Growth measured in humanity: why dialogue must shape the new economy

In a world that is more connected than ever before, we have never been more divided. Technology has given us the ability to speak across continents in seconds, yet we seem to have forgotten how to truly listen. The irony of progress is that even as our systems grow smarter, our conversations have grown shallower.

The World Economic Forum’s 2026 Davos theme, A Spirit of Dialogue, could not be more timely. It calls on us to rediscover the lost art of conversation, to rebuild trust in an age of polarization, disruption and doubt. But dialogue, as I see it, is not just an act of speaking. It is an act of seeing – of understanding others and ourselves with empathy, humility and purpose.

For decades, we have measured progress in percentages and productivity, as if growth were purely an economic equation. But growth is not just what we accumulate; it is what we become.

We need a new measure of prosperity. Instead of GDP, perhaps we should be looking at GQ – Growth Quotient – the extent to which our growth uplifts people, not just profits.

The human dimension of growth demands that we look beyond markets and metrics, to the moral and emotional infrastructure that sustains societies. It means asking some key questions:

The future of growth lies in human development. In education that awakens curiosity, in work that restores dignity, and in leadership that listens before it leads.

A nation’s true wealth lies not in what it builds, but in what it believes.

We are not suffering from a shortage of leaders; we are suffering from a shortage of listeners. In boardrooms, parliaments and social platforms, there is no shortage of noise, only a shortage of understanding.

Dialogue is not weakness; it is strength in its highest form. It takes courage to hear perspectives that challenge our own, to admit that we do not have all the answers. The leader of tomorrow will not be the one who commands the loudest voice, but the one who creates the quietest space for others to be heard.

Listening is the purest form of respect and the most underrated form of leadership.

At a time when global cooperation is strained by rivalry and mistrust, dialogue is not just diplomacy, it is survival. It is what allows nations to move from confrontation to collaboration, from competition to co-creation.

AI, biotechnology and quantum computing promise to redefine the boundaries of possibility. But they will also test the boundaries of our humanity.

We must remember that technology is a mirror. It reflects who we are. If we lack empathy, our algorithms will amplify that lack. If we value only efficiency, we risk engineering empathy out of existence.

The real question is not how intelligent our machines become, but how conscious we remain as humans.

Innovation must be guided by intention. Progress must be tempered by principle. We must pair artificial intelligence with authentic intelligence – the wisdom that comes from empathy, ethics and emotional awareness. Technology without humanity is acceleration without direction.

The future will not be won by those who master data, but by those who master themselves.

True dialogue does not happen in conference halls alone. It begins in classrooms, workplaces and communities; wherever people choose to connect, rather than compete.

When dialogue becomes a habit, cooperation follows. Companies innovate better, nations negotiate better, and societies heal faster. This is the dialogue dividend, the compounding returns of trust.

In my own company, the QI Group, I have witnessed how meaningful dialogue transforms teams and communities. It builds bridges where bureaucracy builds walls. It allows people to see one another not as rivals in a race, but as partners in a journey.

Global cooperation is not an agenda item; it is a human instinct that needs to be reawakened.

The world does not need another economic revolution. It needs an emotional one. We have mastered the science of communication, but forgotten the art of communion. To shape the next economy, we must return to the essence of what makes us human: our ability to connect, to care and to create meaning together. Growth without humanity is expansion without evolution.

Let us build a future where dialogue is the default, not the exception. Where cooperation is not an act of compromise, but an act of courage. And where the measure of progress is not how fast we speak but how deeply we understand.

The next chapter of global growth will not be written in code or policy, but in conversation, in our collective willingness to see one another again – not as data points, but as human beings.