I have known Sam for years. But I also haven’t seen him in awhile, so getting together for a cup of coffee sounded great to me. Sam is getting his MBA at a well-known institution in Cambridge (there are really only two choices, so I will let you decide which one you think he goes to). He was walking me through the curriculum when I asked, “What is the objective of most of these classes?” He looked at me like I had four heads and responded, “To solve problems, of course.” That’s when it occurred to me that this program (and many MBA programs) has it all wrong. Life and in this case, business, isn’t about just solving problems. It is about recognizing opportunities. Those opportunities can come in many forms: some are where to present change and innovations. Some opportunities allow us to capitalize on a system that is currently working and integrate it into other areas or create derivatives of that model. That was why part of the Our Revolution team went on the road: to find the models that were working and share them with the world, so others could use them. Not everything is broken. There [...]
By Ja-Naé Duane
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Also posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Our Revolution! Project, Strategy
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Tagged business plan, how to open business, how to own a business, how to start a startup, ideas for small business, our revolution, problem solving, productivity, recognizing opportunity, software startup, start business, startup america, startup companies, startup company, startup programs, startups, the startup
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Jeff was looking for his glasses…again. This was the 3rd time this week. He had to find them and find them quickly because he was going to be late for a meeting. So, the search was on. He went through everything on his desk. He searched through his bags, tore up the living room, his bedroom and to no avail. “My jacket!” They must be in my jacket.” he scurried his way to the black jacket hanging there on the coat rack. He turned every pocket inside out. Jeff even shook the jacket. Nothing. After about forty-five minutes of searching, Jeff sulked down onto the couch furious with himself. As he glanced through the window, he caught something within the reflection. He saw a little glimmer from atop his head. He slowly reached up and realized that what he has been searching for had been with him the entire time. Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Most of the time, the answers we are looking for are right in front of us or within us. Keeping your eyes, ears and minds open to what is around you can help you find the resources you need or the [...]
Have you ever had the morning where two cups of coffee wasn’t even to get you going to tackle the day? The type of morning where your bed is so comfortable that you wonder why you ever leave it to do other things? Yes, it is that type of morning. We all need a little motivation from time to time. One way that always gets me going are quotes that I love. From Vince Lombardi to Lao Tzu, here are 50+ quotes to help kick start your day! 1. “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” -Lao Tzu 2. “Leadership rests not only upon ability, not only upon capacity; having the capacity to lead is not enough. The leader must be willing to use it. His leadership is then based on truth and character. There must be truth in the purpose and will power in the character.” -Vince Lombardi 3. Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. – Norman Schwarzkopf 4. The golden rule for every business man is [...]
April 21, 2011 – 10:07 am
I was working on a rather mundane project last week when suddenly I was struck with a brilliant idea that stopped my work dead in its tracks. I love it when this happens, even if it sidetracks the work at hand for a few hours. But sparking your creativity is easier said than done. It is usually a serendipitous phenomenon, but I believe there are a few techniques you can use to trigger that creative impulse. Here are over 13 ways I get the creative juices flowing. 1. Doodle. You’ve heard of brainstorming and stream-of-consciousness writing to free your mind and unleash your creativity. But even those activities are limited by conforming your boundless imagination to language. Instead, just take out a blank piece of paper and a pen and doodle away. Draw whatever comes to mind. Just scribble anything and see what appears. 2. Challenge Yourself. People under pressure tend to surprise themselves. Try giving yourself a deadline, say, coming up with 10 great ideas by the end of the week. If your mind understands that there is a deadline to meet, it starts to work extra hard to ensure you meet it. 3. Join with Fellow Creatives. Creative [...]
I ran into an old friend at a recent networking event who has worked at an office for many years. Probably his biggest complaint about the business world is the constant meetings. How often do we hear about meetings where nothing is accomplished and everyone feels like they wasted their time? It’s become an office cliché. There’s even a website called meetordie where you can determine just how much money a business wastes on an unproductive meeting. But, believe it or not, meetings were originally intended to serve a purpose. And, whether we like it or not, meetings are a necessary evil for just about any business to get work done. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t improve on the concept of meetings and make them valuable to you and your attendees. Follow these four steps to make your meetings more meaningful: 1. The fewer the better. Getting everyone’s input can be valuable, but when time is of the essence it just isn’t worth it to invite that guy who works in the mail room. Keep attendance limited to just the people who are directly involved in the meeting’s objectives. Before sending out the meeting memo, ask yourself if all [...]
My buddy Luke is having trouble collecting from a client of his. The client wants him to continue doing work, but has not paid him for the work he has already done. As a freelancer, every single dollar means the world to him. Like many small business owners, Luke has to feed his family at the end of the day. Has this ever happened to you? Does it still. Well, you are absolutely not alone. Most of the entrepreneurs that I know deal with this in one form or another. Even me. So, when you’re trying to do the right thing by your client and still keep yourself in business, where is the line drawn? What could you have done even before the work began? Mike Monteiro doesn’t mess around when it comes to collecting payment. In his Creative Mornings video, “F*ck You. Pay Me” he shares some hilarious insight into his strategies for collective payment for creative service industries. Check it out: 2011/03 Mike Monteiro | F*ck You. Pay Me. from SanFrancisco/CreativeMornings on Vimeo. Here are some familiar and irrational excuses he’s heard from clients. Do any of them sound familiar: “We ended up not using the work” “Really [...]
I have a friend who has acquired many different skills, from automobile repair to computer programming. One time when I asked him where he learned so many skills, his answer was simple – he taught himself through “trial and error.” He allowed himself to fail until he learned the skill. This has made me think a lot about failure and how important it is to allow yourself to fail. All of my successes have come from failure. Projects never end up the way I originally intend, people who seemed like they could be accountable could not, and businesses took longer to make a profit than I had anticipated. But the English language has made us equate failing with being a failure, when in fact failing is necessary in order to succeed. If we never allow ourselves to fail, then, unless we are born perfect, we’ll never attempt to learn or do anything that risks failure. When I started my first business, I made many mistakes and “failures” before I got it right. I didn’t give up or get discouraged because I understood that failing was just a step towards success. And I was right. In order to succeed, you must [...]
Organizing people around a common goal and empowering them to act is no easy feat. However, Obama’s presidential campaign was a fantastic example of how it could be done using technology and social platforms. It is why he is one of the example in my upcoming book, “How to Create a Revolution: A Step-by-Step Guide from History’s Social Influencers.” So, when Obama announced his campaign for re-election, it started my wheels on how he could do things differently-really create an empowered experience for his supporters through transmedia storytelling. In the video below, I give three suggestions. Take a look. What storytelling ideas do you have for this re-election campaign, or any campaign for that matter? We would love to hear from you. Related Posts: Social Marketing, Metrics and the Relationships They’re Built On Why I Started Our Revolution How Leaders Can Be Great By Asking The Hard Questions
As you may already know, I am a strong advocate for innovation and believe it to be the backbone of any successful endeavor – whether it applies to your business or your own life. However, innovation is – by definition – risky. New ideas do not always turn out to be good ideas. And now with the economy the way it is, tightening budgets kill innovation because no one can afford any risks. Yet, without innovation, we end up stagnating – always playing it safe without ever advancing. I’ve always looked for areas in my company or my life that could stand withstand a little risk in order to find better ways of doing things. The trick is to manage your risks. You can optimize innovation to gain great new ideas while minimizing the effects of bad new ideas by following these steps: Evaluate Risk-Taking: How often do you or the people in your employment take risks? Take an honest look at your business by holding interviews, skip-level meetings, or anonymous surveys to gauge risk aversion. You may realize you have created an environment where people feel anxious and hold back ideas. Open a Dialogue: Invite anyone into an open [...]
February 28, 2011 – 3:12 pm
February is Heart Month. It was one of the reasons why I thought that the first month’s topic for Revolution! Solutions should be Healthcare. So, how is the healthcare system utilizing application technology? Enter guest blogger, Carissa O’Brien: In an emergency, every minute counts. In the case of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), with every minute that passes, survival decreases by 10 percent. Do the math and you can see what the odds are after just 10 minutes. And yet, help can’t always arrive that quickly. But what if the first step to getting the help you need was as simple as reaching into your pocket for your smartphone? Fire and EMS have made great efforts over the last decade to reduce response times and get to victims quickly, and they’ve experienced some great successes. Moving public access defibrillator programs into communities, including in rural areas, also helped reach new milestones. But still, survival rates remain fairly low, and many feel engaging the public to help victims with immediate access to CPR and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are what’s needed to move the needle. Enter the app. You may have seen Techcrunch feature a new localized app called FireDepartment.org. The first [...]
