Category Archives: Business & Entrepreneurship

Did Slash from GNR write the perfect business book for 2012?

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If you remove all the drugs & debauchery from Slash’s memoirs, he may have written the world’s best handbook for building a career in today’s complicated world.

Photo by Simonlouw

Slash grew up in 20 square blocks of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. He discovered guitar as his passion and honed his skill while friends fed him, gave him places to sleep, drugs to smoke and part-time jobs. He partied at a young age and was exposed to industry: his mother dated David Bowie, he met the Rolling Stones at a house party, and a good friend of his spent years stalking Aerosmith. The SoCal music scene was so incestuous that Slash attended high school while Motley Crue smoked cigarettes outside his classroom window. The Hollywood Area was a hub of artistic and musical creativity.

People in LA joined and left bands at will to jam and develop. Artists had loads of free time to craft and pursue their ambition. While Slash forged his early identity, Tracii Guns formed LA Guns and battled for club space with Axl Rose & Izzy Stradlin’s Hollywood Rose. These bands, which merged to become the first Guns ‘N’ Roses, were revolving doors of musicians. The early ’80s was a developmental period for Slash and his future band mates. They evolved as individuals, but more importantly had constant interactions within the Hollywood music scene that developed the vital friendships that would catapult them to success.

While reading the bio, I also read Tom Rath’s Vital Friends (Gallup Press), which shaped how I interpreted Slash’s telling of events. According to Rath, a vital friend is “someone who measurably improves your life; perhaps a person at work or in your personal life who you can’t afford to live without.” Not everyone in that scene could have been successful in GNR; Tracii Guns didn’t carry the band to the same level of notoriety. More important than talent, Slash needed to find musicians as driven as he was, and crazy enough to think success was possible. He eventually found collaborators and they amplified each others’ successes. In Slash’s own words, each member of GN’R was

“Street-smart, self-sufficient and used to doing things his way only…. we became a unit that had each others’ backs as fiercely as we stood up for ourselves… we didn’t take kindly to criticism from anyone… and did nothing to court acceptance and shunned easy success.”

In my mind, GNR forged something new. When compared to the scene at the time, no other band was like them. Despite the band’s relatively short-lifespan (they had other problems), Appetite For Destruction is one of the great rock albums of all-time, up there with Who’s Next, Back In Black and Led Zeppelin IV. Back-to-front there are no bad songs.

GNR wasn’t waiting for the market dictate their fate; they were determined to force their brand into the market and gain acceptance on their terms.

This doesn’t just apply to music. The world has an insatiable appetite for the new and next best. Sometimes it’s not for marketers to decide what’s right for us; seams open up simply because someone followed a passion. The world has an iPod because Steve Jobs followed a passion. We have a self-help movement because Tony Robbins followed a passion. These innovations tapped into a core longing, one we maybe didn’t even know we had. GNR did and it exploded into commercial success.

It’s easy to understand when 4 guys get together to start a band, even if they suck. No one laughs at them for trying. But we laugh when average Joes try to create something that’s never been tried before. Why is it so weird when people follow a passion to an area other than art or music?

This is important news for a lost generation that stalled in the 2000′s. Maybe it’s time we followed the GNR formula: instead of battling it out as individuals labouring anonymously, hoping for approval, maybe we should form our own “bands” around passion and see where that leads us. Some things in this world need to be said and maybe they’re better driven home with the intensity of a Guns N’ Roses concert.

Header photo by liza31337

A Hunch about Lunch

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One of the most important communities in daily life is the work community. What do I look for in a workplace community? Well, there are a few key factors, but the latest to be added to my wish list is ‘a place where people eat lunch”.

Sharing a meal is one of the most powerful ways to build community and being “a place where people eat lunch” can benefit a workplace both culturally and in terms of productivity. Unfortunately, I have been noticing a major absence of shared meals in my working life and have heard this same thing echoed among many of my peers. I’m starting to think I’m going to have to move to Europe to locate this appreciation for the mid-day meal.

North American Culture prides itself on hard work and ambition. Michael Pollan, in his book, In Defense of Food; An Eater’s Manifesto, suggests that as an effect of this ideology, North American’s view food as merely utilitarian fuel rather than something to be enjoyed for it’s own sake. He brings up several examples of the stark difference between North American attitudes to food as compared to European attitudes the most striking example given is a comparison where American and French people are shown a picture of a piece of chocolate cake and asked what word it brings to mind. The most common American reaction is “guilt” while the most common French reaction is “celebration”!

Perhaps it can be chalked up to the fact that I was raised with a European attitude towards food, but I do not believe that eating a protein bar at my desk can be classified as lunch. Nor do I believe that it can have any long-term benefits to my employer or my career. I can see some very real and lasting benefits however, in taking a ½ hour to share a meal with my co-workers.

Sharing a meal is the fastest way to establish shared experiences, which are the building blocks of community. With strong community comes creativity because two heads really are better than one (and all heads are significantly more powerful when they receive more than just caffeine as a stimulus).  Creativity can invigorate a workplace and make its entire workforce more productive and motivated in all of their working hours.

Each of these outcomes produces more powerful benefits than that extra ½ hour in front of the computer and these are just a few of the benefits to be had when you turn your work place into a place where people eat lunch. If you aren’t lucky enough to work in one of these places already, why don’t you try something new for lunch today?

The Age of Impatience

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Editor’s note: so, earlier this week I sent Kurt this infographic about impatience and asked him to comment on the two ideas below; hilariously, he wrote about 300 words for the first portion and left the second section completely blank (I did some editing to make it work). This kind of poetic irony is a beautiful thing. Enjoy!

Kurt and John identify with the infographic below for these hilarious/semi-problematic reasons:

Kurt Heinrich on waiting in line: The 2010 Olympics were lauded by many as a fantastic opportunity to take in dozens of unique exhibits, attractions, bands and other performances. But with Sochi House and the Dutch/Heineken pavilion came ridiculously long lines approaching Disneyland lengths. Each day, as I walked to work, the line to take one 15 second zip-line across Robson plaza grew by about 25 minutes until by the end of the Olympics, it took a 6 hour wait for the 15 second experience. Really, you have nothing better to do than cue-up for half-a-day? And this was only the most egregious example.

Across Metro Vancouver, long snaking lines sprung up like weeds; chock full of tourists, locals and angry looking Russian athletes. After hours of waiting (often in the pouring rain) line-goers were frequently rewarded by a half-baked hyper-commercialized “exhibit” crammed with bright oil company billboards or (in at least one case) an absolutely empty room. So much for the myths of wonder associated with Expo and propagated by my parents since birth.

John Horn on doing six things at once: it’s not a big problem, but it’s not not a big problem, either. When I’m working – at work or at home on this amazing publication – I like to be watching/looking at things on at least three screens. Within these three screens are a variety of open windows and tabs that yield exciting opportunities, ideas and projects on which I work and by which I am, at times, distracted (curse you, mobile-Scrabble!). Oh, and while all the spreadsheets and cloud-based-docs and mind-maps and timelines and mobile games are benefiting from my spectacular ability to multitask, I listen to music or podcasts or have some sort of sport or movie I’ve already watched playing in the background. Basically, if something doesn’t load quickly I flash to another screen and lose interest or – hey, do you guys wanna go ride bikes?!

This affects Kurt and john’s interactions with communities because…

Kurt: The longer I wait in lines, the more disappointed I am in the end result and the whole process. Maybe this means that I don’t have an patience. Or maybe it means I do not possess the psychological means to view a long wait as a worthwhile experience in itself (packed with good conversation with fellow line-goes) like Editor-in-Chief, John Horn. While my attention span is likely not as bad as that illustrated below by the infographic, when it comes to lines, I’m not to far off.

John: Multitasking doesn’t work and instead of doing one good thing really, really well I often do six things well or, on bad days, with unfortunate mediocrity. I don’t believe in mediocre community-making, so my habits need to change!

Instant America
Created by: OnlineGraduatePrograms.com

So, how do you identify with this infographic? And what does this say about our community?

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Masthead photo courtesy of Ed Yourdon’s photostream on Flickr

The Next Generation of Sustainability

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Koerner Library (NOT CIRS) at UBC / Spicks & Specks on Flickr

Sustainability: the Next Generation. That’s what will be on the agenda at UBC’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) on Saturday, May 26. If you are passionate about building and maintaining sustainable communities then I highly recommend you check out this opportunity for provocative dialogue within North America’s greenest building.

Here’s the pitch:

What if there was a new way of approaching sustainability? What if the old environmental agenda of doing things “less bad”—using less energy, taking shorter showers, sacrificing our Western lifestyle—wasn’t the best way forward? What if instead we built buildings and neighbourhoods that actually contributed to the wellbeing of the planet and those that live on it?

Explore these provocative ideas with a leading UBC researcher, staff and strategic partner at the May 26th panel discussion “Next Generation Sustainability,” to be held at CIRS at 10:45 a.m.  This free event is an opportunity for the public to learn about how UBC is integrating operations, research and learning to accelerate sustainability, and what this means for our communities.

The panel discussion features Professor John Robinson, Executive Director of the UBC Sustainability Initiative, Kera McArthur, Director of Public Engagement for Campus and Community Planning and Robbie Zhang, Managing Director of Modern Green Development (Canada).

The panel discussion takes place in the Modern Green Development Auditorium within CIRS, a world-class showcase of green construction that celebrates its location and setting, has minimal impact on the environment and maximizes every inch of interior space to create functional and inspiring spaces for teaching, learning, research and community building. “CIRS is a place for big ideas that have global impacts,” says Prof. Robinson. “It serves as a living laboratory to test, learn, teach, apply and share the outcomes of sustainability focused inquiries.”

Sustainability defines UBC as a global university. In 1997, UBC was the first university in Canada to adopt a sustainability development policy opening a campus sustainability office the next year. In 2010, UBC established the UBC Sustainability Initiative integrating UBC’s academic and operational efforts on sustainability.  Campus and Community Planning ensures choices about UBC lands, buildings, infrastructure and transportation meet the goals of UBC’s strategic plan, Place and Promise, including sustainability. Modern Green Development Co. Ltd., one of China’s largest property developers, together with UBC has entered into its first North American strategic partnership to advance green building research and development.

The panel discussion will be held on May 26th from 10:45-11:45 in the Modern Green Development Auditorium at the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (2260 West Mall, UBC Vancouver Campus).

Don’t Feed the Trolls: dealing with negativity in social media communities

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When I started a new job recently, I was stoked when I found out that my first project would be creating and managing a Facebook page for the organization. I’ve helped develop and administrate a social media presence for a few organizations over the past couple of years and I’ve always loved watching online communities develop and grow.

Trouble is, I’ve realized over the past few weeks that although I’ve administrated social media pages for varied organizations, they’ve all been organizations that have solid community support. And now, for the first time, I’m administrating a page that attracts a pretty decent amount of distrust, with a bit of full-blown hate and a couple of crazies thrown in for good measure.

There’s nothing quite like arriving at work on a Monday morning and combing through a weekend’s worth of wall posts and comments that, for the most part, are pretty negative about the organization I’ve chosen to work for. I knew when I took the job that it wasn’t going to be a picnic, but I may have underestimated the complexity of dealing with negative community sentiment. As a result I’ve done a lot of reading lately on this topic, and I thought I’d share what I think are the three best take home messages for keeping things positive and dealing with negativity in an online community.

1. Step away from the delete button. It’s easy for organizations and companies to head straight for the delete button when negative posts start to appear, but it’s not a sustainable or practical way of dealing with the issue. Being unresponsive is the same. It’s not a good look when organisations only respond to the people who say nice things about them, and if you’re not responding to any posts, negative or nice, then you need to seriously reconsider whether your organization belongs in social media. Instead of deleting negative posts, thank the community member for their feedback, respond to any specific questions and move on.

2. Let your community respond. If you’ve worked hard to develop an engaged and thriving social media community, then there’s a good chance that your community will respond to questions and comments before you even have a chance to. Let them go – a lot of the time your community are a better endorsement of the organization than you are.

3. Don’t take it personally. If you’re passionate about your job, it can be difficult not to jump on your high horse when people start to diss what you’re doing. Like I mentioned above, there’s something slightly demoralizing about receiving a barrage of negative feedback from your community, but you can’t take it personally. Stop, step back and have a cup of tea before your respond to anything negative. I guarantee it works.

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Masthead photo from this photostream, body photo from this photostream and this photostream. Both used with the permission of a Creative Commons license.

Size Matters – Making the Big Small

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Last week I spoke at a Bishop’s University recruitment event – I was one of three alumni who were tasked with answering questions from prospective students and their parents about the Bishop’s Experience.

Most of my conversations wound up with me talking about size – how it matters and how small is beautiful. And I talked about size because Bishop’s University – with 2,300 learners – is one of the smallest universities in Canada.

I kid you not, in alumni circles around the world we debate whether 2,300 is “ridiculously large” or “a bit too big” or “just pushing it” in terms of student numbers at BU. For the record, I graduated when the school had 1,945 students, which felt like a really good number.

So, the evening combined community-building with a genuine personal touch – more on that in about 150 words…

Earlier this week I read a post by Seth Godin called “What’s the right size? The quantum mechanics of growth” – the marketing guru explored ways in which organizations can know their size:

The physics and economics of a business determine whether it’s the right size or not, whether it ought to get bigger or smaller. Starbucks, for example, was not the right size when it had 11 stores. That’s too many stores for just one senior manager to handle, but not enough stores for centralized purchasing and marketing and organization. The cash flow from an eleven-store chain just doesn’t easily connect to the staff requirments necessary to make it efficient.

Also earlier this week, I read an article from the Academica Group about how some of Canada’s research intensive universities are endeavouring to “pull a Bishop’s” [Editor's note: ©Copyright John Horn 2012] and make the big small. Check this out:

How Ontario institutions are wooing top applicants: Last week, a York University recruiter drove to an admitted applicant’s high school to deliver the student’s $24,000 scholarship in person — it’s one of the ways York U has upped its game in the competition for the best and brightest students. University of Waterloo faculty send handwritten letters to top applicants to their faculty, and the personal touch pays off, says uWaterloo’s director of undergraduate recruitment. Ryerson and Western Universities are among institutions that court top students with the promise of an exclusive inner circle “where membership has its privileges — mentoring, advising, invitations to networking events with the president,” says a Ryerson spokeswoman. Other examples of PSE schools wooing applicants include Brock University stuffing confetti into its offer packages and Collège Boréal sending offers in the form of a packing box that says, in French: “Get packing; you’re going to college!” ParentCentral.ca

Size does matter. And Bishop’s University does all the things above with inclusiveness – as opposed to a priviledged inner circle building – in mind and with a sense of community at heart. This is funny, too, because I’m not sure if Bishop’s even teaches quantum mechanics, but I’m pretty sure that York does…

While Bishop’s searches for its sweet spot of size in an ever more competitive post-secondary landscape, I hope its leaders keep in mind that when you make the big small – or keep things small – there exists a natural setting for a vibrant and inclusive sense of community to be built. And this becomes an edge in the marketplace.

Stay small and stay beautiful, Bishop’s. You’re clearly doing something right when so many of higher educations giants are trying to emulate what you’ve been doing for over 150 years.

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Masthead photo – of a small puppy – courtesy of RLHyde’s photostream on Flickr

Social Media and the Power of Crowd

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jdn / flickr

[Editor's note: below is a press release about a very cool and community-minded event taking place in Vancouver on Thursday, April 19 from 8-10:15am. If you think that there's a future in crowds then we recommend that you check it out].

Vancouver, BC – April 16, 2012. Ideavibes CEO, Paul Dombowsky, and PlaceSpeak CEO, Colleen Hardwick, will be speaking at a workshop in Vancouver this week focused on social media and the power of the crowd to make change happen in our communities and with community organizations as well as brands.

Understanding the power of the crowd and its ability to solve problems, engage citizens, build stronger market driven products, and fund change as well as start-ups, is necessary in this social media driven world. Crowdsourcing, although not new, is something organizations as diverse as global brands, startups, social enterprises and governments can use to make things happen with the reach of social media connections.

Ideavibes, based in Ottawa, and PlaceSpeak, from Vancouver, have both developed web based platforms for citizen engagement that allow cities, provinces/states, and federal governments the ability to effectively open their consultation process to the opportunities that social media and the web offer. During this workshop, both Dombowsky and Hardwick will demonstrate how their platforms are helping cities such as Ottawa and Vancouver broaden and enhance their engagement strategies to be more inclusive and effective.

According to Paul Dombowsky:

Consultation options that involve broader sections of our community benefit the process enormously. Often public consultations draw the same people who represent a narrower, less diverse sector of society. This can intimidate many ordinary citizens.

Adding online consultations through crowdsourcing to the process gives governments and brands tremendous richness and insight from a diversity of perspectives that can make for a more meaningful process.

The workshop will look the changing nature of public interaction with both cities as well as the brands citizens use on a daily basis. Willingness and desire to use online channels for this engagement has both positives and negatives for organizations and this workshop will help participants understand best practices and hear about the successes and challenges others in Canada and elsewhere are having.

According to Colleen Hardwick,:

Many people don’t want to go to a public meeting or have much to do with traditonal civic processes per se; being able to bring discussion online—and make it easy for people to connect with consultations online—will have a profound impact on the way we make decisions and develop public policy.

A July Forbes Magazines article by Haydn Shaugnessy noted that “Crowdsourcing will become top of mind for most companies as 2011 turns into 2012.” As an open innovation tool for not only companies, but also governments, crowdsourcing and social media together make social product development possible for organizations in the business to business or business to consumer spaces.

WORKSHOP DETAILS

Date: April 19, 2012
Time: 8:00 to 10:15 am
Place: TIDES Canada at #304 – 163 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
Price: $20 includes breakfast – Registration Required
To register and for more details, please visit: http://ideavibesvancouver.eventbrite.com/

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Masthead photo courtesy of kevinbeijing’s photostream on flickr

Alex Chuang – Philanthropist 2.0

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Who are you?

Hello! My name is Alex. I am the Founder and CEO of Weeve, an online social fundraising platform for nonprofit projects. I have an unquenchable thirst for learning new things and figuring out the better ways of doing things. I am a big fan of Disney, Apple, and the Canucks. I have a bunny who thinks the universe owes her its origin.

What do you do for fun?

Board games! I love strategic board games such as 7 wonders, Pandemic, Small World, and Dominion. Board games are awesome mental workouts. From reading the rules and understanding them to being able to explain them to your friends and apply them during the course of a game, you become more well-versed in communicating your ideas across. Here at the Weeve HQ, a lot of our team-building exercises involve boardgames.

What is your favourite community? Why?

I am very fortunate to be living in the most livable city in the world-Vancouver. I have been to many cities in the world and I must say that Vancouverites are the friendliest and most generous people.

The word community literally means “giving among each other” and the Vancouver community definitely fits that definition. Through my work at Weeve, I have connected with many local nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit organizations are an integral part of the society who provide a wealth of services that many people are urgently in need for. The people who work in the nonprofit sector are amazing. They are so passionate about what they do! I have a lot of respect for that and I really admire the work that they do. That is why the Weeve team is working so hard to help them have their stories heard.

What is your superpower?

My superpower is my ability to spot pain points and devise solution.

How do you use it to build community?

I noticed a pain in the nonprofit sector where thousands of nonprofit organizations are struggling to meet fast-climbing demands for their services due to lack of funding and exposure. My solution -Weeve – helps local nonprofit organizations raise money for their community projects through our free, simple and secure funding platform. At Weeve, our goal is to build sustainable and resilient communities across the globe.

My Three Favourite Things About Alex Are…

1. The way he pitched the idea for Weeve. I can’t describe it here, because I’m not Alex. So let me just say that when he presented me with the idea for Weeve the young man showcased one of the stickiest pitches I’ve ever seen. He drew pictures with voice-over (I’m sure that some Ken Robinson or Daniel Pink whiteboard-cartoonery will be coming down the pipe with Weeve’s pending launch) and, by the time he was finished, Alex had articulated a simple and elegant solution to some of the funding challenges that non-profit organizations face by connecting philanthropy, social shopping and technology – Alex is a Philanthropy 2.0 changemaker for sure.

2. Board Games! Fantastic stuff. Little else need be said about how cool liking board games makes Alex. All that’s left to say is this: well played, sir.

3. Passion for Positive Changemaking. Alex cannot hide his goodness. His persistence in aligning his work with the communities’ pain points is a true realization of the kind of creativity, positivity and drive (call it a sense-of-urgency) that it will take to untangle our planet’s problems and put them back together as solutions. Best of all, Alex is a master-connector who will be able to create and sustain the necessary buy-in to ensure that his ideas are transformed into tangible results.

Special Bonus Reason! Alex has a keen sense of style and, more than anyone else I know, he emulates the fashion sense of The Vancouver Tech-Startup Entrepreneur with impeccable precision. Lovin’ the hat-vest-combo, Mr. Chuang!

- As told by John Horn

Net Impact Combines Community, Environment and Business

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On Friday, April 20th, UBC Net Impact will host the 10th Annual Net Impact Conference and Sustainability Expo, “Sustainability: Beyond Rhetoric”.Join over 200 business and student leaders to discuss the challenges and best practices in the sustainable business arena; propelling the conversation beyond the rhetoric that can too often dominate this space.

robholland / flickr

Moderated panels for the day will highlight impassioned discussions on:

- Clean Tech & Energy
- Impact & Ethical Investing
- Leadership in Corporate Responsibility
- Measurement & Benchmarking
- Natural Resources & Mining

Come enjoy a keynote address from CEO of global clean tech venture capital leader Chrysalix, Wal van Lierop. Spend the day engaging key leaders from companies across industries at panel discussions and at the Sustainability Expo, and again over drinks at the evening’s Networking with Purpose event at the Granville Room.

Participating sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers include representatives from Baja Mining, SAP, Teck Resources, Westport Innovations, VanCity, Ecotrust Canada, Offsetters, Green Angel Energy, First Power, BC Hydro, NEI Investments, Board of Change and many more!

Be a part of this exciting event! Register here today: ubcnetimpact.eventbrite.ca

(Registration closes Monday, April 16.)
Find out more: www.ubcnetimpact.org

Community Work Search Resources

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[Editor's note: thanks to Robin Anderson for the photos and information below. Where we work and what we work at is one of the most important aspects of community].

On Monday April 2, 2012 all provincial employment programs changed. Job seekers will be able to use a new set of services to help them find a job. All the employment services currently being funded by the Ministry of Social Development will end and will be replaced by the new Employment Program of B.C. Under the new Program, Metro Vancouver has been divided into various catchment areas and different organizations are responsible for providing services in each area. MOSAIC and its Partner Service Providers will be offering services in the Northeast part of Vancouver. There is a Centre for all job seekers at Commercial and Broadway and locations for specific groups of job seekers, such as youth and people of aboriginal descent.

[Editor's note: there has been a bit of controversy around the re-distribution of resources - from in-person to online - with Service Canada's Hire a Student program, at which I used to work in the lat '90s and early 2000s].

Says Anderson about the changes:

In terms of the context, CSJ is a federal program delivered by Service Canada, and our employment resource centre is a provincially funded project under the Ministry of Social Development. We think our WorkBC employment services would fit well with the re-vamped CSJ.

Students have access to self service services at all Work BC employment centres across the province. This includes access to computer terminals to print work related documents, search job postings including employment opportunities for students such as those available through the Canada Summer Jobs Program (CSJ) and attend workshops. They can also ask staff for some feedback on their resume and for information about where they can find job search leads.

In the MOSAIC locations, job seekers can find out what jobs are in demand, how to write the best resumes and cover letters and how to give successful job interviews. “We can also help select and fund training for eligible participants,” says Drive Youth Employment Services employee, Robin Anderson. “All the services, including access to computers and the internet are free.” For more information, email NortheastESC@mosaicbc.com, check out the Work BC interactive, phone 604-708-9300, www.workbc.ca/workbccentres/welcome.htm.