Tag Archives: john horn

Awesome Community Business Projects

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[Editor's note: Recently, I left my job at the UBC's Sauder School of Business (pictured above, my leaving is pictured below) for a job with UBC Career Services. Last year, Sauder launched the Community Business Project, an experiential and service learning course that is part of the curriculum for the Masters of Management program. I know all about it because I collaborated with some very awesome faculty members, students, non-profit leaders, and the school's administration to build it. It combines my most favourite things: education, community, service, innovation, and young people. BA 511 (that's the course code) is totally my baby - and I'm so proud of Sauder's students and faculty for making it happen. This is the second year of the projects, it's in the beta stage and, on Monday, May 9, 2011, I was lucky enough to take-in the students' final presentations for their Community Business Projects (CBPs). Needless to say, even though I've left Sauder, the Community Business Project is in good hands when students like the ones who presented on Monday keep enrolling in the MM-ECM program].

Dear MM-ECM Class of 2011.

The Community Business Project presentations that you delivered on Monday were fantastic and they made me proud to have worked with you all. From the crisp and clean slides to the discussion of your learning outcomes to the humour, wit and style with which you presented, I watched them all with compelling interest – hey, I didn’t even check Facebook for a whole two hours!

Knowing that you’ve all been working hard on your presentation skills, it was a giddy pleasure to see so many of you apply Ivan’s lessons to your work. While all the presentations were very good, a few of the groups really achieved something close to Presentation Zen with your work. Very well done, Emily, Stanley and Aaron, who worked with the BC Lung Association – your Prezi deserves a special shout-out.

Other highlights included several teams transcending ridiculous technical difficulties and one group even gave my father-in-law a shout-out! Smooth.

Over the past five months you have learned what it takes to be community-builders as well as how to work as a team to deliver business solutions in the real-world. With professionalism, grace and tact you addressed some of the challenges that working as part-time volunteer consultants (during a busy school year) for a non-profit client can bring: massive scope, unclear expectations, unrealistic expectations, not enough time, not enough trust, and overzealousness. You delivered difficult information in a positive way. You provided clients with recommendations that some of them might not have wanted to hear, but definitely needed to hear and, if implemented, can improve their enterprise.

And then there’s the learning. The very important reflective element of service and experiential learning. Your presentations showed a holistic comprehension of some pretty serious local (and beyond local) issues (mental health, lung disease, affordable housing, trees, corporate perceptions of art, and many more). You ‘get’ social enterprise. You worked as a team for a long, long, long time and, for the most part, you worked well together. You managed a client relationship. You set and (more or less) achieved deadlines. And you did it all while rockin’ your finest Sauder attire. Most importantly, many of you had your eyes opened to a part of the world that you might not have seen without the CBP experience. As you know, these skills will serve you all very well in the real world of work.

MM Candidates from the ECM program, I thank you for realizing the potential of the Community Business Project. Good luck in the future and be sure to enjoy the journey!

Kind regards,

John Horn

[Editor's note: here is a list of the organizations that were clients of the 2010-2011 CBPs:

  • Asia Pacific Gateway Skills Table
  • Vancouver Art Gallery
  • Common Thread Co-operative
  • BC Lung Association
  • Canadian Mental Health Association
  • Strathcona Dental Association
  • Vancouver Native Houseing Society
  • YMCA Vancouver
  • The Children's Foundation
  • PLAN.ca
  • Evergreen
  • Vancouver Economic Development Commission
  • Journey Home Community Association

If you know of an organization that might be interested in learning more about the Community Business Project, contact the Business Career Centre today!]

The History of Work Series Concludes

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So there it is. This concludes The History of Work Series on the Daily Gumboot. Godfrey and I have researched, analyzed, evaluated, and delivered results on, first, the nature of work as it relates to community and, second, the best and worst jobs of all time. Here is a re-cap:

The Five Best and Worst Jobs Ever!

And you undoubtedly had a great time reading the series – or selections from it – and learning all about the different careers and job opportunities that have impacted humanity over the past, well, forever. If you didn’t have a great time reading it, please contact Godfrey and ask for a refund.

Moving on…

One – or two – cannot engage in a project like this without asking some key questions about what it all means. Without further ado, here are three of those questions:

What was your creative process like?

JOHN: Well, it involved a lot of yelling. Swearing in German (mostly Godfrey). Swearing at Germans (mostly me). And also lots of love. We also surveyed over 15,000 people to find out what you - the readers – thought were the best and worst jobs of all time. As Historians – engagers of the most noble academic discipline – Godfrey and I were well positioned to use Google to find the top seven websites dedicated to “the history of work”. I believe that we even used some stuff from the Discovery Channel’s “History of Work” series, which was cool, but, as with so much media, only focused on the negative parts of work. Here at the G’boot, we like to keep things positive. Collaborating with Godfrey is a pleasure, mostly because his brain works in a completely different way than mine does. For example, Godfrey thinks about things before he says them, whereas I just write stuff down, man.

GODFREY: It’s true, while the inter-web was a great resource, a  lot of pensive thinking and dreaming and informal focus grouping when into our selection process. It’s amazing how readily people come up with an answer to, “What’s your favourite job?” whether in a coffee shop or while riding the bus. If people’s eyes lit up when they responded with “Explorer” or laughed uneasily when I pitched “plague collector” to them in a coffee shop line up, then these jobs made my final cut.

How does work inform community?

JOHN: In my humble opinion, work – paid, unpaid, volunteer, involuntary – is central to every community. To paraphrase Paul Hawken’s Blessed Unrest, I think a global emphasis on meaningful work that focuses on human beings, rather than technology or the goods it creates, will “return [sic] people to the heart of the world and of life.” Because sometime we lose site of the people that are wrapped up in our global economy. Hey, we’re the only species on the planet that suffers from unemployment! When it comes to work informing community, I think it’s telling that the typically first question someone asks a new acquaintance is “what to you do for a living?” Perhaps a better question would be “why do you do what you do for a living?” and, follow-up question, “how does this work feed your soul?” In fact, perhaps reflect on those questions yourself and think about what your work means to your community.

GODFREY: Engaging in fulfilling work is what lends so much meaning to our lives. So much of that fulfillment depends on touching the lives of others, working in a team, learning from your co-workers. In short, work means engaging with our world its people and building our connection to it. Even though it’s one of the worst jobs you can imagine, did  the plague collector touch her communities and make them better? Arguably, yes. The same goes for the community transforming power of a King (see tomorrow’s Get to Know Your Community for details) or the enlightenment provided to the world community by the academic. In short a job doesn’t have to be “good” or “enjoyable” to positively affect community change.

How do your respective jobs measure up?

JOHN: Well, I have at least two jobs. Both feed my soul in different ways. As Herder of Cats Editor-in-Chief for this online magazine, I get to write, read and work with brilliant people and Kurt to create an interesting, entertaining and collaborative narrative about community. Writing, more than anything else except for cheese and, I guess, my lovely wife Michelle, feeds my soul. Perhaps my favourite part of the Daily Gumboot is the instructive/prescriptive part of it, where Correspondents like Katie Burns teach people how to grow, harvest and can tomatoes. One of my favourite things in life is what the kids call “clashing of worlds” and I love how lucky I am to bring strangers together as they interpret the idea of “community” from myriad perspectives. As a Career Manager at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, I love the professional diversity of my work. The students are awesome. The work is as diverse as it is interesting as it is challenging and, to quote S||A (aka Stewart Burgess) I love the audiences for which I am lucky enough to teach as well as present edutaining material. Hardship only comes up when co-workers make fun of my clothing and don’t invite me to meetings. So, it’s pretty tough sometimes…

GODFREY: Having recently moved into a communications job which puts me into constant contact with the world around me  means I am growing to steadily enjoy my work after several years of boredom where I worked mostly in isolation . A great team of co-workers helps. In the end, people make my days great. Writing for the web and developing communication strategies is a bonus. I have a new job on the horizon as a father – an opportunity I am excited to get started on as well.

Final Words

And that, as they say, is that. Everyone, on behalf of Godfrey and myself I’d just like to say you’re welcome! As you find something to feed your soul in 2011 be sure to think about the positive way in which it will build community, too. And have fun with it!

- Godfrey and John

The Third Best and Worst Jobs Ever

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Welcome to Part 3 of the Daily Gumboot’s award-worthy series on the History of Work. We’ve explored Pirates and Message Runners and University Professors and Fact-Checkers at Fox News. It’s been as hilarious as it’s been informative and interesting. With many of you in the Private Sector back at work, we hope that this mental exercise burns off some of that holiday goodness as you make great use of your downtime and read this blog!

Best. Job. Ever. Number 3!

From the Somalian poet/troubadour to the Japanese Geisha to Tom Petty, the Singer has been integral to the cultural fabric of communities. Your melodic words make people happy (even if it’s angry death metal it still makes people happy). Furthermore, according to a recent Happiness Index, singers are the happiest “workers” out there. Whether you’re a pop star, a Neil Diamond impersonator, a member of a church choir, or in the Little Guitar Army, you have fun with it. The job is simple, yet complex. You write poetry and then music to sing it to (or you get someone who can’t sing to do it for you). Everyone tries this job – especially in the shower and in Japan – but few can actually pull it off in harmony.

Summary of Academically Sound Findings and Analysis:

SINGER

LOW

MEDIUM

HIGH

TOTAL:
Level of Hardship You have arguably the highest level of job satisfaction in the history of the world. Because singing just makes you feel really, really, really good. This being said, the career of a singer involves sleazy producers, fickle fans, and the drugs. Your parents might also try to dress you up in horribly provocative and inappropriate outfits, too. 4/5
Opportunity for Advancement Ever since Cleopatra invited Phil the Performer into her court, singers have been overlooked for gigs. For every American Idol winner, there are 24 million singers who lose big. While you might be able to garner a humble YouTube/MySpace following, a career as a Singer –  is not successful in terms of the money pay off. But people who love what they do don’t care about that, right?
 3/5
Meaningful Nature of Work Sometimes, you have to sing horrible, horrible pop songs that, while designed by focus groups of money-driven producers to be incredibly (and lucratively) catchy, make you die inside just a little. Not only are you doing what you love, you’re also doing what many, many people wish they could do and what even more people will never be able to do.Singing is – especially at the highest level – is something that can only be done by those who can do it and can never be taught.
 5/5

Worst. Job. Ever. Number 3!

In the middle ages, Searchers of  The Dead, often destitute older women, who nevertheless had some medical knowledge, were dispatched by authorities to seek out quarantine houses containing victims of the plague or Black Death. Once they were identified, the house would be boarded up and the rest of the family quarantined. Searchers of the dead were mostly older women, destitute but with enough medical knowledge to spot plague victims. The pay was pretty crappy – about four pence per body – but prices plummeted during the Black Death (in the 1300s about 30-60% of Europe’s population died, which was around 370 million people), because local authorities couldn’t keep up with the hundreds of people dying everyday. Biggest job-related hazard? Dying of the Plague.

Summary of Academically Sound Findings and Analysis:

SEARCHER OF THE DEAD

LOW

MEDIUM

HIGH

TOTAL:
Level of Hardship Dude. Your job is to pick up plague-riddled dead bodies, put them in a wheelbarrow and then dump them in a giant pit. You may or may not have to then light them on fire and/or spread a corrosive substance – like lime – on the bodies. Everything about this job is terrible. 0/5
Opportunity for Advancement Well, there is a good chance that your supervisor will die of the Plague and, with a little luck, you can take his job.There is also a strong chance that you will die of the Plague.So, it’s pretty much a wash.
 2.5/5
Meaningful Nature of Work You are the thin line between pandemic and extinction of the human race. Your job might be terrible, but it ensures that Plague survivors live to have non-Searcher-of-the-Dead jobs in the future!
Also, your appearances in Monty Python movies are as amazing as they are hilarious!
 4/5

Reflections on these Jobs

GODFREY: This job redeems itself somewhat in that, superficially, it represents a meaningful public benefit. But looked at more closely, it hardly elevated anyone to martyrdom. In the 1300′s when sacrifice and faith through good works were applauded, rooting out diseased corpses for a few pennies  hardly counts. Nope, this job really, really sucked.  Good thing it’s  been relegated to history… Or has it?….John? Thoughts? Maybe I could be a singer whose voice cures pandemics…I’ll keep reaching for those rainbows.

JOHN: If I could do it all again, I’d be a Searcher of the Dead. Wait…that’s not right at all. But, yes, human beings will succumb to a plague soon. It’ll probably have something to do with technology taking over. Like, it’ll sap our energy and distract us from more important thi- wait, I think this idea is more than 140 characters…

This evaluation made me wish I could sing. I mean, I really, really like doing it, and, hey, being in a band is all about teamwork and communicating creative ideas to a variety of people in a meaningful ways…It’s also about sex and drugs!

Introducing the History of Work Series

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While so many people – especially the staff of the Daily Gumboot – are on vacation, Godfrey von Bismarck and I thought we’d talk about work. Specifically, the History of it.

Work is perhaps the most central thing to the concept of community – in fact, the measurement of our lives as “successful” or not typically have work in the equation somewhere. According to Philosopher and Friend-of-the-’Boot, Alain de Botton, “Pick up any newspaper or magazine, open the TV, and you’ll be bombarded with suggestions of how to have a successful life. Some of these suggestions are deeply unhelpful to our own projects and priorities – and we should take care.” This series is not one of those unhelpful things. It’s amazing. Just ask Alain de Botton!

Further, the Fraser Institute’s Patrick Basham and Jason Clemens point out that “Labour is a dynamic process through which individuals add value to raw materials, generate wealth for society, and give form to previously only imagined ideas. At the heart of the labour process is the opportunity for individuals to provide for themselves (and their families) a standard of living based on their own hard work, ingenuity, creativity, and skills.”  The Fraser Institute’s mortal enemy, The New Economic Foundation, argues that work represents a necessary component of a flourishing society: “High-quality work can profoundly affect our well-being by providing us with purpose, challenge, and opportunities for social relationships. It can constitute a meaningful part of our identity.” No matter what conceptual spectrum you approach it from, work is quite clearly the fabric of communities from Vancouver to Nairobi to Melbourne to Downtown Germania.

For the record, health is important, too. And the environment. Education has value as well, unless, of course, you are a Feudal Lord who needs to ensure that your Serfs do not gain access to movable type and, consequently, overthrow you.

Moving on…

Since human beings killed dinosaurs around 5,000 BC, work has been a central part of every human community. From the Discover Channel to the Harvard Business Review to the recently celebrated One Week Job Program to Philosophers, Teachers, Consultants, Coaches, Writers, Academics, and countless other professionals, holistic examinations of work – and what it means to humans – have threaded their way through textbooks, conferences, professional development seminars, and pop-culture. Some people say this series will add to the narrative of humans and work. Others say that this series will replace the entire thing because it’s so amazing.

Godfrey and I leave the final decision to you.

Below, as identified by the American Management Association, are five skills that have always made great workers masters of their craft. In order to put them in context, we will use the job of Circus Clown (pictured) to show their timeless application. Here they are:

  1. Effective Communication - delivers comprehensive water-spraying instructions to five-person team with no verbal cues, just first-class miming techniques.
  2. Critical Thinking and Analysis – based on research and analysis of previous five (unsuccessful) attempts by colleagues, removed head from lion’s mouth in timely fashion.
  3. Teamwork and Collaboration – collaborated with 89-person team to seamlessly enter and exit a three-cubic-meter car in under seven minutes.
  4. Innovation and Creativity – continually include fire and roller skates into components of show, such as engaging with young audience members during the “trampolines and shark tank” performance.
  5. John’s bonus skills: Adaptability (new). Leadership (experienced) - demonstrated flexibility by securing myself in a cannon, resulting in a post-explosion-travel of approximately 96 meters (new) or demonstrated comprehensive knowledge of safety procedures – such as location of 13 different fire extinguishers, medical personal and digital camera – during the rookie-clown-cannon-experience component of Circus’s closing ceremonies.

The relationship of these skills to certain jobs guided our selection process (for example, how frequently – or infrequently – does a churl demonstrate effective critical thinking and analysis when compared to a Product Manager at Google?), but there are other elements that informed our decision-making, too. During our evaluations, we really liked it when jobs spanned time and place. Here are some other factors that helped us nominate and rank  the five best and worst jobs in history:

  • Level of Hardship – “how much does this job make my life suck?“
  • Opportunity for Advancement – “how many paths are there from this job to cooler ones?“
  • Meaningful Nature of Work – “how much do I absolutely love doing this job?”

Each category has a five-point scale. In the case of a tie, “Grossness” and “Satisfaction“  will be used as the deciding factors.

Here are the shortlists for the best and worst jobs in the history of the world:

Candidates for the Best Job Ever.

  • Creative Leader at Google
  • Doctor
  • Carrier Fleet Admiral
  • King, Queen, Emperor, or Sultan
  • Landed 19th C Aristocrat
  • Explorer
  • Pirate (all the different kinds, ie. sea pirate, hacker, corporate raider)
  • Sponsored Surfer
  • Professional Athlete
  • Cult Leader
  • Food Critic
  • Superhero
  • Singer
  • Firefighters
  • University Professor
  • Educational and Vocational Counsellor
  • Hand model
  • Philosopher
  • Editor-in-Chief of a Major Newspaper
  • Johnny Depp

Candidates for the Worst Job Ever.

  • Slave
  • Serf
  • First World War Message Runner
  • Stand up Comedian
  • Entrepreneur
  • Pardoner
  • Politician
  • French Revolution Guillotine Operator
  • Collector of Plague Dead
  • Anarchist
  • Gladiator
  • The Coin Stamper
  • Leech Collector
  • Castrato
  • Adviser to Kim Jong Il
  • Telemarketer
  • Mine sweeper
  • Fact-checker at Fox News
  • Worker on Oil Rig
  • Ship Breaker

Over the next five days, Godfrey and I will count down the five best and five worst jobs in human history.

We hope that you enjoy the experience as much as we do and that it makes you really excited about returning to work or, alternatively, deciding that you never want to go back to work again!

Have fun with it!

- Godfrey and John

Our Transformational Community Well-Being

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[Editor’s Note: readers, from October 12 until November 9 I will be taking an amazing UBC Continuing Studies course called Sustainability Leadership: From Strategy to Transformation. My first assignment is to outline how this transformational shift is (or could be) helpful to my situation – my mission is to take the assignment  from me-to-we and provide some examples of how we can use some cool “emerging qualities” to create community in a chaotic world.]

Here we are. I’m not gonna lie, it’s a bit bleak out there. I mean, “scientists” and “business leaders” and “David Suzuki” will tell you that melting glaciers, rising seas, catastrophic earthquakes, desertification, staggering poverty, and the decline of the honeybee present some serious reasons for us to fear for – or just plain fear – the future. So, in the spirit of positivity and community-building, the Daily Gumboot is pleased to provide you, the people, with some fantastic options that you, the people, can consider as we lurch forward. Feel free to apply one, some or all of the options to your life and, most importantly, have fun with all of them!

Option 1. Our Well-Being…in Chaos.

THE IDEA: A few weeks ago I read the New Economics Foundation’s Well-Being Manifesto, which puts meaningful work and healthy human capital development at the centre of what it takes to create and sustain a flourishing society. Our Common Future supports the need to “create new values to help individuals and nations cope with rapidly changing social, environmental, and developmental realities.” Career Development Phenom Jim Bright argues that there is no linear career path, as where we work has more to do with chaotically interconnected random events – both lucky and tragic – than with education, training, self-assessment, counselling, research, and/or the cultural landscape of our home town (though all these things are important). Our careers – like life – exist in chaos and we need to prepare ourselves for it.

OUR ACTION: We need to create both personal and community-based “adaptability toolkits” that allow ourselves and our neighbourhoods to roll with the punches that life throws our way. After all, every neighbourhood needs food-growers/makers, artists, leaders, accountants, builders, designers, fixers, and creators to collaboratively thrive within chaos. So begin preparing your “adaptability toolkit” today! Being eternally adaptable will make you a transformational leader within a complex social – and global – network. Not to mention ecological ones, too.

Option 2. In the Business of Community.

THE IDEA: Henry Mintzberg’s article, “Rebuilding Companies as Communities” outlines a from-me-to-we solution for the many wrongly-worshipped CEOs out there. “We are social animals who cannot function effectively without a social system that is larger than ourselves,” says Mintsberg. “This is what is meant by ‘community’ – the social glue that binds us together for the greater good.” Mintzberg cites several examples of forward-thinking, people-firsting companies who ‘get it’ – one such organization, federation of Basque super-cooperatives, Mondragon, definitely jives with a les Nordiques as co-operative notion, as told by Gumbooteer Martin Renauld. As it turns out, putting people first is really good for business!

OUR ACTION: All around the world – in business, education or non-profit and with volunteerism, neighbourhoods, families, and politics – the simple, age-old concept of “community” is being re-applied everywhere. So, whether you’re sitting at your work-desk, sipping coffee in your ‘hood, or chatting with your mouth full during family dinner, reflect on this very important question: “how is this activity- this one I’m doing right now – positively contributing to my community?”

Option 3. Hug a Natural Capitalist.

THE IDEA: Termed by entrepreneur and world-changer Paul Hawken, Natural Capitalism seeks to solve the dirty, dirty problems being created by our outdated global system that is driven by Industrial Capitalism. Hawken argues that this can be done in four key ways: Radical Resource Productivity, Biomimicry, Service and Flow Economy, and Investing in Natural Capital.

OUR ACTION: Let’s start incorporating this stuff called “nature” into our economic formula, which currently employs a ridiculous equation that seems to assume our planet’s resources will keep pace with the exponential consumption of industrial capitalism. Be the change, people!

Option 4. Become a Radical Homemaker.

THE IDEA: Wency Leung presented the notion of Radical Homemakers in a recent edition of an up-and-coming print newspaper called the Globe and Mail. Again, a simple idea: give up the rat race and take care of your families and communities by growing local, organic and, more than likely, healthy food. After all, Our Common Future recommends that the Industrialized World strongly re-examine our relationships with money, food, fuel, people, and time.

OUR ACTION: “In pursuit of a more personally fulfilling and ecologically sustainable lifestyle, these so-called ‘radical homemakers’ are relying less on monetary income and are, instead, picking up domestic skills such as vegetable gardening and cooking to help meet their basic needs,” says Leung. Accept the honest fact that a reduction in income does not necessarily equal a drop in your standard of living. If you need a place to start, check out a recent post by Correspondent Katie Burns.

Option 5. When all else fails, become a Pirate!

THE IDEA: Somali pirates aren’t really “Somali pirates.” According to over 70% of Somalians, they’re actually a necessary component of a patch-work coastal defense structure! Forget the global community. Heck, forget everyone outside of your neighbourhood! This option is all about you and your closest shareholders. Sure, people outside your immediate circle might vilify you. But, remember, it’s not about them, it’s about you and your very local community.

OUR ACTION: Find some friends. Secure a boat, truck, web server, and/or multinational corporation. Pillage things from people and places without asking and, if necessary, use force, coercion and, possibly, the Internet to do it. Sure, pirate ships were and are bastions of democracy at its truest, but they’re also pretty violent. So, any action taken by us, I hope, is conceptual and only literal if necessary.

Community From Chaos

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We take more than we give, consume more than Earth produces.

Too many I’s and not enough teams.

From me-to-we an unovercomeable struggle, it seems.

Confusion breeds ignorance, media is negative, and we’re out of excuses.

A bringer of change.

With myriad range.

The Gumboot’s recipe.

For you all to see.

Creative solutions for community!

So there it is. And here we are. I’m not gonna lie, it’s a bit bleak out there. I mean, Obama just brought healthy tyranny to the world’s most important democracy – times are scary. Sure,  “scientists” and “business leaders” and “David Suzuki” will tell you that melting glaciers, rising seas, catastrophic earthquakes, desertification, staggering poverty, and the decline of the honeybee present far more serious reasons for us to fear for – or just plain fear – the future, but some of those ideas are complicated and the words that explain them are hard to spell. Solutions need to be easier!

In the spirit of positivity and community-building, the Daily Gumboot is pleased to provide you, the people, with some fantastic options that you, the people, can consider as we lurch forward. Feel free to apply one, some or all of the options to your life and, most importantly, have fun with it!

Option 1. Embrace Chaos.

THE IDEA: A few weeks ago, I saw Career Development Phenom Jim Bright speak in Vancouver. His theory is Einstein-esque – simple, but nothing simpler – and here it is: there is no linear career path, as where we work has more to do with chaotically interconnected random events – both lucky and tragic – than with education, training, self-assessment, counselling, research, and/or the cultural landscape of our home town (though all these things are important). Our careers – like life – exist in chaos and we need to prepare ourselves for it. Here is the concept explained in video form:

OUR ACTION: Stop trying to plan and control everything, Batman/Kurt. You can’t organize the trillions of random variables – like fuel prices – that make up the enormously complicated fabric of our planet’s community. What we need to do is create both personal and community-based “adaptability toolkits” that allow ourselves and our neighbourhoods to roll with the punches that life throws our way. After all, every neighbourhood needs food-growers/makers, artists, leaders, accountants, builders, designers, fixers, and creators to collaboratively thrive within chaos. So begin preparing your “adaptability toolkit” today!

Option 2. Get to Know Your Business Community.

THE IDEA: Many folks will argue that business got us into this mess. And many folks, myself included, will argue that business can get us out of this mess. Mostly because it has to. Henry Mintzberg’s article, “Rebuilding Companies as Communities” outlines a from-me-to-we solution for the many wrongly-worshipped CEOs out there. “We are social animals who cannot function effectively without a social system that is larger than ourselves,” says Mintsberg. “This is what is meant by ‘community’ – the social glue that binds us together for the greater good.” Mintzberg cites several examples of forward-thinking, people-firsting companies who ‘get it’ – one such organization, federation of Basque super-cooperatives, Mondragon, definitely jives with a les Nordiques as co-operative notion, as told by Gumbooteer Martin Renauld. As it turns out, putting people first is really good for business!

OUR ACTION: All around the world – in business, education or non-profit and with volunteerism, neighbourhoods, families, and politics – the simple, age-old concept of “community” is being re-applied everywhere. So, whether you’re sitting at your work-desk, sipping coffee in your ‘hood, or chatting with your mouth full during family dinner, reflect on this very important question: “how is this activity- this one I’m doing right now – positively contributing to my community?” Because if your idea/action involved a plan to create a superawesome social networking community that specializes in volunteerism and philanthropy, well, Chris Hughes, of Facebook fame and who only 26 years old, stole your idea before you even had one. It’s called Jumo and, like Chris, it’s pretty awesome.

Option 3. Reset Ourselves to Natural Capitalism.

THE IDEA:Termed by entrepreneur and world-changer Paul Hawken, Natural Capitalism seeks to solve the dirty, dirty problems being created by our outdated global system that is driven by Industrial Capitalism. Hawken argues that this can be done in four key ways:

  1. Radical Resource Productivity.
  2. Biomimicry.
  3. Service and Flow Economy.
  4. Investing in Natural Capital.

OUR ACTION: Make love to Mother Earth! Dig a hole in the ground. Put a little water in it. And go to town. No, wait, this is an inappropriate use of natural capital and, more importantly, such action has already been taken by Will Ferrell with great success. Anyway, we basically need to incorporate this stuff called “nature” into our economic formula, which currently employs a ridiculous equation that seems to assume our planet’s resources will keep pace with the exponential consumption of industrial capitalism. Be the change, people!

Option 4. Become a Radical Homemaker.

THE IDEA: Wency Leung presented the notion of Radical Homemakers in a recent edition of an up-and-coming print newspaper called the Globe and Mail. Again, a simple idea: give up the rat race and take care of your families and communities by growing local, organic and, more than likely, healthy food.

OUR ACTION: “In pursuit of a more personally fulfilling and ecologically sustainable lifestyle, these so-called ‘radical homemakers’ are relying less on monetary income and are, instead, picking up domestic skills such as vegetable gardening and cooking to help meet their basic needs,” says Leung. Accept the honest fact that a reduction in income does not necessarily equal a drop in your standard of living. If you need a place to start, check out a recent post by Pete’s favourite Correspondent, Katie Burns.

 

Option 5. Piracy.

THE IDEA: Forget the global community. Heck, forget everyone outside of your neighbourhood! This option is all about you and your closest friends/family/shareholders. Sure, people outside your immediate circle might vilify you. But, remember, it’s not about them, it’s about you and your very local community.  Somali pirates aren’t really “Somali pirates”, after all; according to over 70% of Somalians, they’re actually a necessary component of a patch-work coastal defense structure!

OUR ACTION: Find some friends. Secure a boat, truck, web server, and/or multinational corporation. Pillage things from people and places without asking and, if necessary, use force, coercion and, possibly, the Internet to do it. Sure, pirate ships were and are bastions of democracy at it’s truest, but they’re also pretty violent. So, any action taken by us, I hope, is conceptual and only literal if necessary.

Have fun with your consideration of such options. May they inspire us all to create many, many more!

- JCH

Horn and Burtnyk: Kenyans from the Kamba Community!

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kenya_ethnic_1974The endorsement of John Horn and Michelle wedding by the US president Barrack Obama – who has Kenyan roots – and the unwavering support the two have received from the Kenyan President got me thinking; What if the two were Kenyans from the Kamba community? Knowing how Africans adhere to unique traditions and customs, Michelle and John would have gone through a totally different process before being allowed to have their wedding in July 2010.

Flashback to the 1940s

We will assume that John and Michelle’s wedding was in July 1944 (My grandfather who is now 90 years old gave me a detailed account of how he got married to my grandmother in 1940s).

After realizing that his son has become a man, Mr. Horn starts shopping for a girl for his  son (young John Horn) by vetting different families in the neighbourhood. This is a fact finding mission which involves checking if the family has history of alcoholism, Curses, Asthma etc.  Depending on facts gathered, Mr. Horn will narrow down to two or three families then visit their homes to find out more about their daughters. Mr. Horn is then impressed by the chemistry between him and the  Burtynks and several visits to the family reveals that Michelle, one of the Burtnyk daughters, has been serving him every time he visits is hard working, respectful and humble. Without wasting time, he will book her for John by tying a thick thread around her wrist.  The thread signifies that Michelle has been booked (engaged) and therefore no one else can marry her at that time except the Elder Horn’s Son. Mr. Horn will then tell John that he has found a good wife for him. The Horns will organize a visit to the Burtynks and start negotiating a dowry price. At this point, John and Michelle are not allowed to question the decision since their parents know them better and will undoubtedly make the best decision for them.

Fast forward to 2009 history

John meets Michelle on campus at Simon Fraser University and they start dating and fall in love. John will then introduce Michelle to his parents as his potential wife. John’s father will then look for an elderly respectable man who will be sent to inform Michelle’s father that John is dating his daughter and they should agree to meet at a later date to introduce both families and negotiate a dowry price . Johns’ father will then request his brothers, friends and preferably a clan elder (Uncle Gary?) to accompany him to Michelle’s family to help in negotiating a dowry price. Michelle’s father will also mobilize his team to meet the Horns.

John and Michelle

John and Michelle - suspicious of each other and the Eurocentric traditions that will bind them in foreverness...

Team Burtnyk will propose how much they are willing to accept as dowry price for their daughter. Now this is the most interesting and tricky part since different families approach it differently. (Lets refer to a dowry negotiation i attended last year!)   The Burtnyks will praise Michelle as a well behaved, hardworking and lively woman who will make a good wife.  It will be agreed that since Michelle had no child prior to meeting John,  the entire Kamba marriage custom will be followed and therefore the standard dowry price will be paid. This includes 12 cows, 48 goats and several sacks of maize and beans and traditional brew called Kaluvu.

But before the negotiations are over, Michelle’s uncle will remind everyone that his “daughter” has been to University pursuing a masters degree, and has a well paying job. He will then ask for a token of compensation and will request that Ksh 0.6 million be included in the dowry price. Horns team will counter that until they agree.

After they have agreed, the Horn Team will produce three goats for theo ( the ultimate sacrifice that signifies

Meet the Horn and Burtnyk Tribes - when united they are called "The Bornks!"

Meet the Horn and Burtnyk Tribes - when united they are called "The Bornks!"

marriage) . John is required by Kamba traditions to slaughter one goat and that blood will then signify that Michelle has officially moved from the Burtynks and has become a member of the Horn family by all Kamba marriage traditions. John has a wife now and can go ahead and organize a wedding the Western way!

Martin Muli

From Akamba tribe!

Celebrating One Year of Wearing Gumboots

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Tell your friends about our blog and help build our community!

Tell your friends about our blog and help build our community!

Happy one year anniversary, readers! What began as a cool project to connect friends has transformed into one of the world’s most popular blogs that my parents read! Did you know that, each week, over 1.5 million blogs are updated on planet Earth? Well, The Daily Gumboot is most certainly one of those blogs. And we’re pretty proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past year.

Speaking of which, here is a list of each contributor’s favourite article(s) that they have submitted since The DG was launched on December 1, 2008.

Michelle and I, as we tend to do, have collaborated on our favourite post(s) from the past year. During July 2009 The Bornks! traveled to South America to conduct some investigative journa-blog-ism of Latin American Communities. For your reading pleasure, we have arranged the stories in chapters. Chapter One sets up the trip and makes some predictions. Chapter Two introduces some key characters, Ximen and Martana. Chapter Three discusses the expansive community of Argentina – from East to West and back again. And Chapter Four details the journey home and why people should never, ever go to Lima.

Next up is Editor-in-Controversy, Kurt Heinrich, who selected Part One of his Expat Communities series, which presents some interesting stories about his trip to Japan and, I must say, has inspired some very cool discussion from our readers. Enjoy yourselves.

Ms. Theodora Lamb is right behind Kurt (after all she, not he, is Kurt’s “red-headed partner,” Pete). Theo’s post about nudity in female locker rooms at community centres, well, let’s just say that before we wrote about Stephen Colbert (about his nudity in female locker rooms, actually) Theo’s article was by far this blog’s most popular. The article is called “Let’s Get Naked!” Have fun with it!

When I asked Stewart Burgess – Stewartworks - which article he liked the most, he said something about having “pitifully few opportunities to post because of the Editorial staff’s stance on architecture.” Well, Stewart, that’s why we love your favourite post so much. It’s about you riding a bus!

Our back-end guy (who, yes, has a nice back-end, too), Mike Boronowski, presented an interesting piece on expanding the grey on our local, regional, national, and, yes, global communities.

Finally, this one time, our Man in Nairobi, Kenya Correspondent, Martin Muli, wrote a piece about a seven-day-sex boycott. It is as fascinating as it is fascinating!

Undoubtedly you can see that The Daily Gumboot truly does strive to collect ideas from everywhere. My mission to you, readers, is to check out the articles above and let us know which one you like the best and why. And, after you’ve perused all the supercool words and pictures above, be sure to tell 10 of your friends and colleagues about The Daily Gumboot. After all, we’re all about building community!

What article from the past year do you like best?

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Thanks for your support and contributions over our first year. We look forward to it continuing for years to come!

- JCH