News from Zentropolis (c)
This column is reserved for a make believe, but yet real place. A place where all things are possible. And contrary to the movie Sin City, where everything bad happens, this is Zentropolis where everything good happens.
This city has its own free speech television network, and rather than Sin City's version of CNN, where all reports are focused on lying, cheating, fraud, embezzlement, killing , wars, environmental crimes, and man's inhumanity towards man, GNN has it's has it's own reports of truth, integrity, honesty, peace, harmony, compassion , nurturing , and caring for all on GNN (The Good News Network).
I make reference a lot in my book, Zentrepreneurism www.zentrepreneurism.com to the good citizens of Zentropolis, and their good deeds. Here are some of the stories we are covering this month in Zentropolis.
Ervin Laszlo in an article in Ode Magazine writes about what Zentropolis might look like;
Let me offer one example of how such a breakthrough might look: Faced with growing problems and shared threats, citizens across the planet pull together to form associations and networks to pursue their dreams of peace and environmental sustainability.Business leaders and entrepreneurs recognize the importance of these aspirations and respond with new goods and services that help make them a reality. Soon, global news and entertainment media commit themselves to chronicling emerging social and cultural innovations.
On the Internet and through other grassroots communication networks, people everywhere begin exploring new visions of the natural world, the global community and human existence itself.Out of all this comes a new culture of solidarity and social responsibility across the planet.
Public support mounts for government policies that institute social and ecological repairs. Money is diverted from the military and defence industries to the needs of people. New measures are implemented to develop sustainable energy, transportation, industrial, technological and agricultural systems. Huge numbers of people around the world get better access to food, jobs, and education.
As a result of these developments, international mistrust, ethnic conflict, racial oppression, economic inequity, and gender inequality give way to new traditions of mutual respect. Rather than breaking down in conflict and war, humanity breaks through to a sustainable world of self-reliant butco-operating communities, enterprises, countries and regions.At this point in our history, human beings have accumulated unprecedented power hence responsibility to decide our destiny. Although the prospect of global breakdown stares us in the face, it is by no means inevitable.
We also have the unprecedented option of choosing a brighter tomorrow. Nothing prevents us from shifting our evolutionary path toward a peaceful and sustainable civilization, nothing except our own patterns of thinking and action. The leaders now in power and the mainstream society they represent have not yet glimpsed a different future for our civilization. Yet many other people are inspired by visions of a global breakthrough that are already emerging at the creative frontiers of our society.
Societies are seldom culturally monolithic in their thinking. This is especially true in eras of innovation and ferment. Those periods spawn a large number of subcultures, or alternative cultures, that spring up alongside the prevailing power structure.This is what we see happening today, with some of these alternative cultures devoting themselves to imaginatively rethinking the priorities, values, and behaviours of society, giving particular attention to how we can improve environmental sustainability and human ethics.
This sort of fundamental reassessment of how we live, even if overlooked or ignored by those in power, can spark rapid and revolutionary change. While barely visible in the major media, a number of grassroots movements, from global justice to holistic health to spiritual exploration, are already blazing the trail away from the usual assumptions of mainstream culture. Even the people involved with these movements underestimate their own numbers, in part because most of them go about their business without trying to convert others and because they lack social and political cohesion. Yet the more serious and sincere of these alternative cultures show promise as catalysts of a social breakthrough. Unlike many subcultures and sects, these people do not relish taking antisocial stances or want to hide away from everyone else. Rather, they are quietly but profoundly engaged in the world, as they challenge accepted beliefs and pursue new avenues of personal and social commitment.
This then is Zentropolis, the title of my new book.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The Fallout of Corporate Greed in America
US severe poverty reached 32-year high: 16 million people
The gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” in United States keeps widening and the percentage of US citizens who are living in deep or severe poverty has reached a 32-year high, 16 million, according to a report from McClatchy Newspapers.
A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of the 2005 census figures, the latest available, reached that conclusion, defining a family of four with two children and an annual income of less than 9.903 US dollars, half the US federal poverty line, as severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less than 5.080 US dollars a year.The McClatchy analysis found that the number of severely poor Americans grew by 26% from 2000 to 2005 which is 56% faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same period.
McClatchy’s review found statistically significant increases in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states. The review also suggested that the rise in severely poor residents isn’t confined to large urban counties but extends to suburban and rural areas.The plight of the severely poor is a distressing sidebar to an unusual economic expansion.
US worker productivity has increased dramatically since the brief recession of 2001, but wages and job growth have lagged behind. At the same time, the share of national income going to corporate profits has dwarfed the amount going to wages and salaries. That helps explain why the median household income for working-age families, adjusted for inflation, has fallen for five straight years.These and other factors have helped push 43% of the nation’s 37 million poor people into deep poverty, the highest rate since at least 1975.
The share of poor Americans in deep poverty has climbed slowly but steadily over the last three decades. But since 2000, the number of severely poor has grown “more than any other segment of the population,” according to a recent study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.“That was the exact opposite of what we anticipated when we began” said Dr. Steven Woolf of Virginia Commonwealth University, who co-authored the study. “We’re not seeing as much moderate poverty as a proportion of the population. What we’re seeing is a dramatic growth of severe poverty.”
The growth, which leveled off in 2005, in part reflects how hard it is for low-skilled workers to earn their way out of poverty in an unstable job market that favors skilled and educated workers. It also suggests that social programs aren’t as effective as they once were at catching those who fall into economic despair.According to census data, nearly two of three people in severe poverty are white (10.3 million) and 6.9 million are non-Hispanic whites. Severely poor blacks (4.3 million) are more than three times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be in deep poverty, while extremely poor Hispanics of any race (3.7 million) are over twice as likely.
The McClatchy Newspapers underlines that severe poverty is most pronounced near the Mexican border and in some areas of the South, where 6.5 million severely poor residents are struggling to find work as manufacturing jobs in the textile, apparel and furniture-making industries disappear. The Midwestern Rust Belt and areas of the Northeast also have been hard hit as economic restructuring and foreign competition has forced numerous plant closings
The gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” in United States keeps widening and the percentage of US citizens who are living in deep or severe poverty has reached a 32-year high, 16 million, according to a report from McClatchy Newspapers.
A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of the 2005 census figures, the latest available, reached that conclusion, defining a family of four with two children and an annual income of less than 9.903 US dollars, half the US federal poverty line, as severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less than 5.080 US dollars a year.The McClatchy analysis found that the number of severely poor Americans grew by 26% from 2000 to 2005 which is 56% faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same period.
McClatchy’s review found statistically significant increases in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states. The review also suggested that the rise in severely poor residents isn’t confined to large urban counties but extends to suburban and rural areas.The plight of the severely poor is a distressing sidebar to an unusual economic expansion.
US worker productivity has increased dramatically since the brief recession of 2001, but wages and job growth have lagged behind. At the same time, the share of national income going to corporate profits has dwarfed the amount going to wages and salaries. That helps explain why the median household income for working-age families, adjusted for inflation, has fallen for five straight years.These and other factors have helped push 43% of the nation’s 37 million poor people into deep poverty, the highest rate since at least 1975.
The share of poor Americans in deep poverty has climbed slowly but steadily over the last three decades. But since 2000, the number of severely poor has grown “more than any other segment of the population,” according to a recent study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.“That was the exact opposite of what we anticipated when we began” said Dr. Steven Woolf of Virginia Commonwealth University, who co-authored the study. “We’re not seeing as much moderate poverty as a proportion of the population. What we’re seeing is a dramatic growth of severe poverty.”
The growth, which leveled off in 2005, in part reflects how hard it is for low-skilled workers to earn their way out of poverty in an unstable job market that favors skilled and educated workers. It also suggests that social programs aren’t as effective as they once were at catching those who fall into economic despair.According to census data, nearly two of three people in severe poverty are white (10.3 million) and 6.9 million are non-Hispanic whites. Severely poor blacks (4.3 million) are more than three times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be in deep poverty, while extremely poor Hispanics of any race (3.7 million) are over twice as likely.
The McClatchy Newspapers underlines that severe poverty is most pronounced near the Mexican border and in some areas of the South, where 6.5 million severely poor residents are struggling to find work as manufacturing jobs in the textile, apparel and furniture-making industries disappear. The Midwestern Rust Belt and areas of the Northeast also have been hard hit as economic restructuring and foreign competition has forced numerous plant closings
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
I No Longer Want to Work for Money
An open letter from the Founder of Whole Foods
(From Fast Company Magazine, Feb, 2007)
Dear Team;
I want to announce a couple of significant changes regarding compensation at Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFMI).
First, as you know, we have a salary-cap policy, which limits the total cash compensation that can be paid to any team member. The board of directors has voted to raise the salary cap from 14 times the average pay to 19 times the average pay, effective immediately.... We are raising the salary cap for one reason only--to make the compensation to our executives more competitive in the marketplace.... Everyone on the Whole Foods leadership team (except for me) has been approached multiple times by "headhunters" with job offers to leave Whole Foods and go to work for our competitors. Raising the salary cap has become necessary to help ensure the retention of our key leadership.... This increase to 19 times the average pay remains far, far below what the typical Fortune 500 company pays its executives.... The average CEO received 431 times as much as their average employee received in 2004, while Whole Foods' CEO (me) received only 14 times the average employee pay in cash compensation.
Most large companies also pay their executives large amounts of stock options in addition to large salaries and cash bonuses. The average corporation in the United States distributes 75% of their total stock options to only 5 top executives.... At Whole Foods, the exact opposite is true: The top 16 executives have received 7% of all the options granted while the other 93% of the options have been distributed throughout the entire company.
The second part of today's announcement has to do with my own compensation.... The tremendous success of Whole Foods Market has provided me with far more money than I ever dreamed I'd have and far more than is necessary for either my financial security or personal happiness.... I am now 53 years old and I have reached a place in my life where I no longer want to work for money, but simply for the joy of the work itself and to better answer the call to service that I feel so clearly in my own heart. Beginning on January 1, 2007, my salary will be reduced to $1, and I will no longer take any other cash compensation.... The intention of the board of directors is for Whole Foods Market to donate all of the future stock options I would be eligible to receive to our two company foundations.
One other important item to communicate to you is, in light of my decision to forego any future [pay], our board of directors has decided that Whole Foods Market will contribute $100,000 annually to a new Global Team Member Emergency Fund. This money will be distributed to team members throughout the company based on need.... The first $100,000 will be deposited on January 1, 2007, and requests will be considered after that date.
With much love,
John Mackey
(From Fast Company Magazine, Feb, 2007)
Dear Team;
I want to announce a couple of significant changes regarding compensation at Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFMI).
First, as you know, we have a salary-cap policy, which limits the total cash compensation that can be paid to any team member. The board of directors has voted to raise the salary cap from 14 times the average pay to 19 times the average pay, effective immediately.... We are raising the salary cap for one reason only--to make the compensation to our executives more competitive in the marketplace.... Everyone on the Whole Foods leadership team (except for me) has been approached multiple times by "headhunters" with job offers to leave Whole Foods and go to work for our competitors. Raising the salary cap has become necessary to help ensure the retention of our key leadership.... This increase to 19 times the average pay remains far, far below what the typical Fortune 500 company pays its executives.... The average CEO received 431 times as much as their average employee received in 2004, while Whole Foods' CEO (me) received only 14 times the average employee pay in cash compensation.
Most large companies also pay their executives large amounts of stock options in addition to large salaries and cash bonuses. The average corporation in the United States distributes 75% of their total stock options to only 5 top executives.... At Whole Foods, the exact opposite is true: The top 16 executives have received 7% of all the options granted while the other 93% of the options have been distributed throughout the entire company.
The second part of today's announcement has to do with my own compensation.... The tremendous success of Whole Foods Market has provided me with far more money than I ever dreamed I'd have and far more than is necessary for either my financial security or personal happiness.... I am now 53 years old and I have reached a place in my life where I no longer want to work for money, but simply for the joy of the work itself and to better answer the call to service that I feel so clearly in my own heart. Beginning on January 1, 2007, my salary will be reduced to $1, and I will no longer take any other cash compensation.... The intention of the board of directors is for Whole Foods Market to donate all of the future stock options I would be eligible to receive to our two company foundations.
One other important item to communicate to you is, in light of my decision to forego any future [pay], our board of directors has decided that Whole Foods Market will contribute $100,000 annually to a new Global Team Member Emergency Fund. This money will be distributed to team members throughout the company based on need.... The first $100,000 will be deposited on January 1, 2007, and requests will be considered after that date.
With much love,
John Mackey
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Boss Who Breaks All the Rules
by Dominique Haijtema
This article appeared in Ode Magazine issue: 40
Ricardo Semler’s employees set their hours, determine their salaries and choose their bosses. Meet the Brazilian businessman who does everything differently.
His favourite questions start with “why.” Why should employees feel compelled to read their emails on Sunday evening, but can’t go to the movies on Monday afternoon? Why should they take work home, but can’t bring their kids to the office? Why should they have to sit for hours in traffic getting to the head office? Brazilian businessman Ricardo Semler loves to question everything. His guiding principle? If you want creative employees, don’t smother them with ridiculous rules.
For 25 years, Semler has been putting into practise what increasing numbers of modern management gurus are now preaching. He heads a democratic company, Semco, where employees set their hours, determine their salaries and choose their bosses. Managers don’t have secretaries, reserved parking spaces or even desks. There is minimal bureaucracy. No IT or human-resources departments. No mission statement, no five-year plan. Meetings are voluntary and every employee has a say in everything.
Once, when Semler organized a meeting to discuss developing a speedier dishwasher for the consumer market, no one showed up. And the idea was shelved.Semco was a traditionally managed engineering company when the young Ricardo Semler took over from his father. He was just 22 and had brought philosophical conflicts with his father to a climax: The son demanded that Semco steer away from its activities as a shipbuilding supplier and abandon autocratic management in favour of decentralization. He threatened to leave the company, so his father gave him a free hand. On his first day as director, Ricardo Semler fired 60 percent of senior management and began laying the foundation for a democratic organization. Semco has long since abandoned its engineering activities. The company now develops software, is building a hotel and ecological resort and is involved with hospital and airport projects. Semler himself can’t even list all his company’s activities; he leaves that to his employees.
Semco now has 3,000 staffers (with very little turnover) and is growing 20 to 30 percent a year, with annual sales of $212 million U.S. [190 million euros] in 2003. Semco’s radical policies do have a downside. Demand from outsiders wanting to visit its offices is so heavy that employees have complained of feeling like exotic attractions at a zoo. But that seems a small price to pay for such runaway success.
Semler has written two international bestsellers about his unusual management method and has taught at renowned business schools, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard in the U.S. And he spends two months a year doing whatever he feels like doing. Last March, while vacationing with his family in Switzerland, he agreed to meet me in a hotel bar before hitting the slopes, to discuss his groundbreaking management ideas. For a corporate executive, he seemed unusually cheerful and relaxed. Semler told me he had all the time in the world—confessing that he hadn’t worn a watch in years, and that suited him just fine.
Why are so few companies in the world run like Semco?Ricardo Semler: “Because managers are afraid to lose power and control.”
What can managers do differently?“In order to do things differently, you have to relearn how to think and have the courage to let go. Managers can learn to have more faith in their employees. That’s difficult in an environment where nearly everything is based on mistrust and control. But it’s not human nature to question who you should send which email to and whose permission you should ask. Absurd! If people behave like animals in a cage, I don’t think it’s because of the people but the cage. This faulty conditioning starts at school. That’s the foundation of conformity and submission to silly rules. Small start-ups often begin in an atmosphere of excitement in someone’s garage, but as soon as they grow, all the pleasure disappears with organization. Anyone with a little talent who can think won’t work for that kind of company, right?”
Doesn’t a major corporation with thousands of employees require a different style of management than a company with 10 staff members? “Why? We were a small company and now we have 3,000 employees. Nothing has changed in the way we work. “I often hear that my management style only works in small unlisted companies and probably only in Brazil. That’s a typical argument to rationalize not changing yourself. And it’s not easy. A democratic organization isn’t something you decide on and arrange from one day to the next. We’ve been doing this for a quarter century and are still learning every day. It’s a lengthy process because people’s conditioning is very strong.”
How can an organization become more democratic?“By questioning all kinds of things. For example, we examined how much time our employees spend sitting in traffic. We figured out that they spend a million hours a year getting to and from work. We wanted to cut that down, which means you have to take drastic measures. We decided to close down our head office and start working in small units. In the 21st century, it makes no sense to get people to come to your head office from all over the country—because even if they physically all get together, they’ll still send an email to a colleague sitting two metres away. “Added to this, if you wake up in a bad mood on Monday morning, you don’t have to come to work. We don’t even want you to come because you simply don’t feel like it and will therefore not make a contribution. We want employees who are ready and willing to work. If that means they only come twice a week, that’s okay. It’s about results.”
It’s striking that your books never mention the word “leader.”“Leadership is way overrated. In fact I don’t call the courses I teach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology “leadership courses.” I think the idea is outdated that leadership is only relegated to a few and that it can be planned, structured and developed.”
What’s wrong with cultivating leaders?“The whole idea of leaders implies that only a few are capable of pointing us in the right direction. I’m more interested in the structures or the architecture of organizations that enable the company to survive in the future, independent of the leaders.“An important facet of leadership is succession. Succession of managers is often arranged in a dramatic and hectic way.
Take Louis Gerstner, who was taken on as an outsider at IBM, where there are thousands of people with management or business-economics degrees. Was there truly no one in the company capable of taking the lead? That’s pretty weak.”
But an outsider could have a more objective view of the company?“Maybe. But in saying that you’re actually implying that a company can’t innovate or change without hiring outsiders. That’s a scary thought. I would consider it disappointing if an organization can’t produce any leadership talent capable of looking at the company objectively. Take [former General Electric CEO] Jack Welch. When someone puts such a strong mark on a company, as Welch did, it’s often difficult for his successor. Many strong leaders have left weak organizations in their wake. There’s a good reason why many companies—including General Electric—need major reorganizations right after those strong leaders leave.”
Have you arranged your own succession?“Oh, I’ve been working on it for some 15 years. Sixty percent of the business is now comprised of initiatives I have absolutely nothing to do with. The company is doing very well without me. That was also the case when I had a car accident last year and spent a couple of months in intensive care. And a couple of weeks each year I’m travelling and not reachable. Everything runs smoothly.”
How do you develop managers at Semco? Do you send them to business schools?“We never send anyone anywhere. Everyone is responsible for their own career and training. All the employees have a budget to do with as they see fit. We don’t say a word about the choice of courses. We’ve never had a shortage of people interested in taking on management duties, coordinating or guiding others. In our system, managers are anonymously evaluated every six months by their subordinates. If they don’t measure up, they’re no longer allowed to fulfill a leadership role. It’s as simple as that. At our company, you’re a manager as long as your staff approves.”
Do you see it as your mission to inspire entrepreneurs and managers?“Not at all. I don’t see my methods as a gift to humanity. I don’t do it to teach others; I do it for myself. I simply wanted to create an organization where I wanted to work myself. It’s actually quite egotistical.”
Taken with kind permission from the Dutch book De essentie van leiderschap (“The essence of leadership”) by Dominique Haijtema (Business-Contact, ISBN 9047001826), a collection of interviews with Madeleine Albright, Deepak Chopra, Jack Welch and Muhammad Yunus, among others. Most of the interviews were previously published in the Dutch business magazine Management Team. Haijtema is a journalist with the Dutch business daily Het Financieele Dagblad Entrepreneur of the year Ricardo Semler, born in 1959 in São Paulo, became the director of Semco—his father’s company—in 1982. He helped take it from an ailing industrial enterprise with annual sales of $4 million U.S. [2.3 million euros] to a dynamic, fast-growing company active in numerous sectors, from air coolers to consultancy, with annual sales of $212 million U.S. [190 million euros] in 2003. Moreover, Semco is enjoys a reputation worldwide as the example of a “democratic organization” (http://www.semco.com.br/). In 1990 and 1992, Semler was named Brazilian businessman of the year. His first book, published in 1993, was Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World’s Most Unusual Workplace; ten years later, he published The Seven Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works. In 2003, he founded Lumiar, a democratic school in São Paulo, where children between the ages of 2 and 10 are encouraged to learn whatever they consider interesting (www.lumiar.org.br).
Ricardo Semler’s tips for democratic management• Do away with bureaucracy, which creates a sense of false security.• Let employees determine everything themselves: their salaries, their working hours, their managers. • Let go of control to stimulate creativity. • Strip away special treatment for managers—no parking space or secretary, not even their own desk. • Continually question whether what appears to be self-evident is actually good for the company. • Regularly take a break from work when you are unreachable for a period of time. • Read classic literature instead of management books. • Remember that leadership has nothing to do with hierarchy, because everyone can develop leadership skills.
This article appeared in Ode Magazine issue: 40
Ricardo Semler’s employees set their hours, determine their salaries and choose their bosses. Meet the Brazilian businessman who does everything differently.
His favourite questions start with “why.” Why should employees feel compelled to read their emails on Sunday evening, but can’t go to the movies on Monday afternoon? Why should they take work home, but can’t bring their kids to the office? Why should they have to sit for hours in traffic getting to the head office? Brazilian businessman Ricardo Semler loves to question everything. His guiding principle? If you want creative employees, don’t smother them with ridiculous rules.
For 25 years, Semler has been putting into practise what increasing numbers of modern management gurus are now preaching. He heads a democratic company, Semco, where employees set their hours, determine their salaries and choose their bosses. Managers don’t have secretaries, reserved parking spaces or even desks. There is minimal bureaucracy. No IT or human-resources departments. No mission statement, no five-year plan. Meetings are voluntary and every employee has a say in everything.
Once, when Semler organized a meeting to discuss developing a speedier dishwasher for the consumer market, no one showed up. And the idea was shelved.Semco was a traditionally managed engineering company when the young Ricardo Semler took over from his father. He was just 22 and had brought philosophical conflicts with his father to a climax: The son demanded that Semco steer away from its activities as a shipbuilding supplier and abandon autocratic management in favour of decentralization. He threatened to leave the company, so his father gave him a free hand. On his first day as director, Ricardo Semler fired 60 percent of senior management and began laying the foundation for a democratic organization. Semco has long since abandoned its engineering activities. The company now develops software, is building a hotel and ecological resort and is involved with hospital and airport projects. Semler himself can’t even list all his company’s activities; he leaves that to his employees.
Semco now has 3,000 staffers (with very little turnover) and is growing 20 to 30 percent a year, with annual sales of $212 million U.S. [190 million euros] in 2003. Semco’s radical policies do have a downside. Demand from outsiders wanting to visit its offices is so heavy that employees have complained of feeling like exotic attractions at a zoo. But that seems a small price to pay for such runaway success.
Semler has written two international bestsellers about his unusual management method and has taught at renowned business schools, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard in the U.S. And he spends two months a year doing whatever he feels like doing. Last March, while vacationing with his family in Switzerland, he agreed to meet me in a hotel bar before hitting the slopes, to discuss his groundbreaking management ideas. For a corporate executive, he seemed unusually cheerful and relaxed. Semler told me he had all the time in the world—confessing that he hadn’t worn a watch in years, and that suited him just fine.
Why are so few companies in the world run like Semco?Ricardo Semler: “Because managers are afraid to lose power and control.”
What can managers do differently?“In order to do things differently, you have to relearn how to think and have the courage to let go. Managers can learn to have more faith in their employees. That’s difficult in an environment where nearly everything is based on mistrust and control. But it’s not human nature to question who you should send which email to and whose permission you should ask. Absurd! If people behave like animals in a cage, I don’t think it’s because of the people but the cage. This faulty conditioning starts at school. That’s the foundation of conformity and submission to silly rules. Small start-ups often begin in an atmosphere of excitement in someone’s garage, but as soon as they grow, all the pleasure disappears with organization. Anyone with a little talent who can think won’t work for that kind of company, right?”
Doesn’t a major corporation with thousands of employees require a different style of management than a company with 10 staff members? “Why? We were a small company and now we have 3,000 employees. Nothing has changed in the way we work. “I often hear that my management style only works in small unlisted companies and probably only in Brazil. That’s a typical argument to rationalize not changing yourself. And it’s not easy. A democratic organization isn’t something you decide on and arrange from one day to the next. We’ve been doing this for a quarter century and are still learning every day. It’s a lengthy process because people’s conditioning is very strong.”
How can an organization become more democratic?“By questioning all kinds of things. For example, we examined how much time our employees spend sitting in traffic. We figured out that they spend a million hours a year getting to and from work. We wanted to cut that down, which means you have to take drastic measures. We decided to close down our head office and start working in small units. In the 21st century, it makes no sense to get people to come to your head office from all over the country—because even if they physically all get together, they’ll still send an email to a colleague sitting two metres away. “Added to this, if you wake up in a bad mood on Monday morning, you don’t have to come to work. We don’t even want you to come because you simply don’t feel like it and will therefore not make a contribution. We want employees who are ready and willing to work. If that means they only come twice a week, that’s okay. It’s about results.”
It’s striking that your books never mention the word “leader.”“Leadership is way overrated. In fact I don’t call the courses I teach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology “leadership courses.” I think the idea is outdated that leadership is only relegated to a few and that it can be planned, structured and developed.”
What’s wrong with cultivating leaders?“The whole idea of leaders implies that only a few are capable of pointing us in the right direction. I’m more interested in the structures or the architecture of organizations that enable the company to survive in the future, independent of the leaders.“An important facet of leadership is succession. Succession of managers is often arranged in a dramatic and hectic way.
Take Louis Gerstner, who was taken on as an outsider at IBM, where there are thousands of people with management or business-economics degrees. Was there truly no one in the company capable of taking the lead? That’s pretty weak.”
But an outsider could have a more objective view of the company?“Maybe. But in saying that you’re actually implying that a company can’t innovate or change without hiring outsiders. That’s a scary thought. I would consider it disappointing if an organization can’t produce any leadership talent capable of looking at the company objectively. Take [former General Electric CEO] Jack Welch. When someone puts such a strong mark on a company, as Welch did, it’s often difficult for his successor. Many strong leaders have left weak organizations in their wake. There’s a good reason why many companies—including General Electric—need major reorganizations right after those strong leaders leave.”
Have you arranged your own succession?“Oh, I’ve been working on it for some 15 years. Sixty percent of the business is now comprised of initiatives I have absolutely nothing to do with. The company is doing very well without me. That was also the case when I had a car accident last year and spent a couple of months in intensive care. And a couple of weeks each year I’m travelling and not reachable. Everything runs smoothly.”
How do you develop managers at Semco? Do you send them to business schools?“We never send anyone anywhere. Everyone is responsible for their own career and training. All the employees have a budget to do with as they see fit. We don’t say a word about the choice of courses. We’ve never had a shortage of people interested in taking on management duties, coordinating or guiding others. In our system, managers are anonymously evaluated every six months by their subordinates. If they don’t measure up, they’re no longer allowed to fulfill a leadership role. It’s as simple as that. At our company, you’re a manager as long as your staff approves.”
Do you see it as your mission to inspire entrepreneurs and managers?“Not at all. I don’t see my methods as a gift to humanity. I don’t do it to teach others; I do it for myself. I simply wanted to create an organization where I wanted to work myself. It’s actually quite egotistical.”
Taken with kind permission from the Dutch book De essentie van leiderschap (“The essence of leadership”) by Dominique Haijtema (Business-Contact, ISBN 9047001826), a collection of interviews with Madeleine Albright, Deepak Chopra, Jack Welch and Muhammad Yunus, among others. Most of the interviews were previously published in the Dutch business magazine Management Team. Haijtema is a journalist with the Dutch business daily Het Financieele Dagblad Entrepreneur of the year Ricardo Semler, born in 1959 in São Paulo, became the director of Semco—his father’s company—in 1982. He helped take it from an ailing industrial enterprise with annual sales of $4 million U.S. [2.3 million euros] to a dynamic, fast-growing company active in numerous sectors, from air coolers to consultancy, with annual sales of $212 million U.S. [190 million euros] in 2003. Moreover, Semco is enjoys a reputation worldwide as the example of a “democratic organization” (http://www.semco.com.br/). In 1990 and 1992, Semler was named Brazilian businessman of the year. His first book, published in 1993, was Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World’s Most Unusual Workplace; ten years later, he published The Seven Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works. In 2003, he founded Lumiar, a democratic school in São Paulo, where children between the ages of 2 and 10 are encouraged to learn whatever they consider interesting (www.lumiar.org.br).
Ricardo Semler’s tips for democratic management• Do away with bureaucracy, which creates a sense of false security.• Let employees determine everything themselves: their salaries, their working hours, their managers. • Let go of control to stimulate creativity. • Strip away special treatment for managers—no parking space or secretary, not even their own desk. • Continually question whether what appears to be self-evident is actually good for the company. • Regularly take a break from work when you are unreachable for a period of time. • Read classic literature instead of management books. • Remember that leadership has nothing to do with hierarchy, because everyone can develop leadership skills.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Obama & Oprah- What a Ticket!
Obama & Oprah what a ticket--Entertainment Tonight would love it!
As an American living in a Canadian body, I have a slightly different perspective on the issues surrounding the election of a President in 2008, especially the election of Obama. I think he is the great "Black" hope America is looking for. Particularly the majority of Blacks who represent the 30 million US citizens who make a minimal wage of $5.15 an hour, America's working poor.
The "system" has and always will be controlled by white elitists who only recognize the achievement of blacks through sports and entertainment. White basketball and football owners are pre-disposed to dump millions of dollars on black pro athletes for the entertainment of wealthy whites who can afford seasons tickets. Oprah has been "playing white" since her show was launched. Look at her audience...primarily white middle class. Oprah loves Obama, not because he will save America, but because he is an attractive, charismatic man whom she can identify with that has the look and feel of a celebrity.
America has and always will be totally pre-occupied with celebrities as heroes. If you lose the Super Bowl by one point nobody calls the next day and asks you to be on their late night TV show. This pre-occupation with winning is resulting in the innocent death of young soldiers and civilians alike in Iraq. George W. Bush, the troubled young son of a demanding father and controlling Mother, is possessed with "winning" the war in Iraq even if he takes another 22,000 troops into certain death. "I'll show Dad I can win at something". This is not the rhetoric of a rational human being , this is a "madman'. It is always said you generally hate the people who remind you most of yourself...hence Curious George and his father's hatred of Saddam Hussein.
There is a major crises in America, that goes beyond Barack Obama as the "hope". Democrats and Republicans are cut from the same cloth. Wall Street owns the White House and the way the American system is set up, you have Hillary raising $15 million dollars to buy votes, so she can have the same corporate sector, the Republicans have been beholding to if and when she gets elected. Over 98% of the money raised in the U.S. for political campaigns comes from the corporate sector. This is insane. We have a system in Canada that does not permit a politician to raise more than $1,000 for her or his campaign. We have a fundamental three party system, but with plenty of room for independants. We have a free and democratic society that allows for the free will of the people to speak with their votes.
I have studied and lived in the U.S. and I can tell you that the prevailing attitude of Americans I knew was that America has the most democratic and free society in the world. The envy of the free world. Not any more, the U.S., with homeland security, fear, paranoia , illegal wars and occupation of countries, corrupt corporate leaders ,and a "liar" in the White House, no longer is the envy of the free world, and in fact in many countries it has become the most hated. Electing a black Kennedy is not going to solve anything. And even Kennedy with all his charisma, that Americans so cherish, had his own connections with the Mafia, and sinister corporate magnets.
Until America shifts away from a culture that associates money with power and power with success, you will continue to elect public officials who honestly believe that most Americans are "stupid". "They need us...that without our governance and protection, the U.S. would be invaded by everybody from aliens to Celine Dion."The American Dream has become it's worst nightmare. Wake up, or just like global warming , it will be too late to do anything except build an arc and pray for Gore. If I had a vote that's where I'd put my X.
Your thoughts are welcome...please comment.
As an American living in a Canadian body, I have a slightly different perspective on the issues surrounding the election of a President in 2008, especially the election of Obama. I think he is the great "Black" hope America is looking for. Particularly the majority of Blacks who represent the 30 million US citizens who make a minimal wage of $5.15 an hour, America's working poor.
The "system" has and always will be controlled by white elitists who only recognize the achievement of blacks through sports and entertainment. White basketball and football owners are pre-disposed to dump millions of dollars on black pro athletes for the entertainment of wealthy whites who can afford seasons tickets. Oprah has been "playing white" since her show was launched. Look at her audience...primarily white middle class. Oprah loves Obama, not because he will save America, but because he is an attractive, charismatic man whom she can identify with that has the look and feel of a celebrity.
America has and always will be totally pre-occupied with celebrities as heroes. If you lose the Super Bowl by one point nobody calls the next day and asks you to be on their late night TV show. This pre-occupation with winning is resulting in the innocent death of young soldiers and civilians alike in Iraq. George W. Bush, the troubled young son of a demanding father and controlling Mother, is possessed with "winning" the war in Iraq even if he takes another 22,000 troops into certain death. "I'll show Dad I can win at something". This is not the rhetoric of a rational human being , this is a "madman'. It is always said you generally hate the people who remind you most of yourself...hence Curious George and his father's hatred of Saddam Hussein.
There is a major crises in America, that goes beyond Barack Obama as the "hope". Democrats and Republicans are cut from the same cloth. Wall Street owns the White House and the way the American system is set up, you have Hillary raising $15 million dollars to buy votes, so she can have the same corporate sector, the Republicans have been beholding to if and when she gets elected. Over 98% of the money raised in the U.S. for political campaigns comes from the corporate sector. This is insane. We have a system in Canada that does not permit a politician to raise more than $1,000 for her or his campaign. We have a fundamental three party system, but with plenty of room for independants. We have a free and democratic society that allows for the free will of the people to speak with their votes.
I have studied and lived in the U.S. and I can tell you that the prevailing attitude of Americans I knew was that America has the most democratic and free society in the world. The envy of the free world. Not any more, the U.S., with homeland security, fear, paranoia , illegal wars and occupation of countries, corrupt corporate leaders ,and a "liar" in the White House, no longer is the envy of the free world, and in fact in many countries it has become the most hated. Electing a black Kennedy is not going to solve anything. And even Kennedy with all his charisma, that Americans so cherish, had his own connections with the Mafia, and sinister corporate magnets.
Until America shifts away from a culture that associates money with power and power with success, you will continue to elect public officials who honestly believe that most Americans are "stupid". "They need us...that without our governance and protection, the U.S. would be invaded by everybody from aliens to Celine Dion."The American Dream has become it's worst nightmare. Wake up, or just like global warming , it will be too late to do anything except build an arc and pray for Gore. If I had a vote that's where I'd put my X.
Your thoughts are welcome...please comment.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
BoomerBiz
BoomerBiz
This is the ultimate resource center for 50 plus boomers who want to start their own business. In the weeks to come you can read about my own personal journey in meeting the challenges of continuing to grow and enrich my life at the age of 65 and beyond. As I enter the autumn of my life I feel the need to keep on expanding my horizons. I hope you will share your comments as well. In an effort to expand our mutual knowledge I will attempt to bring empowering stories to your attention that help you grow your business ethically and create profits with integrity. Till the next time, I remain ..
Your humble Biz Boomer
This is the ultimate resource center for 50 plus boomers who want to start their own business. In the weeks to come you can read about my own personal journey in meeting the challenges of continuing to grow and enrich my life at the age of 65 and beyond. As I enter the autumn of my life I feel the need to keep on expanding my horizons. I hope you will share your comments as well. In an effort to expand our mutual knowledge I will attempt to bring empowering stories to your attention that help you grow your business ethically and create profits with integrity. Till the next time, I remain ..
Your humble Biz Boomer
War Games
Today I opened my newspaper to find an awards ceremony taking place that I had never heard of before; "The Interactive Achievement Awards", administered by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, a non-profit group made up of some 9,000 members of the entertainment software industry. Take a look at the titles and descriptions of some of the nominees; Gears of War, a dark futuristic action-horror video game. Gears is the brainchild of creative director Cliff Bleszinski, but the Epic team from Cary, North Carolina, had plenty of Canadian content. Epic VP Mark Rein is from Toronto and four other Canadians worked on the project. How wonderful, a hands across the border project totally consumed with violence and war.
Then there's Scarface, a violent mobster interactive game from Radical Entertainment in Vancouver, Bully from Rockstar Games also from Vancouver, sending another message of violent retribution. Relic , the video game company from Canada contributing the most to world peace with titles like; Impossible Creatures, Warhammer 40,000, and Dawn of War released this statement; "So far we've been nominated for over 60 awards that I'm aware of,: producer John Johnson said proudly from Vancouver, "We've pulled in (won) over 40 of those". Johnson said Relic knew the Second World War field was getting a little stale, but was confident it could take the genre forward to the next step. "Key features included creating a "living battlefield," where gamers could interact with their environment. "For me that's the biggest feature, because the game play suddenly becomes different every time you play it," said Johnson. Wow what a concept, how to kill people in different ways, based on your "killing mood".,and what a genius creative business mind to recognize that this "second world war" stuff was getting stale. A final footnote, the awards take place at the HardRock Casino and Club in Las Vegas (Sin City), how appropriate.
It's been surmised that none of the above companies have been nominated for a Corporate Ethics, Sustainabliity, or "Zentrepreneur of the Year Award.
Okay here goes my rant and disbelief at the same time. The fact that we have reached a point in our society that we are permitting legalized war games to infiltrate the very people that we will be entrusting our world to, the younger generation, is beyond belief. Have we become so immune to the world outside that the very mention of war to someone today is treated much like the daily weather forecast. You want to hear about it , but you are powerless to change it. Where is the fine line between madness and civility.
Zentrepreneurism is about creating purpose and profits with integrity. The inconvenient truth about global warming has finally reached the ears of government and now the general public. It took Al Gore years to get peoples attention. What will it take to get the business world to "wake up" to it's own Inconvenient Truth.
Whether its pollution of the atmosphere or pollution of the mind., the two are equal culprits and each has it's own responsibility to act in a way that strenghtens our moral and ethical fibre. The cigarette companies are now targetting the most vulnerable of our ciitzens, our youth, becasue they know that they are the ones most confused and feeling disenfranchised. Too young to make clear descisions on what's good or bad and too old to be turned away at the corner grocery store. These same vulnerable, disenfranchised, and misguided youth are walking into Best Buy and laying down their last few dollars to have an opportunity to "play war". Killing people off is no big deal, heck you can watch CNN every night and get your dose of war and casualty counts much like to the ticker tape from Wall Street.
These same kids are in a fog, they have become immune to the graphics and they do not place a high value on themselves or the world around them. The next step is the local gun store and then it's off to the nearest high school or college to blow away people who looked funny at them, ignored them, bullied them, or talked about them. And then you can "waste yourself", the ulitmate suicide, no "guts no glory". You see the pattern here. It's a pattern repeated thousands of times a day in virtually every city in North America. At one point does business and the corporate world step up to the plate and say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We will no longer sacrifice integrity for profits. We will do the right thing to stop glorifying violence and war.
We will make a commitment to promote peace and wellness in our community. And if this inconvenient truth is too much for them to handle and they refuse to act responsibly, then you have no other choice, just say "Hell No we won't Buy" . The quiet revolution of the conscious consumer has already begun with the oil companies, the cigarette companies, the drug companies, the anti-war movement and now it's time for us to meet head on the irresponsible antics of the video game industry. War ,poverty, pollution, hunger and polluted profits have no place in a peaceful compassionate world. It may not appear in your daily newspaper, but the people have spoken, even if they are under ground.
Then there's Scarface, a violent mobster interactive game from Radical Entertainment in Vancouver, Bully from Rockstar Games also from Vancouver, sending another message of violent retribution. Relic , the video game company from Canada contributing the most to world peace with titles like; Impossible Creatures, Warhammer 40,000, and Dawn of War released this statement; "So far we've been nominated for over 60 awards that I'm aware of,: producer John Johnson said proudly from Vancouver, "We've pulled in (won) over 40 of those". Johnson said Relic knew the Second World War field was getting a little stale, but was confident it could take the genre forward to the next step. "Key features included creating a "living battlefield," where gamers could interact with their environment. "For me that's the biggest feature, because the game play suddenly becomes different every time you play it," said Johnson. Wow what a concept, how to kill people in different ways, based on your "killing mood".,and what a genius creative business mind to recognize that this "second world war" stuff was getting stale. A final footnote, the awards take place at the HardRock Casino and Club in Las Vegas (Sin City), how appropriate.
It's been surmised that none of the above companies have been nominated for a Corporate Ethics, Sustainabliity, or "Zentrepreneur of the Year Award.
Okay here goes my rant and disbelief at the same time. The fact that we have reached a point in our society that we are permitting legalized war games to infiltrate the very people that we will be entrusting our world to, the younger generation, is beyond belief. Have we become so immune to the world outside that the very mention of war to someone today is treated much like the daily weather forecast. You want to hear about it , but you are powerless to change it. Where is the fine line between madness and civility.
Zentrepreneurism is about creating purpose and profits with integrity. The inconvenient truth about global warming has finally reached the ears of government and now the general public. It took Al Gore years to get peoples attention. What will it take to get the business world to "wake up" to it's own Inconvenient Truth.
Whether its pollution of the atmosphere or pollution of the mind., the two are equal culprits and each has it's own responsibility to act in a way that strenghtens our moral and ethical fibre. The cigarette companies are now targetting the most vulnerable of our ciitzens, our youth, becasue they know that they are the ones most confused and feeling disenfranchised. Too young to make clear descisions on what's good or bad and too old to be turned away at the corner grocery store. These same vulnerable, disenfranchised, and misguided youth are walking into Best Buy and laying down their last few dollars to have an opportunity to "play war". Killing people off is no big deal, heck you can watch CNN every night and get your dose of war and casualty counts much like to the ticker tape from Wall Street.
These same kids are in a fog, they have become immune to the graphics and they do not place a high value on themselves or the world around them. The next step is the local gun store and then it's off to the nearest high school or college to blow away people who looked funny at them, ignored them, bullied them, or talked about them. And then you can "waste yourself", the ulitmate suicide, no "guts no glory". You see the pattern here. It's a pattern repeated thousands of times a day in virtually every city in North America. At one point does business and the corporate world step up to the plate and say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We will no longer sacrifice integrity for profits. We will do the right thing to stop glorifying violence and war.
We will make a commitment to promote peace and wellness in our community. And if this inconvenient truth is too much for them to handle and they refuse to act responsibly, then you have no other choice, just say "Hell No we won't Buy" . The quiet revolution of the conscious consumer has already begun with the oil companies, the cigarette companies, the drug companies, the anti-war movement and now it's time for us to meet head on the irresponsible antics of the video game industry. War ,poverty, pollution, hunger and polluted profits have no place in a peaceful compassionate world. It may not appear in your daily newspaper, but the people have spoken, even if they are under ground.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Lose or Die Tryin
Lose or Die Tryin
Three guesses on which nation shows the way forward to a happy global future. China, for its booming economy? The U.S. for its high standard of living? Italy for its great food? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Vanuatu, a string of islands in the Pacific, leads the world in promoting satisfaction, according to the Happy Planet Index, a new measure of human progress created by Friends of the Earth and the New Economics Foundation. This nation of 250,000 people scored well in all three categories upon which the index was based: life satisfaction, life expectancy and ecological sustainability. Here’s the reality check,, Canada placed 111th and the U.S. 150th. So much for the “American Dream”. http://www.eur.nl/fsw/research/happiness
And on that happy note, the beginning of my blog entry for this week. If America is so concerned about protecting its borders from the evil doers; terrorists, illegal aliens, drug smugglers, suspicious Muslims, suspicious Iranians, suspicious North Koreans, Afghanistans, Cubans, and Canadians who look like the “enemy”, why don’t they take a look at the enemy within; poverty, racism, a shrinking middle class, congressman who routinely wind up in sexual misadventures, Christian evangelists who wave the flag while having sex with men, prostitutes, and little boys. a Christian right wing that is convinced that all non believers will perish when Armageddon strikes us all down , an era of discontent unprecedented, and led by a President, “Curious George”, who has the worst ratings of any President since Nixon, and we know what he was up to…can you spell “impeachment”.
It appears that the only thing they are not afraid of is American Idol contestants who lose. As a matter of fact for the first time in history, America is actually rewarding losers…the American people are embracing these losers. If you lose on any of the so called reality shows, you can actually become a hero. Lose 200 pounds and you are a hero. get kicked off the Apprentice and you are still a somebody for standing up to the Trumpster, the poster boy for narcissism …get kicked off the Island and people want to interview you on national television the next morning, lose on American Idol and heck you can even get a record contract and make a million bucks with no talent, and no singing ability, and no idea of what actually happened to you. Exhibit A…. William Hung, hit stardom with a bombastic hit “She Bangs”. He appeared last night on Larry King along with three other losers who have made it big. He’s so surprised and amazed at his fame, he remains speechless. However he did get it together long enough to sing something for his new country album. The two other losers applauded him and Larry just pulled back his suspenders and had a senile moment, forgot to breathe and then threw it over to Anderson Cooper who just winced , plugged his ears, and said “Is it over’.
Okay here is my theory of what’s going on in America, and why Canadians are just as nuts for watching. George Bush and his axis of evil twins Dick and Condy have put the country into such a high state of paranoia , that even the simple people believe that everyone in the world wants to invade America so that they can all have a piece of the American Dream. Ah yes America where all things are possible. Make an idiot of yourself and you can become a winner just by being a loser. As a matter of fact if you are ugly enough you can win a Golden Globe award for the funniest show on television. Ugly Betty, the story of how bad and mean people can be to ugly people. Truth becomes reality. Or how about the other big show…”Beauty and the Geek”. Let’s see if the nerdy guys who look like they spent their entire lives in their bedrooms, are used as props for the new reality show, where a beautiful blonde bombshell is fooled into believing she will be meeting the star Adonis quarterback form the Notre Dame Football team. Instead she gets to choose between not one but 15 Napolean Dynamite look alikes. And then there is FIRE ME…PLEASE a new four-episode, one-hour reality series that follows two people starting new jobs on the same day, with the goal of intentionally being fired as close to 3:00 PM as possible.
Television has become a stage for revealing how bad things are in the land of “anything is possible”. Nowadays, most of the shows either make fun of people, kill people, find people who kill others, look for terrorists who want to kill us, look for people who have raped others, look for people who have molested children, Even Oprah offers $100,000 for people who find criminals, Jerry Springer has a hit show by exposing people as they humiliate everyone and the people in the audience holler for more blood, with battle cries of “Jerry.. Jerry”. Does this remind you of the Roman times when the crowd gave the head honcho permission to do a thumbs up or down, .resulting in the poor gladiator either going back in his cage or being fed to the lions. Sounds a lot like Simon on American Idol. But hey it’s whatever the traffic will bear baby. Even Maury realized he could do far better by being more foolish than serious…and he looked over at Springer and thought hey I can do that too. Just parade all the social misfits I can into exposing their miserable lives on television.
I wonder what the Dalai Lama thinks when he visits North America and watches this crap on television. He must think there is less hope than he first realized. Even though Bill Mahr described most Americans as being “stupid”. I think there is hope, and the more people I meet who have now turned off their televisions and view it as an invasion of privacy. the more I think that America is simply looking for something to laugh at. You can only laugh at George Bush for so long. You can only watch so many football games, so many Super Bowls, and you can only hear about the war in Iraq, global warming, the threat of terrorism, and a nuclear bomb. Even food and beer can’t make the pain away. People in America are angry, paranoid, frustrated, poor, unhealthy, and confused. So is it no wonder that the most narcissistic country in the world, who believe they are the envy of the world, ranks as one of the least happiest countries on the planet. It reminds me of the joke about the narccistic person who says upon engaging in a long winded conversation. “Okay that’s enough about me, let’s talk about you, what do you think of me”? More reason for Canadians to take a harder look at how we view our neighbors to the South, because if it’s with envy and we’re not careful we will wind up 149th right behind our American cousins. When I was a kid all we had was the CBC and you know what, I thought it was pretty cool…time to bring back Wayne and Shuster!
Three guesses on which nation shows the way forward to a happy global future. China, for its booming economy? The U.S. for its high standard of living? Italy for its great food? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Vanuatu, a string of islands in the Pacific, leads the world in promoting satisfaction, according to the Happy Planet Index, a new measure of human progress created by Friends of the Earth and the New Economics Foundation. This nation of 250,000 people scored well in all three categories upon which the index was based: life satisfaction, life expectancy and ecological sustainability. Here’s the reality check,, Canada placed 111th and the U.S. 150th. So much for the “American Dream”. http://www.eur.nl/fsw/research/happiness
And on that happy note, the beginning of my blog entry for this week. If America is so concerned about protecting its borders from the evil doers; terrorists, illegal aliens, drug smugglers, suspicious Muslims, suspicious Iranians, suspicious North Koreans, Afghanistans, Cubans, and Canadians who look like the “enemy”, why don’t they take a look at the enemy within; poverty, racism, a shrinking middle class, congressman who routinely wind up in sexual misadventures, Christian evangelists who wave the flag while having sex with men, prostitutes, and little boys. a Christian right wing that is convinced that all non believers will perish when Armageddon strikes us all down , an era of discontent unprecedented, and led by a President, “Curious George”, who has the worst ratings of any President since Nixon, and we know what he was up to…can you spell “impeachment”.
It appears that the only thing they are not afraid of is American Idol contestants who lose. As a matter of fact for the first time in history, America is actually rewarding losers…the American people are embracing these losers. If you lose on any of the so called reality shows, you can actually become a hero. Lose 200 pounds and you are a hero. get kicked off the Apprentice and you are still a somebody for standing up to the Trumpster, the poster boy for narcissism …get kicked off the Island and people want to interview you on national television the next morning, lose on American Idol and heck you can even get a record contract and make a million bucks with no talent, and no singing ability, and no idea of what actually happened to you. Exhibit A…. William Hung, hit stardom with a bombastic hit “She Bangs”. He appeared last night on Larry King along with three other losers who have made it big. He’s so surprised and amazed at his fame, he remains speechless. However he did get it together long enough to sing something for his new country album. The two other losers applauded him and Larry just pulled back his suspenders and had a senile moment, forgot to breathe and then threw it over to Anderson Cooper who just winced , plugged his ears, and said “Is it over’.
Okay here is my theory of what’s going on in America, and why Canadians are just as nuts for watching. George Bush and his axis of evil twins Dick and Condy have put the country into such a high state of paranoia , that even the simple people believe that everyone in the world wants to invade America so that they can all have a piece of the American Dream. Ah yes America where all things are possible. Make an idiot of yourself and you can become a winner just by being a loser. As a matter of fact if you are ugly enough you can win a Golden Globe award for the funniest show on television. Ugly Betty, the story of how bad and mean people can be to ugly people. Truth becomes reality. Or how about the other big show…”Beauty and the Geek”. Let’s see if the nerdy guys who look like they spent their entire lives in their bedrooms, are used as props for the new reality show, where a beautiful blonde bombshell is fooled into believing she will be meeting the star Adonis quarterback form the Notre Dame Football team. Instead she gets to choose between not one but 15 Napolean Dynamite look alikes. And then there is FIRE ME…PLEASE a new four-episode, one-hour reality series that follows two people starting new jobs on the same day, with the goal of intentionally being fired as close to 3:00 PM as possible.
Television has become a stage for revealing how bad things are in the land of “anything is possible”. Nowadays, most of the shows either make fun of people, kill people, find people who kill others, look for terrorists who want to kill us, look for people who have raped others, look for people who have molested children, Even Oprah offers $100,000 for people who find criminals, Jerry Springer has a hit show by exposing people as they humiliate everyone and the people in the audience holler for more blood, with battle cries of “Jerry.. Jerry”. Does this remind you of the Roman times when the crowd gave the head honcho permission to do a thumbs up or down, .resulting in the poor gladiator either going back in his cage or being fed to the lions. Sounds a lot like Simon on American Idol. But hey it’s whatever the traffic will bear baby. Even Maury realized he could do far better by being more foolish than serious…and he looked over at Springer and thought hey I can do that too. Just parade all the social misfits I can into exposing their miserable lives on television.
I wonder what the Dalai Lama thinks when he visits North America and watches this crap on television. He must think there is less hope than he first realized. Even though Bill Mahr described most Americans as being “stupid”. I think there is hope, and the more people I meet who have now turned off their televisions and view it as an invasion of privacy. the more I think that America is simply looking for something to laugh at. You can only laugh at George Bush for so long. You can only watch so many football games, so many Super Bowls, and you can only hear about the war in Iraq, global warming, the threat of terrorism, and a nuclear bomb. Even food and beer can’t make the pain away. People in America are angry, paranoid, frustrated, poor, unhealthy, and confused. So is it no wonder that the most narcissistic country in the world, who believe they are the envy of the world, ranks as one of the least happiest countries on the planet. It reminds me of the joke about the narccistic person who says upon engaging in a long winded conversation. “Okay that’s enough about me, let’s talk about you, what do you think of me”? More reason for Canadians to take a harder look at how we view our neighbors to the South, because if it’s with envy and we’re not careful we will wind up 149th right behind our American cousins. When I was a kid all we had was the CBC and you know what, I thought it was pretty cool…time to bring back Wayne and Shuster!
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
The Corporate Squeeze
Just When You Thought the Squeeze Was Over
Written by David Batstone January 9, 2007
Just when you thought that the American worker could not get squeezed for any more juice, major retailers have come up with a new cost-savings innovation to apply more pressure on their workforce. Indeed, staffing is the latest area where big retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and Payless hope to wring out a few pennies with new operational efficiencies.
Mind you, Wal-Mart and its kin already have been blasted for paying low wages, being miserly with health benefits, and reticent to pay their workers overtime. So how could matters get worse for their employees?
Major features in the Wall Street Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle this week reveal that new computerized scheduling systems will move many American workers from a predictable work shift to staffing based on the number of customers in a store at any given time. The system will allow managers to start the business day with a few employees on hand, then bring in "on call" workers when business picks up during the course of the day. Once commerce lags, the manager can send workers home until further notice. In short, it matches staffing to more closely match customer demand.
It's easy to see how this practice could increase productivity and, hence, operational profitability. But consider the plight of workers who no longer can budget their expenses for a week, or arrange for baby sitting for their kids if called into work, or hold a second job that might help them make ends meet. They are essentially at the beck and call of their boss on a daily basis. Rather than work, say, four 8-hour shifts per week, a worker might work two hours one day, six another, and three on a subsequent day. The practice will force a large slice of American workers into low-paid, part-time jobs.
"The whole point is workers were a fixed cost, now they're a variable cost," Kenneth Dalto, a management consultant told the Wall Street Journal. "Is it good for workers?" he added. "Probably not."
I don't know why Dalto had to throw the word "probably" into his assessment. It's clearly a nightmare scenario for workers who will be pressured to be available at the drop of a hat. It gives "flex time" a whole new meaning. It used to mean that workers could arrange their work to fit their personal demands. It now means that workers will arrange their lives to meet the demands of commerce.
Wal-Mart now asks its hourly employees to fill out a schedule of their availability, and encourages them to include a weekend window "if at all possible." This "personal availability form states: "Limiting your personal availability may restrict the number of hours you are scheduled." The obvious implication is that the less flexible you are, you may find yourself in the manager's dog house and fall to the bottom of his call list.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that some longtime workers, who have reached higher pay scales, fear that managers are using the system to pressure them to quit their jobs. After working 16 years at a Wal-Mart in Hastings, Minnesota, Karen Nelson says managers told her she had to be opening to working nights and weekends. When she refused, her manager told her, "[I can] get two two people for what I pay [you]." Her hours were cut, though restored again after she filed a complaint.
While retailers can defend the new staffing policies by hiding behind improved customer service - workers will be present when the customers most need them - the truth of the matter is that it places an unfair burden on workers. Just how far can we squeeze the worker? It looks like mammoth American retail chains are willing to test that proposition.
Written by David Batstone January 9, 2007
Just when you thought that the American worker could not get squeezed for any more juice, major retailers have come up with a new cost-savings innovation to apply more pressure on their workforce. Indeed, staffing is the latest area where big retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and Payless hope to wring out a few pennies with new operational efficiencies.
Mind you, Wal-Mart and its kin already have been blasted for paying low wages, being miserly with health benefits, and reticent to pay their workers overtime. So how could matters get worse for their employees?
Major features in the Wall Street Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle this week reveal that new computerized scheduling systems will move many American workers from a predictable work shift to staffing based on the number of customers in a store at any given time. The system will allow managers to start the business day with a few employees on hand, then bring in "on call" workers when business picks up during the course of the day. Once commerce lags, the manager can send workers home until further notice. In short, it matches staffing to more closely match customer demand.
It's easy to see how this practice could increase productivity and, hence, operational profitability. But consider the plight of workers who no longer can budget their expenses for a week, or arrange for baby sitting for their kids if called into work, or hold a second job that might help them make ends meet. They are essentially at the beck and call of their boss on a daily basis. Rather than work, say, four 8-hour shifts per week, a worker might work two hours one day, six another, and three on a subsequent day. The practice will force a large slice of American workers into low-paid, part-time jobs.
"The whole point is workers were a fixed cost, now they're a variable cost," Kenneth Dalto, a management consultant told the Wall Street Journal. "Is it good for workers?" he added. "Probably not."
I don't know why Dalto had to throw the word "probably" into his assessment. It's clearly a nightmare scenario for workers who will be pressured to be available at the drop of a hat. It gives "flex time" a whole new meaning. It used to mean that workers could arrange their work to fit their personal demands. It now means that workers will arrange their lives to meet the demands of commerce.
Wal-Mart now asks its hourly employees to fill out a schedule of their availability, and encourages them to include a weekend window "if at all possible." This "personal availability form states: "Limiting your personal availability may restrict the number of hours you are scheduled." The obvious implication is that the less flexible you are, you may find yourself in the manager's dog house and fall to the bottom of his call list.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that some longtime workers, who have reached higher pay scales, fear that managers are using the system to pressure them to quit their jobs. After working 16 years at a Wal-Mart in Hastings, Minnesota, Karen Nelson says managers told her she had to be opening to working nights and weekends. When she refused, her manager told her, "[I can] get two two people for what I pay [you]." Her hours were cut, though restored again after she filed a complaint.
While retailers can defend the new staffing policies by hiding behind improved customer service - workers will be present when the customers most need them - the truth of the matter is that it places an unfair burden on workers. Just how far can we squeeze the worker? It looks like mammoth American retail chains are willing to test that proposition.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
World Wide Launch
On November 24th the world wide launch of Zentrepreneurism took place in Vancouver B.C. Canada. The idea that became a book has now become a global movement. To catch the zenergy and excitement of this event go to www.zentrepreneurism.com .
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win"- Gandhi
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win"- Gandhi
Thursday, June 01, 2006
THE BIRTH OF ZENTREPRENEURISM
Well, I am happy to report that the baby has given birth. After 1.5 years of labour, my first attempt at literary genius has resulted in the birth of Zentreprenuerism- A Twenty-first Century Guide to the New World of Business. The official launch will be June 20th at which time we will have a VIP reception and book signing at Cecil Green Park on the campus of the University of British Columbia. In that very same building some 26 years ago I was the resident Director of Alumni Fund Raising, so it's a full circle return to where it all began.
Many friends, colleagues, and business associates have been confirmed to attend. The media have also been invited through my publicist who is arranging an Alberta book tour in early August and a Toronto junket in September. For those of you who have been regular readers of this blog, my apologies for not being current in my postings, however as you can see I have been otherwise pre-occupied. As you know the original title of the book was to have been called "Buddha in the Board Room", however as catchy as the title was, it didn't resonate for me, given my limited knowledge of buddhism. Being the voice and messenger for Zentrepreneruism had a better feel to it and indeed came from a truer place. The book will be available on-line at our new website currently being developed at www.zentrepreneurism.com. after June 20th. I will also post excerpts from the book here on this blog.
To give you some idea of the nature of the book, here are some highlights from the dust jacket book cover:
“We have a situation where we don’t trust our government or our capitalist system…the level of distrust right now is probably unparalleled since the 1930’s.
-Charles Lewis, Founder, Centre for Public Integrity.
People are expecting more from the companies they’re working for…more from the companies they’re doing business with and more from the companies they’re buying from”
-Sydney Finkelstein, professor of strategy and leadership, Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business
FOREWORD
Not every generation is privileged to see the start of a future. We are — and in Zentrepreneurism, Allan Holender has acted as its revelator, its prophet, if you will.
We are used to thinking of prophets as heralds of a far-off future. But prophets simply crystallize what is ready to be born. The world of social and natural capitalism, the world of full-life living, the world of service coupled with entrepreneurial behavior that this book describes has been building for the past thirty years. Only now is it ready to shine forth in the full light of day.
With this revelation, the business world — and our personal lives — are destined to change.
There is little question that many of us today are seeking something beyond what the world has offered us to date. Whether your life reflects great success in your endeavors, or whether each day is a personal or professional struggle, work alone isn't enough for many of us now. Instead, we are looking for a whole-life experience, one where all the pieces come together. Work becomes love, love becomes living, and living is work. A life where our partners, our families, our businesses and our efforts merge into a single, harmonious whole — and where we measure our success in more ways than just the balance in our bank accounts.
Harmony requires as much from us as it gives us. We live harmoniously when our efforts lead to a more harmonious environment. Unsurprisingly, the pioneers who brought us simple messages about work/life balance and integration into a single whole have also pioneered humane environments that take as much care with the environment, with the community, and with the groups of people privileged to work together with product quality, service quality, and prudent fiscal management. Daily meditations, time spent with family and friends, and personal growth feature as prominently as do strong values, an insistence on excellence in every endeavor, a true accounting of materials and their impacts on the world around us, and attention to realizing a real profit from ethical efforts. These are a new breed of entrepreneurs — and they are the vanguard of a new world.
As a philosopher and a futurist, I was at first skeptical of Allan's zentrepreneurs . Perhaps that is part of acknowledging that I, too, am part of this wave of the future. I was certain that this New Age approach was a fad — sure to be tested and discarded when times turned tougher.
I no longer believe that any longer. Yes, many who claim to be enlightened capitalists will revert to hard-nosed behavior when tested. But the transition oulined in this book has legs; it will stand up to adversity. We are moving beyond simple remedies to more complex ways of dealing with the world — yes, even the hard right of neoconservativism is adapting slowly — and we are beginning to understand the fundamental connectedness of all the parts of our lives, our activities, our world.
Many of the zentrepreneurs do not actually practice Zen. Nor are they Buddhists, although the ideas of Gautama the Buddha permeate their thinking even as they are unaware of the connection. Some are devoted and dedicated Jews, Christians, Muslims — the list of the worlds’ faiths is long, and includes those who deny all faith. But throughout each of these seemingly disporate faiths runs a common thread of ideas and actions, approaches and ideals that is well illustrated by Buddhism, regardless of its form, from the Hinayana through to Zen.
Similarly, the many and growing number of Westerners — in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe — who are adopting Buddhism and adapting in its forms to life in the West, are not necessarily Zentrepreneurs Those who find themselves walking this path need not apologize for such fellow travelers. But notions of a right livelihood are taking hold beyond both communities, for all of that.
Why are Eastern disciplines — Buddhism, Zen, Taoism — taking hold in the business world of the West?
The ideas of the East, with the concepts of balance and harmony as their foundation, are appealing to a Western world, which has spent many centuries driving hard toward its goals. Many business executives, after decades of hard work, suddenly turn around and realize that, while working so hard to be financially successful they have been missing out on enjoying life’s full potential. Others, observing their own business leaders, wonder if the pressures they withstood at work mean they, too, are working for an Enron — a company where employees were sacrificed to the driving ambition of those at the top.
Few Western business leaders become adherents of one or another of the Eastern faiths, although most of them have grown up in the West, especially in America. Most are fellow travelers, picking up on the spirit of the times by osmosis. But the search for balance and an integration of personal and home life, work life, planetary stability, and survival continues for all of them. In this book, Allan Holender reveals the stories of a number of these people, and the impact their new found practices have had on their lives, and their enterprises.
What makes Allan’s personal journey, also recounted in this book, extraordinary?
In many ways, Allan’s own story is every person's story. We are all taught by society to succeed, and to push to do so. One look at the junk mail folder every day shows the ever-increasing number of inducements to join successful programs, ways to get rich more quickly, and promises of glory. These programs are legion, and in the desire to improve ourselves- usually financially many of us take part in one or another of them. Even if we resist the siren call of instant riches, however, we dream of them — look at the people packing casinos, buying lottery tickets, and jumping from job to job just to get a raise.
In the quest for success, the real values in our lives can often be lost. Mere existence takes over. Coming to realize that …. and to seek out another way — is Allan's story. As the same realization dawns for more and more people in Western society, Allan's story becomes a symbol for everyone's story. That is why it is extraordinary.
What about you, the reader? What should you hope to take away from this book?
In the stories of the Zentrepreneurs, I found inspiration and challenge. You can do well and do good at the same time. You can have a life and a business together. As an employee, management, or the owner of a large organization, you can have these at any corporate level. In other words, although many of the Zentrepreneurs whose stories are told here have built their own businesses, that is not what is important. You may feel, if you are walking this road yourself, that you can only reach your personal vision and mission through the vehicle of your own firm. Others will, like Buddha himself, stay where they are, and let their actions in their cubicle begin to change the world.
It is not too late to live the fullest, richest life you can live!
Bruce A. Stewart,
Speaker, Author, Research Advisor and Consultant
PREFACE
I thought about writing a book two years ago because someone suggested that the title I picked was catchy, “Buddha in the Board Room”. At first the idea had some merit, but as I began to research Buddhism, and read every book I could find at the library, I soon found that taking a crash course on Buddhism didn’t quite resonate for me. So I began to explore the eight fold path of Buddhism and begin my own journey towards enlightenment. I soon realized that I was not coming from a total place of integrity. I did believe that I was spiritual and I did believe that I was on some sort of path, but I really wasn’t sure what that path was. I knew I wanted my life to be different, and I wanted to write about how in a simplistic way we could apply the eight fold path of the Buddha to the world of business and as a result how different our business and our lives could be, like the ten commandments of Zentrepreneurism.
I also began to realize how different our lives would be, because after all our business does affect our lives. So I decided to try one more experiment- I visited a Buddhist temple and met with one of the program staff. I felt a great sense of peace in the temple, but still did not feel at home. I think my greatest spiritual moments have come at the top of the mountains in Sedona, Arizona, or at the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza near Cancun.
It was in that moment after leaving the Buddhist temple grounds, that I decided I could no longer live the illusion that I was going to be the Jew who became a Buddhist and instead I was going to write bout something I already believed in, a life I was already living and was passionate about. I also realized that being an expert on Zentrepreneurism did not fit either. Instead I did what I do best, gathered as much information as I could, read as many articles and books I could, interviewed as many people as I could, and then reported on these events in the book. I am a communicator, and so what better role to have as a first time author than to be the voice and messenger for Zentreprenuerism.
Many friends, colleagues, and business associates have been confirmed to attend. The media have also been invited through my publicist who is arranging an Alberta book tour in early August and a Toronto junket in September. For those of you who have been regular readers of this blog, my apologies for not being current in my postings, however as you can see I have been otherwise pre-occupied. As you know the original title of the book was to have been called "Buddha in the Board Room", however as catchy as the title was, it didn't resonate for me, given my limited knowledge of buddhism. Being the voice and messenger for Zentrepreneruism had a better feel to it and indeed came from a truer place. The book will be available on-line at our new website currently being developed at www.zentrepreneurism.com. after June 20th. I will also post excerpts from the book here on this blog.
To give you some idea of the nature of the book, here are some highlights from the dust jacket book cover:
“We have a situation where we don’t trust our government or our capitalist system…the level of distrust right now is probably unparalleled since the 1930’s.
-Charles Lewis, Founder, Centre for Public Integrity.
People are expecting more from the companies they’re working for…more from the companies they’re doing business with and more from the companies they’re buying from”
-Sydney Finkelstein, professor of strategy and leadership, Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business
FOREWORD
Not every generation is privileged to see the start of a future. We are — and in Zentrepreneurism, Allan Holender has acted as its revelator, its prophet, if you will.
We are used to thinking of prophets as heralds of a far-off future. But prophets simply crystallize what is ready to be born. The world of social and natural capitalism, the world of full-life living, the world of service coupled with entrepreneurial behavior that this book describes has been building for the past thirty years. Only now is it ready to shine forth in the full light of day.
With this revelation, the business world — and our personal lives — are destined to change.
There is little question that many of us today are seeking something beyond what the world has offered us to date. Whether your life reflects great success in your endeavors, or whether each day is a personal or professional struggle, work alone isn't enough for many of us now. Instead, we are looking for a whole-life experience, one where all the pieces come together. Work becomes love, love becomes living, and living is work. A life where our partners, our families, our businesses and our efforts merge into a single, harmonious whole — and where we measure our success in more ways than just the balance in our bank accounts.
Harmony requires as much from us as it gives us. We live harmoniously when our efforts lead to a more harmonious environment. Unsurprisingly, the pioneers who brought us simple messages about work/life balance and integration into a single whole have also pioneered humane environments that take as much care with the environment, with the community, and with the groups of people privileged to work together with product quality, service quality, and prudent fiscal management. Daily meditations, time spent with family and friends, and personal growth feature as prominently as do strong values, an insistence on excellence in every endeavor, a true accounting of materials and their impacts on the world around us, and attention to realizing a real profit from ethical efforts. These are a new breed of entrepreneurs — and they are the vanguard of a new world.
As a philosopher and a futurist, I was at first skeptical of Allan's zentrepreneurs . Perhaps that is part of acknowledging that I, too, am part of this wave of the future. I was certain that this New Age approach was a fad — sure to be tested and discarded when times turned tougher.
I no longer believe that any longer. Yes, many who claim to be enlightened capitalists will revert to hard-nosed behavior when tested. But the transition oulined in this book has legs; it will stand up to adversity. We are moving beyond simple remedies to more complex ways of dealing with the world — yes, even the hard right of neoconservativism is adapting slowly — and we are beginning to understand the fundamental connectedness of all the parts of our lives, our activities, our world.
Many of the zentrepreneurs do not actually practice Zen. Nor are they Buddhists, although the ideas of Gautama the Buddha permeate their thinking even as they are unaware of the connection. Some are devoted and dedicated Jews, Christians, Muslims — the list of the worlds’ faiths is long, and includes those who deny all faith. But throughout each of these seemingly disporate faiths runs a common thread of ideas and actions, approaches and ideals that is well illustrated by Buddhism, regardless of its form, from the Hinayana through to Zen.
Similarly, the many and growing number of Westerners — in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe — who are adopting Buddhism and adapting in its forms to life in the West, are not necessarily Zentrepreneurs Those who find themselves walking this path need not apologize for such fellow travelers. But notions of a right livelihood are taking hold beyond both communities, for all of that.
Why are Eastern disciplines — Buddhism, Zen, Taoism — taking hold in the business world of the West?
The ideas of the East, with the concepts of balance and harmony as their foundation, are appealing to a Western world, which has spent many centuries driving hard toward its goals. Many business executives, after decades of hard work, suddenly turn around and realize that, while working so hard to be financially successful they have been missing out on enjoying life’s full potential. Others, observing their own business leaders, wonder if the pressures they withstood at work mean they, too, are working for an Enron — a company where employees were sacrificed to the driving ambition of those at the top.
Few Western business leaders become adherents of one or another of the Eastern faiths, although most of them have grown up in the West, especially in America. Most are fellow travelers, picking up on the spirit of the times by osmosis. But the search for balance and an integration of personal and home life, work life, planetary stability, and survival continues for all of them. In this book, Allan Holender reveals the stories of a number of these people, and the impact their new found practices have had on their lives, and their enterprises.
What makes Allan’s personal journey, also recounted in this book, extraordinary?
In many ways, Allan’s own story is every person's story. We are all taught by society to succeed, and to push to do so. One look at the junk mail folder every day shows the ever-increasing number of inducements to join successful programs, ways to get rich more quickly, and promises of glory. These programs are legion, and in the desire to improve ourselves- usually financially many of us take part in one or another of them. Even if we resist the siren call of instant riches, however, we dream of them — look at the people packing casinos, buying lottery tickets, and jumping from job to job just to get a raise.
In the quest for success, the real values in our lives can often be lost. Mere existence takes over. Coming to realize that …. and to seek out another way — is Allan's story. As the same realization dawns for more and more people in Western society, Allan's story becomes a symbol for everyone's story. That is why it is extraordinary.
What about you, the reader? What should you hope to take away from this book?
In the stories of the Zentrepreneurs, I found inspiration and challenge. You can do well and do good at the same time. You can have a life and a business together. As an employee, management, or the owner of a large organization, you can have these at any corporate level. In other words, although many of the Zentrepreneurs whose stories are told here have built their own businesses, that is not what is important. You may feel, if you are walking this road yourself, that you can only reach your personal vision and mission through the vehicle of your own firm. Others will, like Buddha himself, stay where they are, and let their actions in their cubicle begin to change the world.
It is not too late to live the fullest, richest life you can live!
Bruce A. Stewart,
Speaker, Author, Research Advisor and Consultant
PREFACE
I thought about writing a book two years ago because someone suggested that the title I picked was catchy, “Buddha in the Board Room”. At first the idea had some merit, but as I began to research Buddhism, and read every book I could find at the library, I soon found that taking a crash course on Buddhism didn’t quite resonate for me. So I began to explore the eight fold path of Buddhism and begin my own journey towards enlightenment. I soon realized that I was not coming from a total place of integrity. I did believe that I was spiritual and I did believe that I was on some sort of path, but I really wasn’t sure what that path was. I knew I wanted my life to be different, and I wanted to write about how in a simplistic way we could apply the eight fold path of the Buddha to the world of business and as a result how different our business and our lives could be, like the ten commandments of Zentrepreneurism.
I also began to realize how different our lives would be, because after all our business does affect our lives. So I decided to try one more experiment- I visited a Buddhist temple and met with one of the program staff. I felt a great sense of peace in the temple, but still did not feel at home. I think my greatest spiritual moments have come at the top of the mountains in Sedona, Arizona, or at the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza near Cancun.
It was in that moment after leaving the Buddhist temple grounds, that I decided I could no longer live the illusion that I was going to be the Jew who became a Buddhist and instead I was going to write bout something I already believed in, a life I was already living and was passionate about. I also realized that being an expert on Zentrepreneurism did not fit either. Instead I did what I do best, gathered as much information as I could, read as many articles and books I could, interviewed as many people as I could, and then reported on these events in the book. I am a communicator, and so what better role to have as a first time author than to be the voice and messenger for Zentreprenuerism.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
What's Your Mission Statement
Structure is liberating: A monastary in the lowlands of South Carolina has some truly inspired ideas about work, life -- and compost.
By: Chuck Salter of Fast Company
It's morning rush hour in the egg house, and cartons of fresh produce are sliding off the conveyor belt faster than Augie Turak can pack them into boxes. Any minute now, the holding table will overflow with the fragile cargo. It's not the sort of predicament in which you would expect to find a software executive such as Turak. But then again, how many executives regularly take time off to work on a monastery chicken farm?
Just in the nick of time, one of the abbey's brothers quietly steps in and helps get the egg pile-up under control. The gesture reminds Turak, 47, president of North American operations for Israel-based MuTek Solutions Inc., a software-development-tools firm, of why he keeps coming back to Mepkin Abbey. "The attitude here is 'How can I help the community?,' not 'How can the community help me?' " he says.
A monastery may be the last place you'd expect to learn about running a fast company. And, in fact, the egg-house commotion aside, there's really nothing fast about life at Mepkin. The pace here is deliberate, the schedule is predictable, and the setting is remote. Located 45 miles outside of Charleston, South Carolina, the monastery sits on more than 3,000 acres of peaceful Berkeley County lowlands, amid stately live oaks draped in Spanish moss.
But a closer look reveals an operation that most corporate managers would envy -- one with motivated workers, a strong organizational culture, and no backstabbing. And talk about a track record: Mepkin is part of the Cistercian order, which was founded in France more than 900 years ago. Work is an integral part of these monks' faith. "It refreshes the body and mind for more-intense periods of prayer and contemplation," says Father Francis Kline, 51, Mepkin's abbot.
The self-supporting monastery has also racked up some impressive sales numbers: Its chicken farm generates annual revenues of more than $500,000, producing about 9 million eggs and 270 tons of compost a year. The rest of the operation includes guest houses for 1,000 or so annual retreatants, a 2,200-acre timber business, a Web site and gift shop, and a recently expanded botanical garden (which will open to the public by early next year). Mepkin's proceeds support local disadvantaged residents, in addition to covering the abbey's operating costs.
Not bad for two dozen monks (average age: 70) whose prayer regimen allows for just six hours of work a day. How do so few accomplish so much? By working with hardly any distractions, little politicking, and no out-of-control egos, says Brother Stan Gumula, 58, the abbey's business manager. Since the monks' trust in one another is unfailing, they are not afraid to admit to mistakes. A rule for the reverent: The sooner you can pinpoint a problem, the sooner it can get solved.
That's exactly the sort of trust and personal accountability that more businesses need, says Turak, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and visits Mepkin several times a year. Fearful of the consequences of their errors, workers often try to hide their mistakes -- a practice that eventually comes back to haunt them. "The monks understand that things don't always work out," observes Turak. "As they say, 'It's in the nature of eggs to break.' " That's the type of open atmosphere that Turak encourages among his sales crew at MuTek. "You feel secure enough to tell me about your mistake," he says, "and that only reaffirms my trust in you."
Of course, profit isn't the primary motive at Mepkin Abbey; serving God is. That mission is reinforced daily by tasks and rituals that are both sacred and mundane: the 3:20 AM church service, the Grand Silence from 8 PM to 8:30 AM, even the shoveling of chicken manure into compost piles. Everything that the monks do demonstrates their divine service and strengthens their community.
If the mission provides clarity, compassion is the key to the monks' harmony. "Even the just man falls seven times a day," says Brother Callistus Crichlow, 51, a former Wall Street computer technician. "If you believe that, you forgive others for their failings."
Commitment to such humble verities is what binds this eclectic group -- which includes a former clinical psychologist, a chef, a stage manager, and a fisherman -- and binds them for life. "It shouldn't work," says Father Kline. "The fact that we're here and that we're united says a lot about God."
Mepkin's ethos is one that overworked, IPO-hungry entrepreneurs would surely find eye-opening. "I think they may get a very different perspective on life and values other than making money," says Brother Gumula. "The monastery has a lot to teach simply by showing people the way we live."
The way the monks live also says a lot about how they treat their customers. Just now, Brother Gumula is on the phone with a woman from Florida, carefully answering her many questions about the proper use of compost on houseplants. It's a long conversation -- especially for a $7 order. (Ensuring quality and providing top-notch customer service often requires the patience of, well, a monk.) But Brother Gumula considers it time well spent. "It's not just that we want people back for another sale -- we do. But they deserve to open a carton of eggs and not find crushed eggs or manure smears. What would that say about this place?"
Although a company and a monastery are fundamentally different, the monks' sense of fairness and loyalty is good business and good for business, says Turak. And their perspective on work is healthy: "It is designed to provide us with food, clothing, and security, so we can do other things with our lives," he says. "That's something that the monks never lose sight of."
Chuck Salter (csalter@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior writer. Visit Mepkin Abbey on the Web (www.mepkinabbey.org).
By: Chuck Salter of Fast Company
It's morning rush hour in the egg house, and cartons of fresh produce are sliding off the conveyor belt faster than Augie Turak can pack them into boxes. Any minute now, the holding table will overflow with the fragile cargo. It's not the sort of predicament in which you would expect to find a software executive such as Turak. But then again, how many executives regularly take time off to work on a monastery chicken farm?
Just in the nick of time, one of the abbey's brothers quietly steps in and helps get the egg pile-up under control. The gesture reminds Turak, 47, president of North American operations for Israel-based MuTek Solutions Inc., a software-development-tools firm, of why he keeps coming back to Mepkin Abbey. "The attitude here is 'How can I help the community?,' not 'How can the community help me?' " he says.
A monastery may be the last place you'd expect to learn about running a fast company. And, in fact, the egg-house commotion aside, there's really nothing fast about life at Mepkin. The pace here is deliberate, the schedule is predictable, and the setting is remote. Located 45 miles outside of Charleston, South Carolina, the monastery sits on more than 3,000 acres of peaceful Berkeley County lowlands, amid stately live oaks draped in Spanish moss.
But a closer look reveals an operation that most corporate managers would envy -- one with motivated workers, a strong organizational culture, and no backstabbing. And talk about a track record: Mepkin is part of the Cistercian order, which was founded in France more than 900 years ago. Work is an integral part of these monks' faith. "It refreshes the body and mind for more-intense periods of prayer and contemplation," says Father Francis Kline, 51, Mepkin's abbot.
The self-supporting monastery has also racked up some impressive sales numbers: Its chicken farm generates annual revenues of more than $500,000, producing about 9 million eggs and 270 tons of compost a year. The rest of the operation includes guest houses for 1,000 or so annual retreatants, a 2,200-acre timber business, a Web site and gift shop, and a recently expanded botanical garden (which will open to the public by early next year). Mepkin's proceeds support local disadvantaged residents, in addition to covering the abbey's operating costs.
Not bad for two dozen monks (average age: 70) whose prayer regimen allows for just six hours of work a day. How do so few accomplish so much? By working with hardly any distractions, little politicking, and no out-of-control egos, says Brother Stan Gumula, 58, the abbey's business manager. Since the monks' trust in one another is unfailing, they are not afraid to admit to mistakes. A rule for the reverent: The sooner you can pinpoint a problem, the sooner it can get solved.
That's exactly the sort of trust and personal accountability that more businesses need, says Turak, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and visits Mepkin several times a year. Fearful of the consequences of their errors, workers often try to hide their mistakes -- a practice that eventually comes back to haunt them. "The monks understand that things don't always work out," observes Turak. "As they say, 'It's in the nature of eggs to break.' " That's the type of open atmosphere that Turak encourages among his sales crew at MuTek. "You feel secure enough to tell me about your mistake," he says, "and that only reaffirms my trust in you."
Of course, profit isn't the primary motive at Mepkin Abbey; serving God is. That mission is reinforced daily by tasks and rituals that are both sacred and mundane: the 3:20 AM church service, the Grand Silence from 8 PM to 8:30 AM, even the shoveling of chicken manure into compost piles. Everything that the monks do demonstrates their divine service and strengthens their community.
If the mission provides clarity, compassion is the key to the monks' harmony. "Even the just man falls seven times a day," says Brother Callistus Crichlow, 51, a former Wall Street computer technician. "If you believe that, you forgive others for their failings."
Commitment to such humble verities is what binds this eclectic group -- which includes a former clinical psychologist, a chef, a stage manager, and a fisherman -- and binds them for life. "It shouldn't work," says Father Kline. "The fact that we're here and that we're united says a lot about God."
Mepkin's ethos is one that overworked, IPO-hungry entrepreneurs would surely find eye-opening. "I think they may get a very different perspective on life and values other than making money," says Brother Gumula. "The monastery has a lot to teach simply by showing people the way we live."
The way the monks live also says a lot about how they treat their customers. Just now, Brother Gumula is on the phone with a woman from Florida, carefully answering her many questions about the proper use of compost on houseplants. It's a long conversation -- especially for a $7 order. (Ensuring quality and providing top-notch customer service often requires the patience of, well, a monk.) But Brother Gumula considers it time well spent. "It's not just that we want people back for another sale -- we do. But they deserve to open a carton of eggs and not find crushed eggs or manure smears. What would that say about this place?"
Although a company and a monastery are fundamentally different, the monks' sense of fairness and loyalty is good business and good for business, says Turak. And their perspective on work is healthy: "It is designed to provide us with food, clothing, and security, so we can do other things with our lives," he says. "That's something that the monks never lose sight of."
Chuck Salter (csalter@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior writer. Visit Mepkin Abbey on the Web (www.mepkinabbey.org).
Thursday, March 09, 2006
RUDE WORKPLACES
Right Reality: Rude Workplaces Are All the Rage
by David Batstone
You have heard of road rage - the behavior of unstable motorists who react to adversity on the roadway with all the aplomb of a toddler. How do you respond when similar rude and aggressive actions get played out at work?As job stress mounts, rude behavior at the workplace is becoming altogether too common. Sometimes the rage culture is set by a manager who chooses not to treat his or her employees with common respect.
I was a guest at a sales meeting not long ago where the manager berated his sales staff for missing their targets. "If your marriage is not in trouble, it's probably because you are not spending enough time on the road doing your job!" he yelled at top volume. While my jaw dropped to the ground at such naked disrespect, the members of the sales team shifted in their chairs uncomfortably.Rudeness can raise its ugly head at every level of an organization.
I worked in an office once where the administrative assistant to a manager - who performed mostly a secretarial role - terrorized the rest of the staff. She responded in such a belligerent way to most every request that we did everything possible to avoid her. I had to laugh at myself one day when I realized that I was doing part of her job; it was just easier to do it myself than prepare myself for an epic emotional battle over, say, photocopying.
No one likes a verbal lashing. But I find that the worst rudeness at work takes place over email. Workers at all levels take license to write things to their co-workers that they would hesitate to say face-to-face. The aggressiveness of a message typically amplifies over digital channels.No one should tolerate rudeness and disrespect at work. If tolerated, the enterprise will face a high cost in lower morale and productivity among the staff.
Christine Porath, a professor of management at the Marshall School of Business (USC), does research on the impact of rude behavior in the workplace. Over 90% of the nearly 3000 employees that Porath has surveyed claim experiencing incivility on the job. Of these, 50% report that they lost work time worrying about the incident, 50% contemplated changing jobs to avoid a reoccurence, and 25% cut back their efforts on the job.
Managers above all should take responsibility for nurturing a respectful culture. It starts with their own behavior, personally acknowledging employees who cross their path during the course of a day. They also set the tone in how they conduct work meetings and manage team projects. In concert with showing leadership, managers need to intervene whenever they see rudeness expressed on the job. A simple "We don't treat each other like that here" at times can get the message across. At other times a rude worker needs to be called in for an attitude adjustment.
Ongoing incivility cannot be tolerated
But it's not the managers task alone to be the nice police. The minders of the corporate culture can go over best practices with their colleagues that reduce work rage. Sure, it's partly a matter of convenience to write a worker an email rather than walk across the other side of the floor. But if the message involved personal matters, including conflict at work, it is much better to engage work peers in a face-to-face conversation. Email is wonderful for logistics and reporting, but it's lousy for respectful dialogue.If rude behavior is allowed to flourish at an enterprise, talented people who have self-respect will start heading for the door.
Professor Porath found that one in eight workers who were rudely treated by a co-worker left their jobs shortly thereafter. The only workers who stay in a rude workplace are the rage rovers.
by David Batstone
You have heard of road rage - the behavior of unstable motorists who react to adversity on the roadway with all the aplomb of a toddler. How do you respond when similar rude and aggressive actions get played out at work?As job stress mounts, rude behavior at the workplace is becoming altogether too common. Sometimes the rage culture is set by a manager who chooses not to treat his or her employees with common respect.
I was a guest at a sales meeting not long ago where the manager berated his sales staff for missing their targets. "If your marriage is not in trouble, it's probably because you are not spending enough time on the road doing your job!" he yelled at top volume. While my jaw dropped to the ground at such naked disrespect, the members of the sales team shifted in their chairs uncomfortably.Rudeness can raise its ugly head at every level of an organization.
I worked in an office once where the administrative assistant to a manager - who performed mostly a secretarial role - terrorized the rest of the staff. She responded in such a belligerent way to most every request that we did everything possible to avoid her. I had to laugh at myself one day when I realized that I was doing part of her job; it was just easier to do it myself than prepare myself for an epic emotional battle over, say, photocopying.
No one likes a verbal lashing. But I find that the worst rudeness at work takes place over email. Workers at all levels take license to write things to their co-workers that they would hesitate to say face-to-face. The aggressiveness of a message typically amplifies over digital channels.No one should tolerate rudeness and disrespect at work. If tolerated, the enterprise will face a high cost in lower morale and productivity among the staff.
Christine Porath, a professor of management at the Marshall School of Business (USC), does research on the impact of rude behavior in the workplace. Over 90% of the nearly 3000 employees that Porath has surveyed claim experiencing incivility on the job. Of these, 50% report that they lost work time worrying about the incident, 50% contemplated changing jobs to avoid a reoccurence, and 25% cut back their efforts on the job.
Managers above all should take responsibility for nurturing a respectful culture. It starts with their own behavior, personally acknowledging employees who cross their path during the course of a day. They also set the tone in how they conduct work meetings and manage team projects. In concert with showing leadership, managers need to intervene whenever they see rudeness expressed on the job. A simple "We don't treat each other like that here" at times can get the message across. At other times a rude worker needs to be called in for an attitude adjustment.
Ongoing incivility cannot be tolerated
But it's not the managers task alone to be the nice police. The minders of the corporate culture can go over best practices with their colleagues that reduce work rage. Sure, it's partly a matter of convenience to write a worker an email rather than walk across the other side of the floor. But if the message involved personal matters, including conflict at work, it is much better to engage work peers in a face-to-face conversation. Email is wonderful for logistics and reporting, but it's lousy for respectful dialogue.If rude behavior is allowed to flourish at an enterprise, talented people who have self-respect will start heading for the door.
Professor Porath found that one in eight workers who were rudely treated by a co-worker left their jobs shortly thereafter. The only workers who stay in a rude workplace are the rage rovers.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
EXIT STRATEGIES FOR CORPORATE DROPOUTS
Ready to leave the company fold but don't want the door to hit you on the way out? Here's a guide to making a graceful exit.
From: Fast Company Issue 93 April 2005 Page 91 By: Michael A. Prospero
"I'm 40 years old, and I've worked in corporate America since I was 21," says Lisa Ellerton, who had climbed her way up through the insurance business until she was the worldwide operations leader for Royal & SunAlliance. One day, Ellerton asked her sister and her sister's friends why they didn't ever take time for themselves to go to the gym. The Orange County, California, denizens were all looking for something that was convenient but that didn't make them feel guilty for leaving their kids for the StairMaster.
In doing so, she joined the ranks of those who ditched the corporate life in favor of their own startup. Dropping out connotes '60s-ish notions of Timothy Leary and Easy Rider, but it's not quite that simple and doesn't come in convenient pill form. Making the transition from glass buildings, 401(k)s, and dental plans to a much more unpredictable but potentially more rewarding life involves planning, finesse, and a little luck. By the time Ellerton's first studio opens this summer, it will have been nearly three years since she envisioned it, most of that time spent working for the Man.
Tune in to ideas around you
Breaking out of the corporate grind starts with an idea, and the good news is that ideas abound in the work environment. Jason Finger and Paul Appelbaum's company started with a growling stomach. The two law-school buddies were regularly toiling away in their respective first-year associates' jobs and debating the merits of chicken lo mein versus pepperoni pizza when comparing the takeout options near their midtown Manhattan offices. Looking at the jumble of menus in their desks, and the hassle of remembering which client to bill, the two stumbled on the idea that would become SeamlessWeb Professional Solutions, an online food-delivery service for law firms, bankers, and so forth.
"We understood who the clients were, we understood who the users were," Finger says. During the cold January when he and Appelbaum were completing their plans, he couldn't help but smile every time an associate complained about venturing outside in the cold and rain for lunch, "because I knew that we could help people out with a real problem."
It was confidence in this idea -- or chutzpah -- that led Finger, just five months into his first job out of law school and $100,000 in debt, to leave a career in law behind. "A lot of entrepreneurs actually get their ideas for their business while working at a company," says Herminia Ibarra, a professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD and author of Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career (Harvard Business School Press, 2003). "They see a need that's not met." Finger has long since paid off his student loans -- and SeamlessWeb's 2004 revenue hit $50 million.
Take an idea out the door with you
Sometimes your corporate overlord hands you an exit strategy that's better than any severance package. Terry Moloney and Doug Dyer developed an idea for their employer that turned into their escape pod. Dyer, the vice president of wireless for Warner Bros. Online, hired Moloney to come up with content for the latest generation of high-speed, high-bandwidth mobile phones. "We thought, 'Why not put together a film concept that lends itself to small chunks?' " says Moloney. While the brass didn't express much interest, Moloney and Dyer didn't want their idea of original video content for mobile devices to die. Warner Bros. "wasn't playing in that space," says Moloney. "We decided, 'Let's just start this company.' " The two took their final bows at Warner in December, "and sort of took the concept with us," he says, starting MoPho last January. Opportunities for cherry-picking abound -- assuming, that is, that you know the difference between an orphaned idea and industrial espionage -- in the tech world, pharmaceuticals, and even consumer products. What would be a mere single for a big company can be a startup's home run.
Work nine to five -- then from five to two
Once you decide to make a move, there's inevitably a pause before you can follow your muse. Corporate dropouts concede that one of the most difficult things is to maintain the same level of enthusiasm for the job you're about to leave as the venture you're about to start. The little things, such as staying a bit later to finish a project or going out for drinks with coworkers, tend to fall by the wayside. Ian and Shep Murray, brothers who left the worlds of public relations and advertising to start a whimsical clothing company called Vineyard Vines, admit that clock-watching became the norm. "You work your job from nine to six, and all you want is for six o'clock to come so you can work on your business," he says. "That's when our day began."
Of course, it's not unnatural for achievers to wonder if they can pull off doing both the day job and the dream indefinitely. "Can we enjoy the security of six-figure-plus law-firm jobs and start a business on the side?" Finger asked himself. Ultimately, though, he realized that "the only way things get done is if you give it 100%. And if we tried to balance working at the law firm and the business, neither one would get a fair shake."
Corporate dropouts forget that the relationships they've built are part of an entire career story that they take with them. It's important they speak with their employer when going through the transition.
Turn on the warning lights
Dropouts also need to manage their exits carefully. "They sort of forget that these relationships they've built, the positions they've held, are part of an entire career story that they take with them," says Lisa MacKenzie, who left what was then Cunningham Communication in 1993 to start her own marketing firm. "So it's incredibly important for them to have a conversation with their employer when they're going through the transition."
Graceful exits aren't just a matter of honor -- or even of keeping doors open. They're good business. MoPho's Dyer keeps in touch with the people he used to work with because, he admits, his company could be using Warner Bros. content in the future. Plus, he adds, "You don't want to mess with the 900-pound gorilla." SeamlessWeb's Finger gave his law firm ample warning before he left, fully aware that his fledgling business idea depended on 900-pound gorillas like his employer as clients. Finger first presented his business plan to a senior partner as a friend's idea. Three months later, he again broached the subject, adding that he was thinking of leaving the firm. The soft sell worked, and he was able to circulate the plan in the firm, which ultimately became a beta client. In fact, the partner's initial enthusiasm was "one of the impetuses for us going through with it," says Finger.
Coworkers are a constituency that must be managed as well. Ellerton was already well into her fitness-club plan when she took a job with Arch Insurance Group in October 2003 to help overhaul its IT infrastructure, a post she accepted with the understanding that she planned to leave in a year's time to pursue her idea. But Ellerton "didn't advertise [her short horizon] within the company," she says. "I didn't offer it upfront, because what I was doing in the company was not incredibly popular." She knew that if she were viewed as a short-termer, her work might have been met with more resistance. "I still treat it today as if I'll be here for a career," she says.
Who are you?
Dropping out brings with it trepidation -- and not just with finances. "There's very much the identity that goes along with being part of a corporation, and that's a little scary to give up and wear workout clothes all day," says Ellerton. That's why it helps to have a partner. While Ellerton will be doing her yoga alone, SeamlessWeb's Finger and Appelbaum, MoPho's Dyer and Moloney, and the Murray brothers of Vineyard Vines all made tandem leaps. In the weeks leading up to their departure, Shep Murray would call Ian several times a day pretending he'd quit. When Shep actually gave notice, Ian understandably didn't believe him. When Shep finally did, though, Ian went straight to his boss and did the same. For the brothers, scraping by, even failing at their own thing, was no worse than toiling in quiet desperation. Says Ian: "There's always going to be a job out there if you're coherent and can put a sentence together."
From: Fast Company Issue 93 April 2005 Page 91 By: Michael A. Prospero
"I'm 40 years old, and I've worked in corporate America since I was 21," says Lisa Ellerton, who had climbed her way up through the insurance business until she was the worldwide operations leader for Royal & SunAlliance. One day, Ellerton asked her sister and her sister's friends why they didn't ever take time for themselves to go to the gym. The Orange County, California, denizens were all looking for something that was convenient but that didn't make them feel guilty for leaving their kids for the StairMaster.
In doing so, she joined the ranks of those who ditched the corporate life in favor of their own startup. Dropping out connotes '60s-ish notions of Timothy Leary and Easy Rider, but it's not quite that simple and doesn't come in convenient pill form. Making the transition from glass buildings, 401(k)s, and dental plans to a much more unpredictable but potentially more rewarding life involves planning, finesse, and a little luck. By the time Ellerton's first studio opens this summer, it will have been nearly three years since she envisioned it, most of that time spent working for the Man.
Tune in to ideas around you
Breaking out of the corporate grind starts with an idea, and the good news is that ideas abound in the work environment. Jason Finger and Paul Appelbaum's company started with a growling stomach. The two law-school buddies were regularly toiling away in their respective first-year associates' jobs and debating the merits of chicken lo mein versus pepperoni pizza when comparing the takeout options near their midtown Manhattan offices. Looking at the jumble of menus in their desks, and the hassle of remembering which client to bill, the two stumbled on the idea that would become SeamlessWeb Professional Solutions, an online food-delivery service for law firms, bankers, and so forth.
"We understood who the clients were, we understood who the users were," Finger says. During the cold January when he and Appelbaum were completing their plans, he couldn't help but smile every time an associate complained about venturing outside in the cold and rain for lunch, "because I knew that we could help people out with a real problem."
It was confidence in this idea -- or chutzpah -- that led Finger, just five months into his first job out of law school and $100,000 in debt, to leave a career in law behind. "A lot of entrepreneurs actually get their ideas for their business while working at a company," says Herminia Ibarra, a professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD and author of Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career (Harvard Business School Press, 2003). "They see a need that's not met." Finger has long since paid off his student loans -- and SeamlessWeb's 2004 revenue hit $50 million.
Take an idea out the door with you
Sometimes your corporate overlord hands you an exit strategy that's better than any severance package. Terry Moloney and Doug Dyer developed an idea for their employer that turned into their escape pod. Dyer, the vice president of wireless for Warner Bros. Online, hired Moloney to come up with content for the latest generation of high-speed, high-bandwidth mobile phones. "We thought, 'Why not put together a film concept that lends itself to small chunks?' " says Moloney. While the brass didn't express much interest, Moloney and Dyer didn't want their idea of original video content for mobile devices to die. Warner Bros. "wasn't playing in that space," says Moloney. "We decided, 'Let's just start this company.' " The two took their final bows at Warner in December, "and sort of took the concept with us," he says, starting MoPho last January. Opportunities for cherry-picking abound -- assuming, that is, that you know the difference between an orphaned idea and industrial espionage -- in the tech world, pharmaceuticals, and even consumer products. What would be a mere single for a big company can be a startup's home run.
Work nine to five -- then from five to two
Once you decide to make a move, there's inevitably a pause before you can follow your muse. Corporate dropouts concede that one of the most difficult things is to maintain the same level of enthusiasm for the job you're about to leave as the venture you're about to start. The little things, such as staying a bit later to finish a project or going out for drinks with coworkers, tend to fall by the wayside. Ian and Shep Murray, brothers who left the worlds of public relations and advertising to start a whimsical clothing company called Vineyard Vines, admit that clock-watching became the norm. "You work your job from nine to six, and all you want is for six o'clock to come so you can work on your business," he says. "That's when our day began."
Of course, it's not unnatural for achievers to wonder if they can pull off doing both the day job and the dream indefinitely. "Can we enjoy the security of six-figure-plus law-firm jobs and start a business on the side?" Finger asked himself. Ultimately, though, he realized that "the only way things get done is if you give it 100%. And if we tried to balance working at the law firm and the business, neither one would get a fair shake."
Corporate dropouts forget that the relationships they've built are part of an entire career story that they take with them. It's important they speak with their employer when going through the transition.
Turn on the warning lights
Dropouts also need to manage their exits carefully. "They sort of forget that these relationships they've built, the positions they've held, are part of an entire career story that they take with them," says Lisa MacKenzie, who left what was then Cunningham Communication in 1993 to start her own marketing firm. "So it's incredibly important for them to have a conversation with their employer when they're going through the transition."
Graceful exits aren't just a matter of honor -- or even of keeping doors open. They're good business. MoPho's Dyer keeps in touch with the people he used to work with because, he admits, his company could be using Warner Bros. content in the future. Plus, he adds, "You don't want to mess with the 900-pound gorilla." SeamlessWeb's Finger gave his law firm ample warning before he left, fully aware that his fledgling business idea depended on 900-pound gorillas like his employer as clients. Finger first presented his business plan to a senior partner as a friend's idea. Three months later, he again broached the subject, adding that he was thinking of leaving the firm. The soft sell worked, and he was able to circulate the plan in the firm, which ultimately became a beta client. In fact, the partner's initial enthusiasm was "one of the impetuses for us going through with it," says Finger.
Coworkers are a constituency that must be managed as well. Ellerton was already well into her fitness-club plan when she took a job with Arch Insurance Group in October 2003 to help overhaul its IT infrastructure, a post she accepted with the understanding that she planned to leave in a year's time to pursue her idea. But Ellerton "didn't advertise [her short horizon] within the company," she says. "I didn't offer it upfront, because what I was doing in the company was not incredibly popular." She knew that if she were viewed as a short-termer, her work might have been met with more resistance. "I still treat it today as if I'll be here for a career," she says.
Who are you?
Dropping out brings with it trepidation -- and not just with finances. "There's very much the identity that goes along with being part of a corporation, and that's a little scary to give up and wear workout clothes all day," says Ellerton. That's why it helps to have a partner. While Ellerton will be doing her yoga alone, SeamlessWeb's Finger and Appelbaum, MoPho's Dyer and Moloney, and the Murray brothers of Vineyard Vines all made tandem leaps. In the weeks leading up to their departure, Shep Murray would call Ian several times a day pretending he'd quit. When Shep actually gave notice, Ian understandably didn't believe him. When Shep finally did, though, Ian went straight to his boss and did the same. For the brothers, scraping by, even failing at their own thing, was no worse than toiling in quiet desperation. Says Ian: "There's always going to be a job out there if you're coherent and can put a sentence together."
Monday, February 27, 2006
SIX PRINCIPLES FOR 21st CENTURY LEADERS
Six Principles for 21st Century Leaders
By Prasad Kaipa
In my 15+ years of work with organizations and senior executives, I have found six principles, derived from spiritual literature, to be quite helpful in coaching executives to become successful in these times of great change. These six principles are interdependent and describe a cycle that when followed can help you develop new competencies and achieve higher levels of success.
The essence of these principles is self-knowledge. The more you practice the principles, the better you begin to know yourself.
Clarity of Intention
Intention is critical to achieving success. You may have an idea of the results you want and the direction you're heading when you take on a project, but most often you lack clarity about your goal, let alone knowledge of how to measure success if you achieve it.When the intention is not clear, attention drifts and leads to confusion. In such circumstances, you often end up compromising your own efforts and receive less than what you desire or even deserve. Without a crystal clear intention, you rarely experience a sense of accomplishment even if your more general intentions are fulfilled.To increase your clarity of intention, ask yourself the following questions:
What is it that I really want?
What evokes passion and joy in my heart?
How passionately do I feel about it?
What am I willing to give up (sacrifice) to achieve the desired goal?
If I have more than one intention, which one should I first attempt? These questions bring to the surface some of your assumptions and passion, helping you to prioritize your intentions (and hence your actions). Finally, exploring your intention creates a pathway to discovering your unique purpose in life. When you are aligned with what you want at head, heart and gut level, chances are your actions are also aligned, and you increase the likelihood of achieving the results you're seeking.
Constant practice helps you to stay focused on what you want until you get it.
Awareness
Awareness is of two kinds: self-awareness and the awareness of the world around you. When you develop self-awareness – of both your competencies and weaknesses, you gain a better understanding of who you are and what you want, and equally important a clear picture of who you're not and what you don't want. Developing a deeper awareness of where others are coming from and remembering that you're also a player in creating the situation, you may be able to relax and become interested in others and their point of view.Awareness is dynamic. It is about continually being vigilant against complacency. You need to continually and dynamically reassess where you are with respect to where you were and where you want to go.There are four mental processes that act as enemies to awareness.
Personal Expectations and Standards
Everyone has their own set of standards and internal expectations. You pick them up from people whom you respect and like the most. Whatever their standards are, you attempt to live up to them even though your competencies and passion might not allow you to reach those expectations and meet those standards you unconsciously picked up. Only by becoming aware of those standards can you do something about them.
False / Incorrect Knowledge
You sometimes assume things about yourself and others that are plainly not true. Because you didn't face any challenges when you first assumed them, you sometimes take it for granted that they must be true. And if you get some proof that you might be right in one extreme condition, you may think that your assumptions are universally true. This is the source of your misidentified and incorrect knowledge. Once you have such knowledge, you rarely verify that in the real world and it becomes a block to awareness.
Wild Imagination (and attachment to it)
There is time for dreaming and fantasizing, and there is time for focusing and getting things done. Unfortunately, imagination can at times be so seductive that you're unwilling to accept that it is fantasy–not reality–and then it becomes a block to awareness.
Memory of Past Successes and Failures
Faulty memory can also trap you into believing that your memory is right and the new data is wrong. And often past successes are bigger blocks to awareness than past failures. Of course, failure is a stepping stone to success if you can learn from it, but it is not commonly done.
Developing and practicing awareness requires becoming mindful of your own thoughts, feelings and body sensations. They give you early warning signals if you pay attention. You can become aware of your own thought processes by using reflective or contemplative practices, writing a journal regularly and continual examination of your intentions. Most awareness is tacit, but you can learn to pay better attention to your body signals, pains and pleasures, and energy shifts. They tell you to slow down your actions and reflect on the meaning of those body signals. The more aware you are of yourself, the sharper your senses become in observing your surroundings.
Empathy
While clarity of intention and awareness set you onto the path to success, empathy and compassion helps you to gain the support of others.Empathy is the foundation for emotional intelligence. By being kind and empathetic, you allow yourself to build lasting relationships with your colleagues, employees and customers. When the situation has conflicts and divisiveness, the attitudes of warmth and affection can diffuse the tension. At that point, it is possible to become open to the idea of further exploration for an amicable solution.The practice of empathy requires demonstrating openness, mutual respect and trust in your relationships. Deep listening–not just to the words but the meaning behind the words–is the foundation for an empathetic relationship. Sharing from the heart and feeling the pain of others nurtures relationships. Empathy begets more empathy and is the source of a creative partnership.
Appreciation
While empathy opens the door, appreciation welcomes you in. By appreciating and acknowledging others, you increase their state of happiness. They, in turn, reciprocate and contribute happiness back to you and others they touch. Appreciation is also about self-acceptance, as you can only appreciate others to the extent that you can appreciate yourself.
Self-acceptance accelerates the process of self-development. Unfortunately, most people rarely appreciate who they are and what they receive. Appreciation is not flattery, but rather a genuine acknowledgment of a person's contribution. Honest appreciation lets others know that you honor and respect who they are. It also boosts morale and amplifies what gave rise to that appreciation in the first place. Make it a ritual every day to find something positive that you have done or some contribution that you have made to others. Even if the work you have done has not yet produced the desired result, appreciate the steps you have taken so far. Similarly, appreciate what others do in their struggle to achieve the results they want. Be authentic when you give such feedback. Then you and the other person can discuss how to improve the efforts and get the desired results later on.
Stretching Beyond Your Own Limits
Your free will to take actions that stretch you beyond your comfort zone gives you the ability to change the course you're on. To do this, your intentions must be clear, active and flexible. In this stretch mode, you become immensely creative and passionate. Without such passion, you wouldn't even attempt to stretch in the first place.
Yes, stretching beyond your own perceived limits requires risk-taking, and people are naturally uncomfortable about taking risks and facing the possibility of failing. So-called 'failures' often create mental blocks and boundaries, most of which are self-imposed. By learning to stretch beyond your comfort zone, you begin to break through these mental barriers and discover your untapped potential. When you know that you're appreciated and not judged, you have an easier time to stretch beyond your limits.
To practice the principle of stretching the limits, find opportunities to learn and be vulnerable. Vulnerability does not mean being weak. It is about being in the state of not knowing and hence being open to learning. Your ability to learn is directly proportional to your ability to be vulnerable.The key is to be willing to fail and then ask questions instead of making assumptions. Practice telling the truth when you're not sure of what the implications may be.
Doing this serves to create an environment of nurturing and caring in which other people can also let their guard down and discover themselves to be bigger than they ever imagined.
Letting Go of What Doesn't Work
While the first five principles can get you to the edge of success, success eludes those who do not know when to let go and move on. By learning to let go of your old mindsets, you begin to discover new possibilities and new approaches. Letting go doesn't mean giving up; it means not worrying about the result while continuing to perform the action. That posture gives you the freedom to act in a relaxed yet focused manner and frees you to be more natural in order to bring out the best in yourself.
Letting go is also about flexibility and good judgment. When you know what to let go of and when to do so, you can take responsibility for what you can hold onto and for how long you must do so.The Cycle of the Six PrinciplesIntention provides the direction and focus for your actions. Awareness gives you the capacity and intelligence to go after your goal.
Empathy helps you to build partnerships with others, and appreciation is the key to motivation and productivity. Stretching beyond your perceived limits helps you to grow and meet challenges, and letting go of your attachments assures not only success but also accomplishment. And when you succeed in what you have undertaken, it is time to go back and clarify your intentions all over again as you set new goals. By practicing these six principles with self-awareness you can achieve not only success, but also self-discovery.
Prasad kaipa is the principal of The Kaipa Group, an executive leadership and business transformation consultancy.
Copyright © 2006 by Corporate Training Magazine Inc.All rights reserved.
"We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears."-François de la Rochefoucauld, French writer, 1613-1680
By Prasad Kaipa
In my 15+ years of work with organizations and senior executives, I have found six principles, derived from spiritual literature, to be quite helpful in coaching executives to become successful in these times of great change. These six principles are interdependent and describe a cycle that when followed can help you develop new competencies and achieve higher levels of success.
The essence of these principles is self-knowledge. The more you practice the principles, the better you begin to know yourself.
Clarity of Intention
Intention is critical to achieving success. You may have an idea of the results you want and the direction you're heading when you take on a project, but most often you lack clarity about your goal, let alone knowledge of how to measure success if you achieve it.When the intention is not clear, attention drifts and leads to confusion. In such circumstances, you often end up compromising your own efforts and receive less than what you desire or even deserve. Without a crystal clear intention, you rarely experience a sense of accomplishment even if your more general intentions are fulfilled.To increase your clarity of intention, ask yourself the following questions:
What is it that I really want?
What evokes passion and joy in my heart?
How passionately do I feel about it?
What am I willing to give up (sacrifice) to achieve the desired goal?
If I have more than one intention, which one should I first attempt? These questions bring to the surface some of your assumptions and passion, helping you to prioritize your intentions (and hence your actions). Finally, exploring your intention creates a pathway to discovering your unique purpose in life. When you are aligned with what you want at head, heart and gut level, chances are your actions are also aligned, and you increase the likelihood of achieving the results you're seeking.
Constant practice helps you to stay focused on what you want until you get it.
Awareness
Awareness is of two kinds: self-awareness and the awareness of the world around you. When you develop self-awareness – of both your competencies and weaknesses, you gain a better understanding of who you are and what you want, and equally important a clear picture of who you're not and what you don't want. Developing a deeper awareness of where others are coming from and remembering that you're also a player in creating the situation, you may be able to relax and become interested in others and their point of view.Awareness is dynamic. It is about continually being vigilant against complacency. You need to continually and dynamically reassess where you are with respect to where you were and where you want to go.There are four mental processes that act as enemies to awareness.
Personal Expectations and Standards
Everyone has their own set of standards and internal expectations. You pick them up from people whom you respect and like the most. Whatever their standards are, you attempt to live up to them even though your competencies and passion might not allow you to reach those expectations and meet those standards you unconsciously picked up. Only by becoming aware of those standards can you do something about them.
False / Incorrect Knowledge
You sometimes assume things about yourself and others that are plainly not true. Because you didn't face any challenges when you first assumed them, you sometimes take it for granted that they must be true. And if you get some proof that you might be right in one extreme condition, you may think that your assumptions are universally true. This is the source of your misidentified and incorrect knowledge. Once you have such knowledge, you rarely verify that in the real world and it becomes a block to awareness.
Wild Imagination (and attachment to it)
There is time for dreaming and fantasizing, and there is time for focusing and getting things done. Unfortunately, imagination can at times be so seductive that you're unwilling to accept that it is fantasy–not reality–and then it becomes a block to awareness.
Memory of Past Successes and Failures
Faulty memory can also trap you into believing that your memory is right and the new data is wrong. And often past successes are bigger blocks to awareness than past failures. Of course, failure is a stepping stone to success if you can learn from it, but it is not commonly done.
Developing and practicing awareness requires becoming mindful of your own thoughts, feelings and body sensations. They give you early warning signals if you pay attention. You can become aware of your own thought processes by using reflective or contemplative practices, writing a journal regularly and continual examination of your intentions. Most awareness is tacit, but you can learn to pay better attention to your body signals, pains and pleasures, and energy shifts. They tell you to slow down your actions and reflect on the meaning of those body signals. The more aware you are of yourself, the sharper your senses become in observing your surroundings.
Empathy
While clarity of intention and awareness set you onto the path to success, empathy and compassion helps you to gain the support of others.Empathy is the foundation for emotional intelligence. By being kind and empathetic, you allow yourself to build lasting relationships with your colleagues, employees and customers. When the situation has conflicts and divisiveness, the attitudes of warmth and affection can diffuse the tension. At that point, it is possible to become open to the idea of further exploration for an amicable solution.The practice of empathy requires demonstrating openness, mutual respect and trust in your relationships. Deep listening–not just to the words but the meaning behind the words–is the foundation for an empathetic relationship. Sharing from the heart and feeling the pain of others nurtures relationships. Empathy begets more empathy and is the source of a creative partnership.
Appreciation
While empathy opens the door, appreciation welcomes you in. By appreciating and acknowledging others, you increase their state of happiness. They, in turn, reciprocate and contribute happiness back to you and others they touch. Appreciation is also about self-acceptance, as you can only appreciate others to the extent that you can appreciate yourself.
Self-acceptance accelerates the process of self-development. Unfortunately, most people rarely appreciate who they are and what they receive. Appreciation is not flattery, but rather a genuine acknowledgment of a person's contribution. Honest appreciation lets others know that you honor and respect who they are. It also boosts morale and amplifies what gave rise to that appreciation in the first place. Make it a ritual every day to find something positive that you have done or some contribution that you have made to others. Even if the work you have done has not yet produced the desired result, appreciate the steps you have taken so far. Similarly, appreciate what others do in their struggle to achieve the results they want. Be authentic when you give such feedback. Then you and the other person can discuss how to improve the efforts and get the desired results later on.
Stretching Beyond Your Own Limits
Your free will to take actions that stretch you beyond your comfort zone gives you the ability to change the course you're on. To do this, your intentions must be clear, active and flexible. In this stretch mode, you become immensely creative and passionate. Without such passion, you wouldn't even attempt to stretch in the first place.
Yes, stretching beyond your own perceived limits requires risk-taking, and people are naturally uncomfortable about taking risks and facing the possibility of failing. So-called 'failures' often create mental blocks and boundaries, most of which are self-imposed. By learning to stretch beyond your comfort zone, you begin to break through these mental barriers and discover your untapped potential. When you know that you're appreciated and not judged, you have an easier time to stretch beyond your limits.
To practice the principle of stretching the limits, find opportunities to learn and be vulnerable. Vulnerability does not mean being weak. It is about being in the state of not knowing and hence being open to learning. Your ability to learn is directly proportional to your ability to be vulnerable.The key is to be willing to fail and then ask questions instead of making assumptions. Practice telling the truth when you're not sure of what the implications may be.
Doing this serves to create an environment of nurturing and caring in which other people can also let their guard down and discover themselves to be bigger than they ever imagined.
Letting Go of What Doesn't Work
While the first five principles can get you to the edge of success, success eludes those who do not know when to let go and move on. By learning to let go of your old mindsets, you begin to discover new possibilities and new approaches. Letting go doesn't mean giving up; it means not worrying about the result while continuing to perform the action. That posture gives you the freedom to act in a relaxed yet focused manner and frees you to be more natural in order to bring out the best in yourself.
Letting go is also about flexibility and good judgment. When you know what to let go of and when to do so, you can take responsibility for what you can hold onto and for how long you must do so.The Cycle of the Six PrinciplesIntention provides the direction and focus for your actions. Awareness gives you the capacity and intelligence to go after your goal.
Empathy helps you to build partnerships with others, and appreciation is the key to motivation and productivity. Stretching beyond your perceived limits helps you to grow and meet challenges, and letting go of your attachments assures not only success but also accomplishment. And when you succeed in what you have undertaken, it is time to go back and clarify your intentions all over again as you set new goals. By practicing these six principles with self-awareness you can achieve not only success, but also self-discovery.
Prasad kaipa is the principal of The Kaipa Group, an executive leadership and business transformation consultancy.
Copyright © 2006 by Corporate Training Magazine Inc.All rights reserved.
"We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears."-François de la Rochefoucauld, French writer, 1613-1680
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
NEW BOOK , RIGHT TIMING: PING
Ping: A Frog in Search of a New Pond by Stuart Avery Gold
"While Ping's dreams got bigger, the pond got smaller."
In the tradition of Who Moved My Cheese? Here is a parable about change, overcoming obstacles, and making a leap of faith.
This simple, inspirational tale follows the journey of Ping, a frog in search of a new pond, preferably one good for long-distance jumping. Along the way he meets Owl, an insightful teacher who shares his wisdom, encouraging Ping to take an inner journey before pursuing his goal.
Ping represents everybody who has encountered a setback, needs to take a risk, or is struggling with the challenges of change -- that is to say, he is all of us. Owl is the mentor who helps him find meaning and leap to new heights. The adventure they embark on together is both engaging and revealing.
"While Ping's dreams got bigger, the pond got smaller."
In the tradition of Who Moved My Cheese? Here is a parable about change, overcoming obstacles, and making a leap of faith.
This simple, inspirational tale follows the journey of Ping, a frog in search of a new pond, preferably one good for long-distance jumping. Along the way he meets Owl, an insightful teacher who shares his wisdom, encouraging Ping to take an inner journey before pursuing his goal.
Ping represents everybody who has encountered a setback, needs to take a risk, or is struggling with the challenges of change -- that is to say, he is all of us. Owl is the mentor who helps him find meaning and leap to new heights. The adventure they embark on together is both engaging and revealing.
PING
Excerpt from Ping: A Frog in Search of a New Pond
Prologue
What matters is that you believe the following tale is true.
Personally, back at the beginning I had my doubts. And who wouldn't have some doubts when they first find out that the adventures described in these pages are, in point of fact, the transformative journey belonging to one of the pond's most enduring creatures . . . a frog.
Now for those of you who have just rolled your eyes, please don't be put off -- there is so much to learn. Despite the many bad things going on here on planet Earth, there are many good things happening too. And one of them is that there are still stories that can thrill the spirit and soar the soul.
This is one of those stories.
Long before you and long before me, long before there was the quicksilver of WiFi, broadband, streaming video, DVD, and VCR, long before there was television, movies, radio, and even books, there were stories that entertained, educated, motivated, and inspired. And while some stories passed down through the centuries were meant to soothe and calm and perhaps put the listener to sleep, this is a traveler's tale, meant to awaken the way within, showing the true purpose of the life journey is far more than a mere traveling to survive. Here is your invitation to leap at life's opportunities as shown through the heroic actions and revealing insights of one Ping the frog.
To verify this story I interviewed dozens of people, Asians and Westerners, Tibetan lamas and Zen masters, Burmese teachers and Taoist practitioners, cramming notebooks full before setting ink to paper. Some of the interviews took me to Japan, and some to China, and some to certain sages here in the United States. But alas, only a few knew Ping's remarkable tale, and fewer still could recount it from beginning to end. After all, this took place some time ago.
But the story still haunted me and I was still hopeful, so I spent many more months conducting research until, finally, blessedly, I was able to nail down an accurate record of the facts, which is how I can come to you vouching for this story's authenticity. And whether any of my efforts were worth it, is, of course, up to you to decide. After all, if history has taught us anything, it's that some stories are for telling. And some stories are for believing.
And the story of Ping the frog?
Well, that is a story forever . . .
Copyright © 2006 Stuart Avery Gold
Prologue
What matters is that you believe the following tale is true.
Personally, back at the beginning I had my doubts. And who wouldn't have some doubts when they first find out that the adventures described in these pages are, in point of fact, the transformative journey belonging to one of the pond's most enduring creatures . . . a frog.
Now for those of you who have just rolled your eyes, please don't be put off -- there is so much to learn. Despite the many bad things going on here on planet Earth, there are many good things happening too. And one of them is that there are still stories that can thrill the spirit and soar the soul.
This is one of those stories.
Long before you and long before me, long before there was the quicksilver of WiFi, broadband, streaming video, DVD, and VCR, long before there was television, movies, radio, and even books, there were stories that entertained, educated, motivated, and inspired. And while some stories passed down through the centuries were meant to soothe and calm and perhaps put the listener to sleep, this is a traveler's tale, meant to awaken the way within, showing the true purpose of the life journey is far more than a mere traveling to survive. Here is your invitation to leap at life's opportunities as shown through the heroic actions and revealing insights of one Ping the frog.
To verify this story I interviewed dozens of people, Asians and Westerners, Tibetan lamas and Zen masters, Burmese teachers and Taoist practitioners, cramming notebooks full before setting ink to paper. Some of the interviews took me to Japan, and some to China, and some to certain sages here in the United States. But alas, only a few knew Ping's remarkable tale, and fewer still could recount it from beginning to end. After all, this took place some time ago.
But the story still haunted me and I was still hopeful, so I spent many more months conducting research until, finally, blessedly, I was able to nail down an accurate record of the facts, which is how I can come to you vouching for this story's authenticity. And whether any of my efforts were worth it, is, of course, up to you to decide. After all, if history has taught us anything, it's that some stories are for telling. And some stories are for believing.
And the story of Ping the frog?
Well, that is a story forever . . .
Copyright © 2006 Stuart Avery Gold
INTEGRITY TOP OF MIND IN 2005
For 1/10/06
From Iconoculture's Research Desk
What was top of mind for Americans in 2005? The word we were noodling on most? Tsunami? Nope; that was number 6. Filibuster? Number 4. Fact is, among the 7 million people who hit Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, the most sought-after word veered much closer to the heart of our national conscience. According to M-W.com, we were most curious about "Integrity."
It's not the first time the daily news has sent Americans scrambling for definitions - in 2004, the most popular was "blog." But with integrity, we can't help wondering, were Americans really clueless about the word's meaning, or did they just need a refresher? Or perhaps they thought there were new shades of integrity for politicians, sports heroes and even the media? Contends Merriam Webster president John Morse, "I think the American people have isolated a very important issue for our society to be dealing with" (AP 12.10.05.)
We've seen the quest for integrity driving people's behaviors, too. In fact, it shows up in five of Iconoculture's Macrotrends. We've reported on ethics-seeking business leaders, professional sports teams, and even the CIA struggling to amp their organizational integrity, and move the needle on public perception. With this stir of I-word interest, we're not expecting mass recitations of a dictionary-perfect definition. But when it comes to evaluating people, companies, products, or whatever, we're betting most consumers know integrity when they see it.
From Iconoculture's Research Desk
What was top of mind for Americans in 2005? The word we were noodling on most? Tsunami? Nope; that was number 6. Filibuster? Number 4. Fact is, among the 7 million people who hit Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, the most sought-after word veered much closer to the heart of our national conscience. According to M-W.com, we were most curious about "Integrity."
It's not the first time the daily news has sent Americans scrambling for definitions - in 2004, the most popular was "blog." But with integrity, we can't help wondering, were Americans really clueless about the word's meaning, or did they just need a refresher? Or perhaps they thought there were new shades of integrity for politicians, sports heroes and even the media? Contends Merriam Webster president John Morse, "I think the American people have isolated a very important issue for our society to be dealing with" (AP 12.10.05.)
We've seen the quest for integrity driving people's behaviors, too. In fact, it shows up in five of Iconoculture's Macrotrends. We've reported on ethics-seeking business leaders, professional sports teams, and even the CIA struggling to amp their organizational integrity, and move the needle on public perception. With this stir of I-word interest, we're not expecting mass recitations of a dictionary-perfect definition. But when it comes to evaluating people, companies, products, or whatever, we're betting most consumers know integrity when they see it.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
TOP 10 STORIES OF 2006
The Top 10 Stories of 2006
By David Bathstone
You don't expect easy answers from the WAG. So I chose not to review the top stories of 2005. Any hack can do that. It's much more fun to feature what I project will be front page news in 2006. Ok now, look deep into the crystal ball...
1) More Boomers will stay on the job Fully 43% of the workforce is eligible to retire in the next ten years according to Business Week. But I anticipate that many boomers will want to stay engaged at work. In equal fashion, companies will beg boomers to delay their retirement as experienced managers and skilled workers become more scarce. Imagine...gray will be hip again.
2) Shareholders with a conscience will make waves General Motors could not ignore Kurt Kerkorian in 2005 when he took nearly 10% stake in GM and took target at its dysfunctions. With less toned muscles, expect a rising swell of social investors to use shareholder leverage to lobby management to make changes. Example: Green Century Capital Management, formed to put equity behind environmental ideals, owns shares of ConocoPhilips and ExxonMobil with the intention to keep management at the respective oil companies accountable.
3) The reason Y Companies will be eager to discover what drives 20-somethings today. It's not just how much generation Y spend, but how much they influence what other people spend - one in three consumer dollars according to one UK study. If I may cut to the chase, Generation Y cares about experiences, participation, and living for the Now. Delayed gratification does not resonate for a generation with an uncertain future.
4) White collar workers will tread water...and grow restive In 2005 corporate profits grew nearly 15 percent from the previous year. That is twice the pace of growth in compensation for employees. And what growth there has been in compensation has mostly concentrated at the top of the management food chain. Put simply, the salaries of most white collar workers are treading water, growing roughly at the same rate as inflation. While jobs were being cut, white collar workers kept quiet. As the economy grows, expect more boldness.
5) Corporate investment gets its groove back One financial theme dominated business over the past four years: cost-cutting. That trend will change in 2006. Capital spending will increase dramatically, especially in the areas of research-and-development and technology capacity. A survey of CFOs conducted by Barron's business review shows that 66% of CFOs plan to increase capital spending in 2006 by and average of 9% above 2005. Nearly half of the CFOs plan to increase their R&D investments. Caveat: Don't expect these investments to lead to a big jump in new jobs.
6) Healthcare benefits will stay sick More companies will demand that employees take control of their health care spending in much the same way employees took over management of their retirement funds. Healthy young people are ideally suited for these plans; of course, they are not the ones who usually need health care. I anticipate more corporate executives to join a growing movement of health care reform activists. Unfortunately lobbyists have bought the farm already, and the sheep won't say a bleating thing. Sadly, I expect nothing to change in 2006...only rising frustration.
7) Sweating out sweatshops Last April, Nike, Gap and Patagonia joined with five other clothing retailers and six grassroots anti-sweatshop groups to form the Joint Initiative on Corporate Accountability & Workers' Rights. The project establishes a single set of labor standards for apparel factories around the globe. Although a living minimal wage for each locale still may be far off, history is moving toward more universal guidelines. That trend will gain more momentum in 2006.
8) Ma Bell may have to live in a shoeTraditional telecom companies are in deep trouble. I am turning to the cable company for my high-speed internet access. I make most of my U.S. calls on cell phone, and I use Skype for my international calls. I may even get a Skype phone this year and then the cost of my calls will approach zero. I am THIS close to dropping phone service into my home. I don't see a glimmer of hope for the telcos.
9) Excessive executive pay...enough already Shareholder activists will target excess executive pay big time in 2006. Nearly 90 percent of institutional investors believe that U.S. executives are vastly overpaid, according to the survey results of a recent study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide. The final straw may be the latest exposé that many U.S. companies are secretly reimbursing executives for taxes they incur on salary, perks, and stock awards. Governing boards are starting to understand that executive greed damages employee morale and shareholder return. Expect a spate of boardroom conflicts.
Redefining retirementWritten by Carl Dierschow on 2006-01-04 17:56:39
Thanks for the great column, David, but I'd be even more courageous with your first prediction. I think we're on the verge of completely redefining the word "retirement". I see many older workers who have left full time employment, and now have shifted their focus to different kinds of contributions to society. If they need to work a bit to make some cash, fine, but that's no longer their focus. These people are incredibly valuable, but they're not "retired" in the traditional sense. They've learned that there's huge value (to themselves, and to others they care for) can come from following their passions. Which may well mean moving out of the traditional "workforce".
Everything ChinaWritten by Sarah Bell Haberman on 2006-01-04 11:51:47
In response to your top stories of 2006, I thought you would be interested in letting your readers know about this informative business radio series on China: American Public Media's "Marketplace" announced an ambitious series of live broadcasts from China Jan. 9-20, 2006, covering China through the stories of everyday Chinese citizens who each in their own way are influencing the global economy. Host Kai Ryssdal will present all three Marketplace shows with teams broadcasting from Shanghai, Chongqing (the world's largest city with 31 million people), and other locations throughout the country. Please contact me if you're interested in covering the broadcast, posting the information on your Web site and/or interviewing Ryssdal when he returns from China in late January. The following news release provides more information, including a summary of program topics. Sarah Bell Haberman (612-372-6441)
Employee OwnershipWritten by Wade Hudson on 2006-01-04 11:47:46
In the current Mother Jones Gar Alperovitz writes, "More people are now involved in some 11,500 companies wholly or substantially owned by employees than are members of unions in the private sector." I predict that this trend will continue, hopefully including firms that are controlled by employees on the basis of one person, one vote.
By David Bathstone
You don't expect easy answers from the WAG. So I chose not to review the top stories of 2005. Any hack can do that. It's much more fun to feature what I project will be front page news in 2006. Ok now, look deep into the crystal ball...
1) More Boomers will stay on the job Fully 43% of the workforce is eligible to retire in the next ten years according to Business Week. But I anticipate that many boomers will want to stay engaged at work. In equal fashion, companies will beg boomers to delay their retirement as experienced managers and skilled workers become more scarce. Imagine...gray will be hip again.
2) Shareholders with a conscience will make waves General Motors could not ignore Kurt Kerkorian in 2005 when he took nearly 10% stake in GM and took target at its dysfunctions. With less toned muscles, expect a rising swell of social investors to use shareholder leverage to lobby management to make changes. Example: Green Century Capital Management, formed to put equity behind environmental ideals, owns shares of ConocoPhilips and ExxonMobil with the intention to keep management at the respective oil companies accountable.
3) The reason Y Companies will be eager to discover what drives 20-somethings today. It's not just how much generation Y spend, but how much they influence what other people spend - one in three consumer dollars according to one UK study. If I may cut to the chase, Generation Y cares about experiences, participation, and living for the Now. Delayed gratification does not resonate for a generation with an uncertain future.
4) White collar workers will tread water...and grow restive In 2005 corporate profits grew nearly 15 percent from the previous year. That is twice the pace of growth in compensation for employees. And what growth there has been in compensation has mostly concentrated at the top of the management food chain. Put simply, the salaries of most white collar workers are treading water, growing roughly at the same rate as inflation. While jobs were being cut, white collar workers kept quiet. As the economy grows, expect more boldness.
5) Corporate investment gets its groove back One financial theme dominated business over the past four years: cost-cutting. That trend will change in 2006. Capital spending will increase dramatically, especially in the areas of research-and-development and technology capacity. A survey of CFOs conducted by Barron's business review shows that 66% of CFOs plan to increase capital spending in 2006 by and average of 9% above 2005. Nearly half of the CFOs plan to increase their R&D investments. Caveat: Don't expect these investments to lead to a big jump in new jobs.
6) Healthcare benefits will stay sick More companies will demand that employees take control of their health care spending in much the same way employees took over management of their retirement funds. Healthy young people are ideally suited for these plans; of course, they are not the ones who usually need health care. I anticipate more corporate executives to join a growing movement of health care reform activists. Unfortunately lobbyists have bought the farm already, and the sheep won't say a bleating thing. Sadly, I expect nothing to change in 2006...only rising frustration.
7) Sweating out sweatshops Last April, Nike, Gap and Patagonia joined with five other clothing retailers and six grassroots anti-sweatshop groups to form the Joint Initiative on Corporate Accountability & Workers' Rights. The project establishes a single set of labor standards for apparel factories around the globe. Although a living minimal wage for each locale still may be far off, history is moving toward more universal guidelines. That trend will gain more momentum in 2006.
8) Ma Bell may have to live in a shoeTraditional telecom companies are in deep trouble. I am turning to the cable company for my high-speed internet access. I make most of my U.S. calls on cell phone, and I use Skype for my international calls. I may even get a Skype phone this year and then the cost of my calls will approach zero. I am THIS close to dropping phone service into my home. I don't see a glimmer of hope for the telcos.
9) Excessive executive pay...enough already Shareholder activists will target excess executive pay big time in 2006. Nearly 90 percent of institutional investors believe that U.S. executives are vastly overpaid, according to the survey results of a recent study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide. The final straw may be the latest exposé that many U.S. companies are secretly reimbursing executives for taxes they incur on salary, perks, and stock awards. Governing boards are starting to understand that executive greed damages employee morale and shareholder return. Expect a spate of boardroom conflicts.
Redefining retirementWritten by Carl Dierschow on 2006-01-04 17:56:39
Thanks for the great column, David, but I'd be even more courageous with your first prediction. I think we're on the verge of completely redefining the word "retirement". I see many older workers who have left full time employment, and now have shifted their focus to different kinds of contributions to society. If they need to work a bit to make some cash, fine, but that's no longer their focus. These people are incredibly valuable, but they're not "retired" in the traditional sense. They've learned that there's huge value (to themselves, and to others they care for) can come from following their passions. Which may well mean moving out of the traditional "workforce".
Everything ChinaWritten by Sarah Bell Haberman on 2006-01-04 11:51:47
In response to your top stories of 2006, I thought you would be interested in letting your readers know about this informative business radio series on China: American Public Media's "Marketplace" announced an ambitious series of live broadcasts from China Jan. 9-20, 2006, covering China through the stories of everyday Chinese citizens who each in their own way are influencing the global economy. Host Kai Ryssdal will present all three Marketplace shows with teams broadcasting from Shanghai, Chongqing (the world's largest city with 31 million people), and other locations throughout the country. Please contact me if you're interested in covering the broadcast, posting the information on your Web site and/or interviewing Ryssdal when he returns from China in late January. The following news release provides more information, including a summary of program topics. Sarah Bell Haberman (612-372-6441)
Employee OwnershipWritten by Wade Hudson on 2006-01-04 11:47:46
In the current Mother Jones Gar Alperovitz writes, "More people are now involved in some 11,500 companies wholly or substantially owned by employees than are members of unions in the private sector." I predict that this trend will continue, hopefully including firms that are controlled by employees on the basis of one person, one vote.
Friday, February 03, 2006
GOOD COMPANY INC
Good Company, Inc.: Bono's Red Revolution
Consumers with a conscience will soon have a new choice when looking for guilt-free shopping opportunities. American Express, Gap, Giorgio Armani and Converse are joining forces with Bono to sell their wares under the Product Red brand and dedicate some of the proceeds to fighting HIV/Aids in Africa. The initiative is expected to raise tens of millions in the next 18 months for programs targeted on women and children, but is also part of a revolution in marketing that other companies will study closely.
Product Red will be launched in the UK next month with an Amex credit card that contributes 1 per cent of what is spent up to $8,800 and 1.25 per cent on anything more. It will be followed by Gap T-shirts made in Lesotho, wraparound Emporio Armani sunglasses with a Red logo, Converse sports shoes made with African cloth and further products to be announced.
...Product Red [allows retailers] to bathe in the halo effect of Bono's star status and the satisfaction of doing good in Africa. And rather than spend millions on conventional advertising, the companies involved hope that customers will flock to them through the buzz generated by the campaign (including the free media coverage).
Consumers with a conscience will soon have a new choice when looking for guilt-free shopping opportunities. American Express, Gap, Giorgio Armani and Converse are joining forces with Bono to sell their wares under the Product Red brand and dedicate some of the proceeds to fighting HIV/Aids in Africa. The initiative is expected to raise tens of millions in the next 18 months for programs targeted on women and children, but is also part of a revolution in marketing that other companies will study closely.
Product Red will be launched in the UK next month with an Amex credit card that contributes 1 per cent of what is spent up to $8,800 and 1.25 per cent on anything more. It will be followed by Gap T-shirts made in Lesotho, wraparound Emporio Armani sunglasses with a Red logo, Converse sports shoes made with African cloth and further products to be announced.
...Product Red [allows retailers] to bathe in the halo effect of Bono's star status and the satisfaction of doing good in Africa. And rather than spend millions on conventional advertising, the companies involved hope that customers will flock to them through the buzz generated by the campaign (including the free media coverage).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)