tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50297404871911195302024-03-13T13:36:19.454-07:00Tim CoatesTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-56814742891576640362012-02-07T17:56:00.000-08:002012-02-08T15:55:24.905-08:00Yale SOM Philanthropy Conference Summary<span style="color: #444444;">The theme running through the </span><a href="http://community.som.yale.edu/philanthropy/"><span style="color: blue;">Yale SOMPhilanthropy</span></a><span style="color: #444444;"> conference last week was how nonprofits are diversifying their impact.<o:p></o:p></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;">The keynote speaker, </span><a href="http://www.blendedvalue.org/about/emerson.html"><span style="color: blue;">Jed Emerson</span></a><span style="color: #444444;">, author of a new book
on </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Investing-Transforming-Making-Difference/dp/0470907215"><span style="color: blue;">Impact Investing</span></a><span style="color: #444444;">, spoke powerfully about how our traditional bifurcation
between for-profit and nonprofit no longer serves us. “If the only tool you use
is grants,” he said, “then the world looks like a charity case.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;">His work has focused on finding ways to leverage private capital
to solve public problems. While much of
his talk was aimed at foundations and philanthropists, he beseeched nonprofits
to better understand how capital can be used to accomplish their mission. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;">If we left the keynote convinced of impact investing, a vigorous
counter was lodged during the first breakout session. Three of the four members
of the panel I attended, Money to Matter: Creating Synergies across For-profit
and Nonprofit Sectors, didn’t think the hybridization and convergence underway in
the sector was a good thing. “The work of nonprofits and for-profits is so
different,” one panelist said, “they don’t go well together.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;">Interestingly, a panelist who used to work at </span><a href="http://www.rootcapital.org/"><span style="color: blue;">Root Capital</span></a><span style="color: #444444;">,
one of </span>
<span style="color: #444444;">impact investing's</span> <span style="color: #444444;">success stories Emerson </span><span style="color: #444444;">mentioned</span><span style="color: #444444;">, said
it only succeeded because of their ability to provide grants, not loans. This reminded me of how it took Muhammad Yunus and </span><a href="http://www.grameen.com/"><span style="color: blue;">GrameenBank</span></a><span style="color: #444444;"> 18 years to decrease their reliance on grants and government largess.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;">The panel’s focus on cross sector partnerships was
fascinating. Namrita Kapur, Director of Strategy for the Environmental Defense
Fund, lamented that one challenge of working with private sector organizations
is that “making the business case is not enough anymore.” She discussed a whole
range of activities that bring positive returns to the corporation but don't automatically prompt
action. Often it was only after a radical advocacy group would raise the
costs of inaction that corporations would agree work with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;">The example shows what can happen when diverse nonprofit and for-profit players work together, intentionally or not. But not all organizations find a niche to help achieve their mission. Sharon Oster, Yale Professor and moderator
of the panel, A Personal Look into Philanthropic Giving, worried about the implications of the “excessive
differentiation” currently happening in the sector. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444;">Many small nonprofits have only a slight difference in how they approach a problem relative to other organizations. Rather than bring their idea to existing organization, the founders launch a new organization. What this means for the future of public problem solving and the
nonprofit sector is an open question. </span><span style="color: #444444;">I hope we hear more on this </span><span style="color: #444444;">at
next year’s conference. </span><br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-34535263442558138522012-01-27T08:06:00.000-08:002012-01-27T08:11:15.211-08:00Hit It Hard<span style="color: #444444;">There is so much in this short 4:18 video. For those trying to grow companies or social ventures, this video is golden.</span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gtVK066iEIg" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">I was shown this video at an event yesterday at HBS, organized for New Brunswick stakeholders involved in fostering entrepreneurship. The particular session that showed this video was led by HBS faculty member</span> <a href="http://drfd.hbs.edu/fit/public/facultyInfo.do?facInfo=ovr&facId=294193"><span style="color: blue;">Ramana Nanda</span></a><span style="color: #444444;">, whose focus is on entrepreneurship financing. He wanted us to see how the interests of VC firms for backing home runs, not safe bets, leads to certain behavior ($50 million is interesting, $15 million is not). </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Another faculty member,</span> <a href="http://drfd.hbs.edu/fit/public/facultyInfo.do?facInfo=ovr&facId=2978"><span style="color: blue;">Noam Wasserman</span></a><span style="color: #444444;">, spoke about the learning entrepreneurs go through. His research shows that for many serial entrepreneurs, the second startup is more poorly managed than the first. It's not until the 3rd and 4th that venture they apply the right lessons learned. In the video James talks about some of the mistakes that Noam's research has found first and second time entrepreneurs making.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Now go hit it hard.</span></span></span></span>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-67423095788827527892012-01-25T08:11:00.000-08:002012-01-25T11:49:48.086-08:00What’s Your Soil Strategy?<span style="color: #444444;">At a meeting yesterday in New Haven, with folks building exciting
entrepreneurial energy in that city, we talked about focusing beyond
the entrepreneur.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">Successful companies have great leadership teams. One angel
investor said that he almost never sees a business plan without gaping holes in
the leadership team. Another participant then spoke of the analogy of our work
with permaculture, an approach to agriculture that looks to natural ecosystems rather
than business frameworks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">Permaculture’s focus on the soil and approaching agriculture
from an ecosystem perspective ensures abundant harvests and healthy profits. Profits that
are reinvested to ensure abundant future harvests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">This is a useful analogy for small market cities like New Haven.
The challenge with small cities is that they’re small. People, ideas and resources don’t come
together with the same frequency or velocity as they do in big cities, making it harder to generate
the critical mass of economic activity that becomes self-sustaining. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">I forget where I read it, but the example of the Vietnamese
Chef in New York City vs the Vietnamese Chef in, say, Bangor, is instructive. In
New York City the Chef must compete for customers with many other Vietnamese Chefs.
He specializes and becomes very good. He
meets a Spanish Chef at a Food Network forum for the city's best chefs, who through the same forces has also becomes very good. They team
up and open a popular fusion restaurant. The Food Network profiles the restaurant
and their popularity grows further.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">The Vietnamese Chef in Bangor has a very different
existence. His is the only Vietnamese restaurant in town. Unfortunately he
needs a population of 100,000 just to have enough potential customers to stay alive. Bangor only has a population of 30,000. After a good first couple weeks his door stops flying
open and the restaurant must close. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">The soil in New York has nurtured innovation with market
size, diversity and specialization. Entrepreneurs can more easily develop products and find people to complete their leadership teams. These forces do not exist by themselves in
Bangor. The Bangor’s of the world need to find ways to fertilize their soil and imitate these forces while building on the advantages of small cities. It seems that the folks in New Haven are on their way to figuring it out.</span><br />
<o:p></o:p></div>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-71445942650840185292012-01-14T09:16:00.000-08:002012-01-14T13:58:05.419-08:00Searching for sustainability<span style="color: #444444;">Sustainability used to mean going green. Now it refers to how organizations can live forever. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444;">Finding the silver bullet of organizational sustainability comes up a lot in my conversations. This past week it came up during a meeting with social enterprise folks and again in a chat with a nonprofit leader. Then, while walking </span><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/386186_10100192921231101_35278_43220758_1234893234_n.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">my dog</span></a>,<span style="color: #444444;"> it was the focus of a</span> <a href="http://sic.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail4786.html"><span style="color: blue;">CSI podcast</span></a> <span style="color: #444444;">on nonprofit leadership.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444;">In each of these conversations it was implied that once found, a sustainable model will lead to an organization with the systems, capacity and resources to do the work that needs done. Adding for-profit work to help pay for nonprofit missions is often mentioned as part of the sustainability solution. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444;">Seth Godin wrote a</span> <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/01/sold-or-bought.html"><span style="color: blue;">blog post recently</span></a> <span style="color: #444444;">about the difference between goods that are bought and sold. Bottled water is bought. When I’m on the road no one sells me bottled water, I search it out. In almost all cases donations are sold. They would never happen unless someone convinced me that I should part with my money to support their cause. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444;">Sustainable social enterprise models will likely always involve their services being sold. There will need to be people out there pitching and corralling support for the cause. Any fundraiser will tell you that that course never feels sustainable. Preferences change. Business gets bad. Someone else got there first.
</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444;">Two of the three senior leaders on the podcast spoke of their search for sustainable enterprise models. They represented and spoke about some of the iconic brands in civil society who have been active for more than 100 years. Organizations like the Red Cross and Goodwill Industries. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444;">It seems these organizations have figured out sustainability. They know their customers and how to reach them. They have a well defined value proposition. But the podcast made clear they're still looking for a sustainable model. What they have done is found a way to make the search sustainable.</span>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-62891282580557565312012-01-05T10:24:00.001-08:002012-01-06T07:51:27.708-08:00Advice When You Need It<span style="color: #444444;">Two years ago I had a conversation with serial entrepreneur</span> <a href="http://www.danmartell.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Dan Martell</span></a> <span style="color: #444444;">about a service both of us needed as we were building our ventures. The problem we were having was a classic dilemma that was only reinforced as young people, (Dan would have been 30, I was 29): we didn't know what we didn't know. But we knew we needed to know it, preferably yesterday.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Dan's answer to this problem is pure Dan, start a company. Yesterday </span><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/01/06/nb-clarity-martel-629.html"><span style="color: blue;">in Moncton</span></a><span style="color: #444444;">, NB,</span> <a href="http://clarity.fm/"><span style="color: blue;">Clarity.fm</span></a> <span style="color: #444444;">was launched as a way for entrepreneurs to get</span><span style="color: #444444;"> the advice they need, when they need it. With over 300 business and community leaders already signed up, it provides a list of people with the right expertise and experience to call on when you're stuck.
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">The idea uses an old fashioned one - asking for help, giving advice - and amplifies it with the reciprocity ethos of online social networks. It's potential to connect professionals is such that I can imagine</span> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/business/reid-hoffman-of-linkedin-has-become-the-go-to-guy-of-tech.html?pagewanted=all"><span style="color: blue;">Reid Hoffman</span></a><span style="color: #444444;">, the co-founder of LinkedIn, banging his hand against his head and lamenting, "why didn't we do this?!"</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">If</span> <a href="http://clarity.fm/"><span style="color: blue;">Clarity.fm</span></a> <span style="color: #444444;">is able to cultivate a culture where users feel comfortable calling strangers, this could take off and be really beneficial (a referral service could help mitigate this). You can find me @</span> <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.clarity.fm/#/timcoates"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.clarity.fm/#/timcoates</span></a>. </span><span style="color: #444444;">Looking forward to your questions! </span>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-90381173800608190122011-12-22T13:23:00.000-08:002011-12-23T00:24:52.653-08:00Journeys to Entrepreneurship<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l_TuOnhqwEY/TvOcGfJ5LXI/AAAAAAAAA2E/kUCqXN-PR90/s1600/startup+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l_TuOnhqwEY/TvOcGfJ5LXI/AAAAAAAAA2E/kUCqXN-PR90/s400/startup+weekend.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A team breaks it down at a StartUp Weekend event in Seattle earlier this year</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">Not long ago, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman translated
today’s zeitgeist, declaring that it’s </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-did-the-robot-end-up-with-my-job.html?ref=thomaslfriedman"><span style="color: blue;">never
been a better time to be an entrepreneur</span></a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">Friedman shows how the innovation and energy emanating
from entrepreneurship is vital to our economic future. Entrepreneurship skills are needed not just in startups, but increasingly in multinationals,
small businesses, social enterprises, nonprofits and communities. Startup Everything is coming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">If this is true, and I believe it is, then we need
to ensure multiple points of entry for people to develop
and apply their entrepreneurial abilities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">I recently learned about customer journey maps from </span><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/anneyurasek"><span style="color: blue;">Anne Yurasek</span></a> </span><span style="color: #444444;">at </span><a href="http://www.fiopartners.com/"><span style="color: blue;">FioPartners</span></a><span style="color: #444444;">. While we didn’t call it this, we completed a similar
process at 21inc. Several participants in our leadership program were using their
experience to launch ventures. These were great outcomes and we wanted to encourage more. We designed five archetypes of typical participants, mapped their potential journey to entrepreneurship and explored how we could improve our program to catalyze and accelerate that journey.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">Given the reliance many regions (and countries) are
placing on entrepreneurship, an exhaustive mapping exercise to discover and
categorize the various ways people experiment with and plunge into entrepreneurship would be of huge value.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">There’s interesting research on why people
become entrepreneurs. Author </span><a href="http://smallbiztrends.com/2008/05/how-do-entrepreneurs-come-up-with-new-business-ideas.html"><span style="color: blue;">Scott
Shane shows</span></a> <span style="color: #444444;">that only 1/3 of entrepreneurs actively search for an idea. Almost
56% get their ideas from working in the same industry they start their business
in.</span> <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-31540251/where-do-entrepreneurs-come-from/"><span style="color: blue;">Surrounding
people</span></a> <span style="color: #444444;">with entrepreneurs also helps (this explains, in part, why I took
the plunge and why 21inc’s programs have the outcomes they do).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: #444444;">I haven’t yet seen all that's known about why people become entrepreneurs collected in one place. If anyone knows a good source please pass it
along. That’s the book I want to read this holiday season. I'm writing from France so any reading is going to happen between wine, croissants and pain au chocolate!</span><o:p></o:p></div>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-18805418056955756792011-12-12T20:39:00.000-08:002011-12-13T11:38:19.795-08:00Lessons from Constraint<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Humans have an uncanny ability to believe they're above average. Psychologists have a word for this,</span> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">illusory superiority</span></a>.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">
According to Wikipedia, it's when </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #444444;">people overestimate their
positive qualities and underestimate their negative ones.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">In one study analyzing driving safety and skill, 93% of US drivers
put themselves in the top 50% for skill and 88% thought they were in the top 50%
for safety. One<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> survey of
faculty at the</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">University of Nebraska</span> found that<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> 68% rated
themselves in the top 25% for teaching ability</span></span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">People who strongly identify with certain groups can do the same. In more
than a few conversations I’ve heard successful business people compare
themselves favorably to other professions. Haven’t earned your chops in
business (and not fake business, like HR or law)? Then you don’t have
chops. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">I've been thinking about this because I'm meeting with a lot of private sector people and interested in positions there. What skills did I develop running a nonprofit that might help me jump to the other side?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Creativity and Resourcefulness</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">One significant difference between a private and nonprofit
enterprise is resources. Nonprofits live in a </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnonprofitfinancefund.org%2Ffiles%2Fdocs%2F2010%2FNPQSpring05.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">looking-glass
universe</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">where money doesn’t act like money. <o:p></o:p>It forces nonprofit leaders to be extremely creative and resourceful to get the job done.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Don’t have big marketing budgets? Recruit a team of
student volunteers to phone bank and promote events. Need great web content? Leverage
relationships with companies for high-definition video cameras and let creative
interns make content. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><u>Management</u> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Many management gurus talk about motivating people to where
they would want to work for free. I wish I even had the option to pay! The best volunteer driven organizations, like the</span> <a href="http://www.harvestjazzandblues.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> that utilize over 1000 volunteers, build a</span> <a href="http://timcoates.blogspot.com/2011/11/building-community-or-building-company.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">community</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> with their volunteer base. It becomes the cool thing to do.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Motivating volunteers relies on trust, persuasion, a compelling mission, shared effort, and a clear understanding about why someone is motivated to act. The fundamentals of good management.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Long-Term Relationships</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">An entrepreneur friend once said that he was impressed with
my patience and ability to balance the needs of many difficult and diverse stakeholders. Nonprofit
leaders by definition have multiple masters. They walk a fine balance creating value for both the customer AND serving the donor, neither of which are homogeneous
groups. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Nancy Lublin of</span> <a href="http://www.dosomething.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">DoSomething.org</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">makes a strong case for
the marketing prowess of nonprofits. In an a </span><a href="http://www.economist.com/node/16588412"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">review of her book</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">in the Economist, she says that nonprofits focus on long-term relationship building based on "frequent contact, repeatedly saying thank you and sending updates through newsletters. This contrasts sharply with
the one-off transactional approach to customers that is all too common in the
business world."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Nonprofits live in a world of constraints that require us to draw upon a diverse range of abilities and constantly innovate. Don’t tell the business guys, but these are the high-skill high-touch abilities in</span> <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/11/03/141949820/how-technology-is-eliminating-higher-skill-jobs"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">highest demand</span></a>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">There is more than one way to earn your chops.</span></div>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-31956653092388378542011-12-04T12:05:00.000-08:002011-12-05T05:52:25.800-08:00The Powers to Combine<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Who would have thought that one of the best ways to start a company was at a conference?</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://startupweekend.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Startup Weekend</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> has proven its worth. With 381 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">completed</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> events that have launched 4,272 enterprises, this young organization now receives millions in funding from</span> <a href="http://startupweekend.org/google/google-sw/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Google</span></a>,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Kauffman Foundation, and support from Startup America. Startup Weekend’s themes are also venturing further away from its comfort zone of starting mobile app companies, and into education and</span> <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricardogeromel/2011/11/11/startup-weekend-backed-by-google-and-bill-melinda-gates-foundation/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">other sectors</span></a>.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Startup Weekend is just one example. Other novel ways to combine people and ideas include</span> <a href="http://democamp.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">DemoCamp</span></a>, <a href="http://changecamp.ca/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">ChangeCamp</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-space_meeting"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">open-space techniques</span></a>, <a href="http://www.vilcap.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Village Capital</span></a>, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec11/startups_11-22.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Accelerators</span></a>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">and</span> <a href="http://www.seedcamp.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Seedhack</span></a>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Underlying their success and popularity is new thinking in how diverse individuals combine to learn and create things (from companies to better public services and personal development). Many organizations are integrating these insights into programming with positive results. For example, last week’s Economist had an </span><a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21541045?fsrc=scn/tw/te/ar/fieldofdreams"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">article</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">on Harvard Business School's new experiential leadership curriculum, FIELD</span>.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">We’re in a fascinating period where the ways individuals combine has undergone a revolution from 1.0 (broadcasting) to 2.0 (engagement), just like the web. These new experiences are part conference, part classroom and part action leaning, wrapped together with facilitation, technology and purpose.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">The forefront of these efforts is where people gather in spaces specifically designed and carefully curated to support innovation. Spaces like the </span><a href="http://www.socialinnovation.ca/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Center for Social Innovation</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">in Toronto, </span><a href="http://bayarea.the-hub.net/public/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The Hub</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">(especially in San Francisco) and the</span> <a href="http://www.boxoffice460.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Box Office</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> in Providence are leading the way.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">It's interesting that while there remains excitement for online only communities, these events gain ascendance. It's recognition that learning is social. And when some of best ideas are at the intersection of fields, ideas and sectors, face to face is still needed to push limits and create magic.</span></div>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-79695742742622666702011-11-19T15:48:00.001-08:002011-11-20T11:18:43.251-08:00Building a community or building a company?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">I’ve recently become involved with an exciting initiative in
Connecticut,</span> <a href="http://www.socialenterprisetrust.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">reSET</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">, aimed
at promoting and encouraging social enterprise in the state and beyond. It’s an
exciting space to be in. Business leaders are recognizing that increasing their
organization’s social performance increases </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://hbr.org/2011/11/getting-to-good/ar/1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">economic performance</span></a>. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">And
nonprofit leaders are recognizing that increasing their organization’s economic
performance increases social performance.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">As entrepreneur and former Venture Capitalist Garrett Melby</span> <a href="http://technicallyphilly.com/2010/03/26/friday-qa-garrett-melby-of-good-company-ventures"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">says</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">,<span class="Apple-style-span">“I believe this
is a big movement. There are a lot of people with a lot of money to put to
work. They want to inject meaning in their professional endeavors.”</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Being good is challenging. The field is in a state of flux. Social
enterprise and hybrids (part nonprofit part forprofit) are new organizational
animals. Legal structures like </span><a href="http://www.bcorporation.net/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">B-corporations</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">and</span> <a href="http://www.fourthsector.net/learn/for-benefit-corporations"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">For-Benefits</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> to support a shared purpose are still being created.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">My involvement with reSET has led to thoughts on how
social entrepreneurs launch ventures in this flux. </span><a href="http://www.progressmedia.ca/2011F2FJR"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">John
Roy</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> at last year’s Face 2 Face conference said that in his experience,
launching a social venture is more difficult than a private one. Success relies
on not only a solid product and operations. It also requires significantly
altered relationships and behavior. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">The best way to change behavior is to engage people in a community around a certain idea. I believe a large part of our success launching 21inc came from building a strong, purposeful community. I tried to not miss an opportunity
to speak or meet anyone willing to discuss our plans. Many others made
presentations and networked the idea using that old fashioned tactic of face to
face conversations. We were able to explain our ideas, our business model, and our social and economic </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">goals</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Once it was time to launch, many key players were on board
in official and informal ways. P</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">eople wanted to belong to the community and be part of our
work. We organized events so that the community was reinforced and strengthened.
The community also gave critical feedback that we had to address or risk
losing members. This led to innovation and trust we could leverage; trust that held us accountable.</span><br /><br/>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">We learned a ton too. We didn't always meet the interests of our community. Especially early on, we couldn't define the boundaries of our community. Nor did we initially have a coherent idea of what we wanted the community to be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Growing a community has long been the way nonprofits operated (think about how they engage volunteers). Businesses have more recently jumped on the bandwagon. The </span><a href="http://hbr.org/2011/11/how-great-companies-think-differently/ar/1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">November issue</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> of Harvard Business Review devote their feature stories to explaining why good companies perform great. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.hdtalking.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Harley</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/Community/community.html?locale=en_US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Davidson</span></a>, <a href="http://www.teachforamerica.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Teach for America</span></a></span></span>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">and</span> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/picaroons"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Picaroons</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> are exemplary community building organizations. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Whether a forprofit or nonprofit, achieving results in the social space like decreasing
poverty and saving the environment are largely based on changing behaviors, not
simply buying decisions. Creating the social capital and the underlying
trust inherent in well built communities can be the difference between a successful launch and not launching at
all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-68837407892848458372011-11-12T12:25:00.001-08:002011-11-12T16:51:39.035-08:00Add Magnesium<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/i1YXu_cwPwA/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/i1YXu_cwPwA&fs=1&source=uds" />
<param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" />
<embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/i1YXu_cwPwA&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Ignore for a moment that this video is clearly fake -- it’s
amazing what a little magnesium can do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">I’ve been thinking about what makes breakthrough learning
experiences after a conversation this week with one of my favorite professors
at </span><a href="http://www.hks.harvard.edu/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Harvard’s Kennedy School</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">. Like the magnesium sulfate in the video, what ingredient (or ingredients) deliver the explosive
combination that leave participants more capable of creating their desired future?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">At</span> <a href="http://www.21inc.a/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">21inc</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">, we spent copious amounts of time thinking about this
and, to kill the recipe metaphor, continuously looking for and mixing different
ingredients to bake a better leadership program. Earlier this year I hired a researcher to comb
through our survey data and match it against “better practices.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Some of the findings were obvious. For example, content
mattered. This meant ensuring the topics we covered were relevant to the motivations
and aspirations of our emerging leaders. How the content is taught mattered. We were
very intentional about not only who engaged with the leaders, but how they
engaged. This was true for action learning, peer to peer conversations and the traditional
class room model. As we became aware of effective styles we worked with
speakers and guests to make sure they understood what we were learning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Having a safe space and a supportive peer network
mattered. In all similar programs and experiences that I’ve either looked at or
participated in, the peer network and relationship building is usually considered
one of, if not the top takeaway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Which brings me back to Harvard. Harvard’s educational
decisions often spark national trends. Recent changes to </span><a href="http://harvardmagazine.com/2007/03/toward-top-tier-teaching-html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">undergrad curriculum</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">,
or the business school’s adoption of the</span> <a href="http://www.hbs.edu/learning/case.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">case method</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> are good examples. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">During my chat, this professor said the</span> <a href="http://www.hks.harvard.edu/degrees/masters/mpp/curriculum/pae"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">PAE</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> (the capstone project for the school's Masters program) and other executive education programs are undergoing seriously reflection. Harvard's professional schools in particular are experiencing pressure
from students and alumni to better prepare them for the workforce. If there was any trend, he said, the schools are turning away from traditional lectures and cases to team based experiential
or action learning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">What interested and perplexed the professor was that despite much thought and study into program design, students, even executive education students (i.e older and more experienced), weren't relying on their student peers to help overcome professional (and sometimes
personal) challenges. Relationships and peer networks don't capture their potential without these conversations. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">I remember the moment I realized that simply putting smart
and driven people in a room won't create the powerful learning experience we desired. One of our selected
leaders was putting together a forum on economic development in her region and asked if she could use the group and larger 21inc community to help with the project. She wasn’t asking for time in the
schedule, she wasn’t asking for me to do anything, she was seeking permission
to have a very specific and personal conversation with her peers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Having designed the program, the realization hit hard. I
had missed a very big piece of what would make this a successful leadership experience (fortunately, it was also early
in our journey). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Creating the safe space wasn’t enough. We needed to give
permission and explicitly state what the group is for. How to use their new relationships and the bigger network. This conversation can be inspiring and liberating. It can come from the group itself and have lasting impacts on the
experience, deepening relationships being built. But it has to be done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">The magnesium of good leadership programming is how
participants engage with one another. We learned the lesson and never forgot
it. In the hospitality suite after just the first session of our last program,
the Emerging Leaders Summit, one of the leaders told me that he was surprised and happy with how safe he felt and what he was sharing with his peers. He had no idea how much we needed to learn to get him there.</span><o:p></o:p></div>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-91046701073527069922011-11-03T12:16:00.000-07:002011-11-03T13:51:20.559-07:00Entrepreneurship, Act I<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">In some corners entrepreneurship has reached cult status.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">A couple years ago I was attending a fancy gala, having a
drink in the hotel bar with some colleagues, most of whom owned a business.
Another friend came over wanting to introduce someone to us. She did so
according to whether or not we were an entrepreneur. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">“This is Chris, he’s an entrepreneur. This is Dave, he’s an
entrepreneur…”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">For her, the act of owning a business and being an
entrepreneur were synonymous. And being an entrepreneur/business owner brought undeniable
status. The fact that I had co-founded
and led a social enterprise only got me halfway; I was introduced as a “sort-of
entrepreneur.” </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Another</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> friend who
was finishing her PhD on participatory policy development was disparagingly
introduced as an “activist,” clearly a lower human form than entrepreneur.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">The economic slowdown,</span> <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Slower+growth+ahead+budget+officer+predicts/5643694/story.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">stagnant growth rates</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">, and </span><a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21528979"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">economic shifts</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">has rightly moved the spotlight to entrepreneurs and startups. </span><a href="http://www.kauffman.org/newsroom/u-s-job-growth-driven-entirely-by-startups.aspx"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">100%</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">of net job
growth comes from new companies. (There’s plenty of </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/opinion/small-businesses-arent-key-to-the-economic-recovery.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=jared%20bernstein&st=cse"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">important</span></a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/opinion/small-businesses-arent-key-to-the-economic-recovery.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=jared%20bernstein&st=cse"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">nuance</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> to
this statistic if you want it.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">I’m on the entrepreneurship bandwagon, cheerleading the need
for more. But we don’t do ourselves any favors by limiting entrepreneurship to
business owners and then claiming the entrepreneur is an advanced human form. We need a broader definition. Fortunately, research backs up this case.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">The first person to coin the term entrepreneur, the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">French economist J. B. Say, didn't constrain his definition. Around 1800 he noted that “the entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.” More recently, Duke University’s </span><a href="http://www.caseatduke.org/about/caseteam/#greg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">J. Gregory Dees</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> defined an </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=1RCTLEe3piNKWJM190d7OK_nT309Z2BOSpTY0NmCY-ajdmdYdZ8gjFcqaCTIi"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">entrepreneur</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> as someone who “mobilizes resources beyond their control to create value.” </span><br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">The act of entrepreneurship - creating value - isn't an indelible character trait. Moreover, with this definition every business person isn't an entrepreneur if resources are not shifted to higher output activities. (Did the new pizza place down the road reinvent takeout? Probably not.) </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">This definition of entrepreneurship can be applied to all sectors of society. It focuses on specific actions and behaviors. And behavior is something that can be taught and practiced. </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Maybe then it's </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">better to think of entrepreneurship as existing along a spectrum. On one end are what New York University Professor Paul Light calls the 24/7 type A entrepreneurs. In the middle are entrepreneurial </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://hbr.org/1987/05/entrepreneurship-reconsidered-the-team-as-hero/ar/1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">teams</span></a>,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> and on the other end are large and bureaucratic institutions. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Entrepreneurial people are found alone, in teams or mired deep inside institutions. What they all have in common, in the words of
Peter Drucker, is that they are “always searching for change, responding to it, and exploiting
it as an opportunity.” </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Promoting all kinds of entrepreneurship (social, economic, civic, team, organizational) wherever it arises is our urgent priority. It will create jobs, fight poverty, and improve our quality of life. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Lets keep the cult but open up membership.</span></div>
</div>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5029740487191119530.post-81652781202947270352011-10-24T20:08:00.001-07:002011-10-31T18:28:49.862-07:00Start Me Up<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Starting and building an organization is a test of perseverance, motivation and patience. After reaching the other side, having time to reflect on that experience is a luxury and opportunity that I wish more people could indulge. Since moving to Connecticut a couple weeks ago, I’ve been reliving the first 5 years of</span> <a href="http://www.21inc.ca/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">21inc</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> – reading through journal entries, meeting minutes, and emails to better understand what happened, why it happened, and what I can take to the next challenge.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">I’m obviously biased but the questions we were grappling with are fascinating, and I can’t help but see connections to current economic and social challenges. Canada’s Globe and Mail, for example, just produced a</span> <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/giving/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">special report on giving</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">, focusing on the challenges facing the country’s charities. The same winds sweeping through Canada are disrupting the social space around the world – greater accountability demanded from donors; innovations in finance, technology and business models; demographic change altering trends in giving and volunteering.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">The founders of 21inc discerned what was needed in Atlantic Canada and acted quickly with one solution (next generation leadership development) to problems (economic decline and social malaise) that require many.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Like our colleagues in the private sector, we had to compete to survive. We had to create demand for a product that previously had no market. We won and lost battles in the war for talent. And like our colleagues in social innovation trying to change the world, we developed a business model with two customers, donors and participants. We thought long and hard about how to measure success and engaged the ecosystem in our effort. We built capacity however possible, mostly with volunteers and through partnerships. We learned (and too often re-learned) where to leverage volunteers and where to rely on staff. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">21inc’s field of leadership development, according to a few recent conversations, is a field in growth mode. It is</span> <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_gawande"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">finding resonance</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">in previously guilded professions. And the techniques and processes so valuable in developing people are being applied to the world of </span><a href="http://www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/economic_growth/economic_programmes/assets/features/the_startup_factories_report_feature"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">start-ups</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">,</span> <a href="http://web.mit.edu/deshpandecenter/index.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">innovation</span></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">and</span> <a href="http://startupweekend.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">entrepreneurship</span></a>.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">
<br />This blog is my tool to help reflect and learn the lessons from this experience. And because there is an increasing number of people and organizations out there trying to make an impact, I hope it will be interesting for many. While the focus will be on leadership, entrepreneurship and social innovation, it may slide into musical tangents or rants about the weather. I’ll try to keep the latter to a modest frequency.</span>Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06079267568600704322noreply@blogger.com1