 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

FORTUNE — A day before I left for Davos to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF), a TV crew interviewed me for a curtain raiser on the event. “What’s your wish for WEF Davos this year?” the journalist asked me in our warm-up conversation. “I wish it’s a bit more boring this year,” I said. Well, let’s just say she did not cancel the interview but our coffees went cold.

Davos is a crazy place. With more than 200 sessions crammed into five days, over 2,000 delegates traversing the streets, plenty of workshops, meetings in every possible nook and corner of the town, there are too many things to do, too many distractions.

I told this to a friend and he said, “Well, that’s the plan.” The global leaders and platforms like G20, Global Climate Change Conference, and the ASEAN conference are doing everything to take your attention away from the real issues. At Davos too, they make it too hectic, too fast, so loud, and so shiny that no one can pause to question or reflect.

MORE: Bringing GM back from the brink

Does that explain why so little gets achieved at Davos every year, despite the fact that all the leaders who control the steering wheels to address the world’s major problems are there?

All the policy makers, rainmakers, and moneymakers: they’re all there. But then again, they’re too busy with the microphone, and let’s not forget that the jet’s already waiting for them in an overbooked bay.

Has the time come to switch off the engines, I wonder? WEF’s been fancy and exciting and fast for too long. It’s time to make it boring and slow.

What better place to slow things down than with Davos delegates like me who need to stop being enchanted with ourselves? One of the biggest problems of WEF, I believe, is that too many people come to Davos to talk and not to listen. If only more leaders came to just listen, reflect, and learn, the forum would then become a more meaningful event.

Today, unfortunately, the WEF is a “Facebook town” instead. People only go to Davos to tell the world how great they are and get instant gratification by getting millions of “likes.” The alpine town has become the most powerful embodiment of Facebook’s “look at me!” syndrome. If only more Davos delegates were interested in others, they would care to learn best practices, share notes, and collaborate to find solutions to some truly pressing global problems.

Adding to the trouble is the over-abundance of the WEF agenda. The event’s 80-page program is too much by any standard. The world’s problems and dilemmas are definitely not that diverse. To test the hypothesis, I asked my social media universe to nominate the issues they want the WEF leaders to focus on this year. Comment after comment cited the same, simple things: employment, sustainability, corruption, terrorism, education, and safety for the common man.

The message was loud and clear. We don’t need 200 lengthy sessions, just a few straight-talking, action-oriented debates on relevant issues. Let’s focus on five issues, five things to change, five actions to take, and let’s ponder over them longer. As the famous American physician Jonas Salk said, if you give enough time and effort to conversations, “intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.”

MORE: Boeing’s Dreamliner mess: Simply inevitable?

Lastly, we need consistency. The agenda at WEF changes every year while the basic global problems we face are still largely the same. Let’s keep the topics steady year-after year until we make serious progress on any one of these issues. The relevance of a forum like WEF should not come from the newness of its agenda titles or speakers; it’s about the solutions.

So let’s keep it stable, let’s keep it slow, and let’s keep it boring. As columnist Joel Stein wrote in Harvard Business Review last year, “boringness is the new secret to great leadership,” and it’s definitely “a lot more effective than screaming.”

Vineet Nayar is vice chairman of HCL Technologies and the author of Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down.

About the Author
By Vineet Nayar
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in blogging

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Most Popular

26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
Law
26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
By Barbara Ortutay, Alexandra Olson and The Associated PressJuly 15, 2026
1 day ago
FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’
C-Suite
FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’
By Fortune EditorsJuly 15, 2026
1 day ago
He sold his last company to Palantir. Now he's betting $32 million that robots can fix construction's labor crisis
Innovation
He sold his last company to Palantir. Now he's betting $32 million that robots can fix construction's labor crisis
By Lily Mae LazarusJuly 15, 2026
1 day ago
Jamie Dimon understands why people are anti-rich: 'We have, in fact, left the lower-income folks behind' and 'that's kind of annoying'
Economy
Jamie Dimon understands why people are anti-rich: 'We have, in fact, left the lower-income folks behind' and 'that's kind of annoying'
By Eleanor PringleJuly 15, 2026
1 day ago
MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly
Newsletters
MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly
By Sydney LakeJuly 14, 2026
2 days ago
After donating $48 billion to the Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett is quietly ending one of the biggest philanthropic relationships in history
North America
After donating $48 billion to the Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett is quietly ending one of the biggest philanthropic relationships in history
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 14, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.