Rebellious Optimism = Innovation

Optimism is the greatest act of rebellion.  So says my friend Carmen Medina.  If anyone doubts the veracity of that statement, evidence abounds in the form of people – of all ages, shapes and sizes – and especially by kids (e.g., anyone under 40).   To say I’m awed by what they are doing is an understatement.  They don’t take ‘no’ as an answer but a challenge; they view entrepreneurship and capitalism as an inherently social venture; they take system-level approaches to solving problems and by nature collaborate.   Their acts of rebellion are shaping a better world for all of us.

So, I’m going to regularly share “Optimism Greatest Act Rebellion Stories” with you and ask you to share your Optimism stories with the rest of us!  Let me start with an incredible young woman I met this past weekend at the Celebration of 120 years of Women at Brown.

Kona Shen graduated in 2010 with an honors thesis on the impact of foreign aid on Haiti’s environment and ways the international community could improve aid efforts.  Not your average thesis.  But moreso, Kona is not your average 24yr old - her poise, wisdom, leadership, business acumen and management skills are on par As a C.V. Starr Fellow at Brown, Kona was already drawn to Haiti and wanted to blend “social” and “entrepreneurship” to make a difference. After graduation, she founded, and runs, GOALS Haiti, a self-sustaining non-profit in Haiti that uses kids’ obsessive passion for soccer to engage youth in community work and education, improving their quality of life while teaching them leadership.  Children are taught how to create safe, clean, healthy environments and bodies for playing soccer.  The teams (adults, counselors, and kids) clean up their neighborhoods, collecting litter, trash collection, recycle, plant vegetable gardens, access mobile clinics, and build temporary shelters and public sanitation facilities.  GOALS Haiti uniquely emphasizes developing local capacity and youth leadership so its efforts are sustainable.  Currently, over 600 children are served a month in Haiti which also impacts their families, currently improving the lives of over 3500 Haitians a month.

There are many more fabulous stories of Rebellious Optimism to share.   One of my favorites is Runa, a B-Corp started by some Brown soccer players, classes of ’08.  Their story of doing well and doing good is one of the most powerful I’ve seen in blending innovative business models, techniques, processes and social impact.

So, if you’re worried about where this country is going, about our seemingly gridlocked government, relax a little.  There are amazing young people usurping government’s roles in productive, efficient and effective ways.  Perhaps Gov. 3.0 will be back in the hands of the people!  

Please contribute your own stories of Rebellious Optimism!

Mentoring Paradox

I believe mentoring is a gift for the mentee and the mentor.  Throughout my career, I’ve been blessed with incredible mentors who, perhaps unknowingly, taught me how to mentor.   It’s something I take seriously and joyfully. It is a paradox - an incredibly selfless thing that is also very selfish.

Recently, my mentoring has increased.  In addition to mentoring Brown seniors and startups, I’m mentoring Oberlin College students applying for a fellowship to start their business after graduation in May.  Many of these kids were in my recent Business Model Innovation class. They are eager for advice and guidance.  They really listen! For some reason, the stakes seem higher to me than in mentoring 'adults'. For these kids' their first entrepreneur experience will shape their view of entrepreneurship, innovation, success and failure.  That's part of why they are making me a better mentor.  How? They make me challenge my own ‘status quo’ views and improve my ability to ask dumb questions.  Here’s what I have (re)learned from them:

• Status Quo is a powerful Siren Song: It’s so easy to succumb to the status quo; though I fight it, it’s the boiled frog syndrome – and it’s so very human.  When you’ve been doing, investing in and supporting startups and consulting with businesses for a long time, it’s easy to get lulled into thinking you know a lot; and you do, but not everything and not forever.  In our dynamic world, the lifespan of knowledge is increasingly decreasing. I have to challenge my own reasoning and ideas;
• Paradox of Inexperience and Experience:  The blank slate, the fresh naïve perspective these kids have creates innovative solutions to real needs with non-traditional business models for non-traditional customers and markets.  I learn so much about different perspectives, shifting my lens so I see the ‘usual’ in unusual ways. And my clients will benefit from lessons I’ve experienced from the inexperienced.
• Mentor Mentors: Through the network of alumni mentoring women at Brown and my friend Whitney Johnson’s insightful, must read posts about mentoring, I’ve learned how to be a good mentor: what does/doesn’t work, when, why, in which circumstances.  This has also broadened the network I can share with my mentees – teaching them the importance of The Network.

So, take some advice from these kids – start mentoring.  It will stretch you in ways you can’t imagine, let you to share your learnings with others for their success, and provide life-long experiences to be shared, imparted and enjoyed.

Season of Giving - Gift of Work

Tis the giving season.  My kids always ask what I want they can ‘wrap’ instead of ‘do’, like empty the dishwasher, fold laundry, not argue, etc.  They don’t view chores, ‘work’ as a gift.  But, I sure do!

Work has a lot to do with Christmas and Chanukah.  Our work creates gifts and capital for gifts.  It’s not just ‘stuff’.  Work creates products, services, capital…and relationships – with colleagues, employees, bosses, peers, service providers, and suppliers and of course customers.

Bear with me, this may seem circuitous but it ‘works’.  One of the Hebrew words for work (used in the 4^th Commandment) is Melakah: work, occupation, business, workmanship, service, purpose.  Melakah has the same root as mal’ak, which means messenger or angel. Talk about work with meaning and purpose!  

For me, work is a way to deliver a message, it’s a ‘calling’.  To me, melakah implies the actual work AND its outcome.  If we aren’t providing meaningful, purposeful outcomes that meet or exceed our customers’ needs, we won’t be around too long.  Work is about ‘thou’ (other), not about you and me. Which gets back to relationships, doesn’t it?

So, as we prepare for Christmas and Chanukah, take a moment to thank G-d for the gift of work and the gifts of our works.  When we unwrap our gifts, think about the hands that designed, built, packaged, shipped, shelved and wrapped it – rejoice and give thanks.  And, as we prepare for 2012, let’s think about the message we will deliver to those who receive the gifts of our work – and how we can better their work and lives. 

p.s. A special thanks to my friend Michael Stallard for turning me onto Skip Moen’s site which prompted this post.