Tag Archives: Sauder School of Business

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!]

Ivan Wanis Ruiz – The Presenter

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Who are you?

Ivan Wanis Ruiz. I have several interests, but my two main businesses are Public Speaking and Dance Instruction. I have formerly worked in Pharmaceutical Sales and Brokerage, but found my real interest and passion came from teaching and not shaving everyday. I LOVE public speaking and it has slowly taken up most of my life. Recently have also found some interests in social media. I think its the new Marketing in that everyone is talking about it, but no one can really nail down what it is.

What do you do for fun?

I am addicted to dancing, besides salsa I like to try a little of everything from Hip Hop to Tango. I find learning new dances also keeps me humble because I am always re-experiencing what its like to be the worst/silliest person in the room. It basically reminds me that there is always more to learn.

What is your favourite community? Why?

I spend a lot of time online on youtube and listening to podcasts. What I tell people is if you want to learn how to do something start, but checking out youtube. If you want to learn about something listen to podcasts.

What is your Superpower?

To read your mind mmwwaaahhhahahaha. I think I am good at reading people and understanding their expectations.

How do you use it to build community?

Everything I do is set up in a process – how people do something – why it does or does not work – how can I fix it/improve on it. It all starts by understanding what expectations those people have. This also applies to me. I force myself to self evaluating by recording myself when I do things.

My Three Favourite Things About Ivan Are…

1. He’s really, really, really good. I’ve hired Ivan to deliver public speaking and presentation-skills workshops about five times. And everything – from how he prepares to the way he delivers content to what he does as a follow-up – is just unreal. My students love him, and, consequently, learn lots from what he teaches. As for me, well, I consider myself a really good presenter, but there hasn’t been a time that I’ve taken in an Ivan-presentation without learning something new and totally kickass powerful that adds a lot of value to my professional toolkit. He just makes people better presenters, and if you want to positively impact your community you’re going to be able to make a strong case about how you can do it.

2. Edutainment. As many readers know, I’m passionate about educational styles and strategies that combine humour and technology to best engage distractable Millennial learners. Ivan is, too. He involves learners in activities, is funny, but also direct and professional, and his presentations are so sexy that the audience is drawn to them.

3. Work. Life. Salsa. Ivan works hard, and he also follows his passion(s) – which surround public speaking and salsa. Following his interests – and his heart – ensure that he’s always doing what he loves, which probably explains that wicked-awesome smile on his face and enthusiasm for how he lives life every day.

As told by John Horn…

Etiquette Builds Community

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Given that my official Daily Gumboot title is Etiquette and Australian Safety Correspondent, I thought it was about time I wrote a post on etiquette to counter the many posts I have written about Australian safety, which let’s face it, is a fairly niche area.

So, I thought I’d share some thoughts on office manners, which far from disappearing in to their predicted obsolesce, are actually making a comeback in the business world.

1. Hold the Door Open

When I was working at the highly regarded Sauder School of Business, I was consistently mortified at how many doors were slammed in my face by Vancouver’s future business leaders. I definitely don’t expect to have doors held open for me based on my gender, but I do expect it to happen based on my status as a fellow human being. It’s pretty easy to do a quick head-check to see if there’s anyone behind you before you swing the door like it’s an iron gate in a hurricane.

If we’re getting pedantic about it, the person who reaches the door first should open it and usher the person behind them through, and only then should they walk through themselves and shut (not slam) the door behind them. This kind of precision etiquette is clearly not going to happen when you’re in the bathroom line at the hockey, but there’s no reason why it shouldn’t happen in your workplace.

2. Be Punctual to Meetings

Quick tip: five minutes before the start time of your meeting is not the right time to print a copy of the 400 page tender document for each of the 12 meeting attendees. And the printer won’t print any quicker if you stand there looking at your watch and forcibly pulling out each sheet of paper as soon as it dares to poke an edge on to the feed tray.

Quite simply, being on time to meetings shows respect. Respect for the person who organized the meeting, respect for the attendees and respect for yourself. I guarantee that if you are always on time people will naturally assume they can count on you. Your boss and co-workers will think of you as a dependable person. Who do you think the boss will assign to handle the next important project? Not someone who is always late.

3. Keep the Kitchen Clean

If you are lucky enough to have a shared kitchen/meals area in your workplace, respect it. Do your dishes, clean up your spills and fill up anything you empty. It’s simple stuff, but it is truly incredible how many people have homes that look like Ikea catalogues, but leave the office kitchen looking like a war zone.

And by the way, trash goes in the trash can. Take a look around the kitchen and I’m confident you’ll find one. It’s the large container with the trash bag in it.

Yassaman Nouri – World Changer

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Who are you?

So many ways to answer such a short question… My name is Yassaman Nouri and I am compassionate about helping people in anyway I can. I love life and love to spread happiness to the people around me. I believe that every single person in the world has unique talents, skills and passions and if given the opportunity, can achieve greatness! Hence, I listen to people, and help them discover their own greatness and encourage them to use it in creating a positive change in the world around them.

What do you do for fun?

There are lots of things I love to do for fun. More than anything else, I love to do sports. I swam competitively for many years so that is by far my favourite thing to do. I also love to run, bike, hike, dance (flamenco and salsa), play my piano for hours, read books, go to movies, spend quality time with friends and family, people watching and randomly starting conversations with various people. Aside from that, I LOVE traveling! My goal is to visit 200 countries before I die and speak 5 languages fluently. My guilty pleasures are long walks in the middle of snow and having a large ice-cream cone!

What is your favourite community? Why?

There are so many communities that I love, can I pick the whole world? If not, I will pick the social finance and community development community. I am fascinated by how people from all social, economical and educational backgrounds can come together and design innovative ways to develop communities around the world.

What is your superpower?

I love helping! I love listening to people, asking them questions to learn more about them, and help them to improve the quality of their lives and put a big smile on their face. I enjoy analyzing situations, getting opinions of all sorts of people and then coming up with out of the box ideas for create positive changes.

How do you use it to build community?

I believe my current job sums this up. I am on an internship with Canadian International Development Agency as a Credit Union Development Officer in Africa. My placement is with Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives. I visit new credit unions and talk to board of directors, management, staff, credit union members and various people in the community to asses their needs. Then I look at the programs and products that are available at the credit union for all these stakeholders. I then compare the two together to bridge the gap. I recently received approval from the Bvumbwe Savings and Credit Co-operative (the first credit union that I visited in Malawi) to commence implementing programs such as mentorship and entrepreneurship programs for post-secondary school students, youth savings accounts for 12-18 year olds to teach them the culture of saving and hence them with school expenses, workshops for women to learn how to start and run their own small businesses, workshop for farmers to learn best practices of farming and learn how to run their farms as successful businesses, organizing credit union days to connect the people of the community with the credit union team and many more exciting projects that I am motivated to work with various amazing individuals on!

My Three Favourite Things About Yassaman are…

1. Giant Hair. It overflows. Stands tall. Twirls and blows in the wind. And probably has a life of its own. I’m sure quite how Yassi manages the flowing curls, but the fact that she does it is a true indication of her organizational skills.

2. So much Kindness. A heart of gold this one has. Whether it’s ridiculously nice thank you gifts to the Business Career Centre team (I first met Yass when she was a BCOM student at UBC’s Sauder School of Business) or or the general nature of her micro-finance work in Africa or that she has arranged bike rides around the world to raise awareness for different global issues or the fact that she never says no to anything, ever, Yassaman Nouri is truly one of the nicest people that I’ve ever met. She brings this kindness to workshops that she facilitates, social events and the people with whom she connects. It’s a pleasure to know Yass and call her my friend.

3. World Changing Business Education. Nothing against investment bankers or operations analysts for Shell, but Yassaman has taken her technical and professional toolkit into a part of the world that quite frankly needs a break from hardship. She is applying her skills in the most meaningful way possible and truly making a positive difference in the world. Stories like hers are inspiring and I hope that many more folks follow in her footsteps.

…as told by John Horn

Paul Cubbon – Marathon Marketer

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Who are you?

Paul Cubbon: http://blogs.ubc.ca/paulcubbon/
Marketing Instructor at the Sauder School of Business is my job title – but is it “who I am?”
I am fun-loving, creative, problem solving, easily bored, often distracted, happy multi-tasking – I am an over-load junkie who runs hard at things allowing them to be all-consuming, and then I turn off and detox with something totally different. I need to sleep but wish that I could get by on less as there is so much to do. I’m hard-working and good at prioritizing – but I am also a lazy procrastinator. I like the simple things best of all: family, friends, good conversation, food, travel, books, movies, exercise. I like change, so long as there is a safety net! I’m gregarious and social – but love my own company and privacy.

What do you do for fun?

I run up mountains, I ski down them – picnic on the beach, eat and drink well with family and close friends – and have 10 books on the go at the same time.

What is your favourite community and why?

I think of communities in 2 ways….traditional ones built around schools, sport leagues and their virtual equivalents –online communities. Passion around shared interest is at the heart of what makes these tick – people giving without thought of getting anything in return because they believe in the cause and are happy to help. Social, sporting and volunteer communities have lots to teach business attempts at “community management” about values and authenticity.

I really like www.clubfatass.com – an irreverent community of off-road, long distance trail runners. Even though I am not a cyclist, I admire http://testofmetal.com/ for how volunteers created a large, world class economic driver for tourism based on a passion for mountain biking. In business I like the work of http://thinkengagement.com/ a social media consulting company that is building its business around identifying and nurturing passionate communities – this is why I am doing some work with them – to try and bridge personal and professional beliefs.

What is your superpower?

Ha! With 3 teenagers and teaching many hundreds of young adults each year, one is often reminded of one’s fallibility! Superpowers that I would like to have: slowing down time, or being able to live for longer at this level of energy; cancelling the need to sleep or adding more hours to the day. It would also be pretty cool to fly – superman style!

How do you use it to build community?

I guess this is a bit about dreaming or imagining – desire and drive…..these come back to mining passions….identifying what people care about – this is central to community.

My Three Favourite Things About Paul Cubbon are…

1. Funny T-Shirts. Paul is known and loved around the UBC campus for his creative, thoughtful, and downright ridiculous shirts. As a fan of ridiculous tshirts – those who know me know I have a few – I am also slightly jealous of Paul because he gets to wear them to work and is celebrated by his students and colleagues.

2. He ‘gets’ Social Media. So much so that he knows it’s not going to be called “social media” in five or ten years from now. By taking an active role in helping young people create positive digital footprints – which ideally will overwhelm all the bad ones – Paul is demonstrating his foresight when it comes to equipping our leaders of tomorrow with the proper connective tools. Ones that will help them socially as well as professionally.

3. Student Engagement. Whether it’s a teaching-focused course about general business for first year students or the simple gesture of making himself available in a common, high-student-traffic area, Paul is a master when it comes to connecting with students on their terms and through the mediums that they use. He also teaches them about a couple of other cool ones, too!

- as told by John Horn…

Guest Shot: Andrea Lloyd

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A Joke is a Very Serious Thing

By: Andrea Lloyd

(Editor’s Note: this article was recently posted by my friend and colleague, Andrea Lloyd, on the Sauder School of Business’s ISIS website.Given our use of the BEST Party’s amazing campaign video on Saturday, we thought it only fitting to expand the digital story with a written one. Andrea, thanks for being a fantastic Guest Correspondent!).

I recently returned from a two-week photography holiday in Iceland. In addition to enjoying its spectacular, raw landscapes – lava fields, waterfalls, and eerie plumes of geothermal steam – I caught a glimpse of the fascinating political and economic landscape of post-crash Iceland. Prior to my departure a CBC radio news story had already piqued my curiosity. It described the sensational political ascent of a newly-formed “joke” party, the “Best Party”, to victory in Reykjavik’s recent city elections on May 29th, 2010. I wondered whether Canada should or could experience a similar shake up?

But first, some context on Iceland’s economic implosion in 2008. According to Reykjavik’s hip English language newspaper, “The Grapevine”, Iceland rode a wave of “Viking Capitalism” – a brand of high risk banking whose instrument was called “IceSave” – that propelled Iceland to the world’s attention as the ‘poster child’ of the 2008 global financial crisis. In October 2008, the then UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown used anti-terrorist legislation to freeze Iceland’s assets, effectively transforming it into a ‘rogue’ state within Europe and triggering, some say, a wider collapse. Iceland’s banks failed, leaving the nation bankrupt and its taxpayers on the hook for a staggering $5 billion to UK and Netherlands depositors.

In a March 2010 referendum, following the “sauce pan revolution” of the previous winter, Iceland’s Foreign Ministry announced that voters overwhelmingly rejected a deal to pay back the money to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, citing “widespread frustration over the claim on ordinary citizens in Iceland to pay the price for the irresponsible behavior of reckless bankers”. (Of course, why Iceland is “allowed” to do this, when other countries are not, is a deeper question that is beyond the scope of this post).

Enter the Best Party. After the dark days of the collapse, Jon Gnarr, a cheeky comedian and former anarcho-punk musician who toured with Bjork’s band the Sugarcubes, sensed “the need for a breath of fresh air, a new interaction”. In just six months, he gathered together many prominent members of Reykjavik’s cultural and creative community to form the Best Party (in Icelandic – Besti flokkurinn), and won the mayoral race, scoring 34.7% of the vote, securing 6 of 15 seats of the city council with 83% of registered voter turn-out.

The Best Party’s surprise victory was aided in large part by its unorthodox campaign video that featured Best Party members singing the “best manifesto” to Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best”. (To understand more about what the Best Party represents, this Youtube video is a must see). Jon Gnarr is now the fourth mayor in four years in Iceland’s energetic capital, of which the greater Reykjavik area is home to nearly two-thirds of Iceland’s population.

The upstart “Besties” threw Iceland’s established parties and political scientists in a tizzy. As Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson, a political science professor at the University of Iceland, said:  “People know Jon Gnarr is a good comedian, but they don’t know anything about his politics. And even as a comedian, you never know if he’s serious or if he’s joking.” Accordingly, new Mayor Jon Gnarr reassured his constituents: “No one has to be afraid of the Best Party,” he said, “because it is the best party. If it wasn’t, it would be called the Worst Party or the Bad Party. We would never work with a party like that.”

The story of the Best Party has captured my imagination.  Through chats over coffee and “Viking” lager with various Reykjavik locals, my conclusion (definitely not verified by stringent research methods) is that this “protest” vote is something more than a cynical throw-away vote, as some political scientists have described it; rather, it represents an optimistic affirmation of the future. As my Icelandic friend Erla Petursdottir, a Reykjavik lawyer, observed, the Best Party’s surprise victory served to “remind people what is important”.

In Canada, political pundits and pollsters have recently decried the moribund participation in federal (and other) elections, and rising cynicism towards electoral politics. Maybe we could use a breath of Iceland’s fresh air here? I like John Gnarr’s assessment: “Just because something is funny doesn’t mean it isn’t serious”.

Kevin Greer – The Editorial Associate (not Intern)

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Who are you?

I am a six foot three, competitive yet an easy going student currently attending the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. I love to express my opinion about many different topics, whether it be over the internet or a coffee. Appointed as  editorial assistant for the Daily Gumboot, my goal is to get all of the voices within this blog extended to a greater audience.

What do you do for fun?

I play extreme upside down turbo Ultimate Frisbee (what I like to call it), study, eat way too much Asian food, hang out with my awesome girlfriend Rosa and argue for hours about how we can change the world. I also spend an insane amount of time tinkering with my computers.

What is your favorite community and why?

I enjoy any group of entities that merge to share their stories. It can be as small as a woman and her dog to the massive scale interactions that occur within a city such as Vancouver. Everyone has a story to tell and I guarantee that others will want to hear it. I also find global communities arising through the help of the internet groundbreaking and controversial.

What is your super power?

Having mad hops to jump over anything including the literal, factual, metaphorical and figurative obstacles of the world while simultaneously aiding others to do the same.

How does your power help you to build community?

I have one simple motto which builds community personally, locally and globally: help others.  I may procrastinate, J-walk and sleep in (I am not perfect, just close) but I always do things with the needs of other people as the number one priority. I thoughtfully use these so called ‘hops’ to inspire, lead and present ideas to others unselfishly. My goal is not to be the richest man in the world, simply someone who has the skills and attitude to construct, as well as develop, community and relationships.

My Three Favourite things about Kevin Greer are…

1. The cut of his jib. Kevin the Intern lived on a boat for a year or so and this experience certainly refined his sense of self – he might be 18, but he carries himself in a way that suggests he’s 18 going on 30. Also, his nautical sense and boat-savvy makes him the most pirate-like member of the Daily Gumboot team.

2. The Toolkit. Business + Computer Science + Innovation + Entrepreneurial Spirit + Sex Appeal = Kevin Greer. Kevin came to our first meeting with a lot of ideas that he is carrying out as we speak, and it’s pretty darn inspiring.

3. Lifelong Learning. Kevin the Intern Editorial Associate is the kind of guy who will just keep getting better with age – knowing what I know about the career potential about mid-to-late-twentysomethings here in the Lower Mainland, I can safely say that the young and talented Mr. Greer is well on his way to being a thought/business leader in Vancouver and beyond well before his time. No pressure though, pal.

On behalf of the Daily Gumboot team, thanks for all your hard work, Kevin!

…As told by John Horn…

David Singh – The Leader

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Who are you?

Who I am is the output of what I beleive, which is a deep conviction in the power of people. I’ve been fortunate to have grown up in great communities, known and worked with great leaders, and been admitted to and learned from great insitutions and organizations. My life’s mantra is to be fresh, bold, and positive. By day I’m a strategy consultant for Deloitte in Toronto. By day AND night, I’m a young leader who loves to connect with people who are passionate about what they are doing and where they are going.

What do you do for fun?

I read, which is in alignment for my dictionary definition (see below – thanks Matt!). But I also love to take a saturday afternoon, several cups of coffee, and my sketchbook to litteraly draw out business plans and concepts. Many are far-fetched. Correction: all them are far-fetched and aspirational. The more I learn about business the more I know there are no rules. There is only conviction of purpose, which is fueled by passion. So I love to sit, draw, and drink! As Thomas Friedman said in The World is Flat ”It’s better to have more dreams than memories!” (This is definitely a great book to check out!)

What is your favourite community and why?

I’ve got two: my close mastermind group and the Stryde community. Two essential books I think every human needs to read are: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Who’s Got your Back by Keith Ferrazzi. These books are rich with advice. Most important of the advice shared, in my opinion, is the essential need for all of us to have a close group of trusted advisors that we meet with regularly to share, discuss, and track our goals. Take a moment and think about these questions:

1) Do you have goals?

2) Have you written them down?

3) Have you shared them with three of your closests friends?

4) How many true friends and life-line relationships do you have in your life that you are totally open with and implicitly trust?

While I hope the answers are: yes, yes, yes, and many. That’s most likely not the case. These two books will inspire and teach you how to do this. Do not pass go. Go and buy these books!

My second community doesn’t exist, but it will soon. Insert my visionary mindset here. Over the past 6 months myself and Daneal Charney have teamed up to write Hitting Stryde: A Gen-Y career Survival Guide. We’ve got very grandiose social media plans, but wanted to start by sharing 110 proven tips that will help young leaders navigate their early career. Our hope is to share our thoughts in tandem with engaging young leaders around the world about what inspires them, where they need help, and where they’ve achieved success. We are just building our digital footprint so stay tuned to www.stryde.ca

for more information.

What is your superpower?

Packing way too many things into my day. Who needs sleep anyways!

How do you use it to build community?

I think there are two ways to build community: actively and passively. If you are actively building community you are organizing, arranging, and leading community organizations and events. In the later, you are attending events, networking, and adding fuel to the fire. The world needs active leaders, but most importantly, as Robin Sharma has written in his new book The Leader without a Title, the world needs leaders without a title who relentlessly show-up at their best. As I transition into the work place, a new city, and larger social network my goal is show-up everyday showcasing my best. I do this at morning breakfasts, morning meetings, lunches and coffees with colleagues, events at night, dinners with friends and mentors, and late night phone calls with students who are needing help in their careers. At times I’m an active leader, but the majority of my day is spent ‘just showing-up’ and I love it.

My three favourite things about David are…

1. Leading without title. I met David when he was one of my students at the University of British Columbia – quickly, I because one of his students.  Whether it was building consensus amongst his classmates, recommending a few books or connecting me with interesting and/or important people, Mr. Singh was a true leader who stood out from everyone else. Trust me when I say that he’s one to watch in the next 10 years and beyond, as his potential is just beginning to be realized.

2. Trendspotter. There are some people out there who know what’s cool even before the people who create said cool thing know how cool it’s going to be. Whether it’s Twitter, an innovative new graduate business program, MARS, or wearing jeans with a tuxedo, David reveals trends or – from time to time – sets them himself.

3. The oozing of charismatic creativity. The idea is a simple one: mentally record the “touch points” of your conversation with someone, flip through the filing cabinet that is your brain until you find a book that is relevant to that person’s interests/ideas/needs/career, and send them a copy with a meaningful hand-written note that candidly acknowledges the importance of the conversation. David’s mastery of this powerful relationship-building strategy had such an impact on one of his fellow alumni that I was recently sent this note below:

da·vid singh /   Show S[day-vid sing]

(verb): To craftily mention a literary work in casual conversation upon meeting an acquaintance, then giving the referenced literature upon next encounter as a gift.
(noun): Craftiest networker this side of the Atlantic.

Use it in conversation, write it a couple of times into the Gumboot and maybe it’ll catch on. Imagine someone is looking to network with you and all you say is ‘look me up… in the dictionary.’ Talk about a career advisor’s fantasy.

The thing about David Singh is that he makes the unreal, well, real. Be sure to pencil this one into your dictionaries right now.

…as told by John Horn

Community by Design

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An iceberg: such an apt visual for design thinking about climate change.

An iceberg: such an apt visual for design thinking about climate change.

Gregor. Gordon. Stephen. I hope you guys are reading (or lackeys managing the blogosphere for these fine fellahs; that’s cool too).

In the past year, arguments have been made that Harvard MBAs ruined the world. While partly true, one could make an equally strong case for Physicists killing Wall Street and sending the world into an economic spiral of despair and Fox News.  Luckily for Copenhagen, the planet and our future, UBC’s Sauder School of Business has a collection of 40 or so MBAs who are poised to save Earth from annihilation the likes of 2012 by employing innovation, business-sense and sustainability by design. “John, what the heck does this all mean?” you ask. Well, it means there’s hope in the world and that UBC is leading the way in harnessing such a thing to create a better community for everyone. Recently, I sneaked into a UBC 2.0 Sustainable Business by Design workshop at the University of British Columbia’s Robson Square campus. Actually, I didn’t sneak in, I just didn’t want to make the Province, CTV, the Vancouver Sun, CBC, and citycaucus.com jealous by telling them that The Daily Gumboot was the only media invited to this exclusive event that is, as I type, changing the world.  Alright, perhaps, “snuck in” or “only representation of media” are a little too strong of terms, as might in fact work for UBC and may or not have been invited.

Moving on…

The purpose of the conference is, according to eminent game-changer/world-saver, Dr. James Tansey, “engage students in an active dialogue with world experts on major issues that will shape the business environment in which they spend their careers.” The project focuses particularly on three key frontiers for UBC graduates: the geographic frontier of being a major trading hub between North America and the rest of the world; the technological frontier of UBC being at the epicentre of R&D on the West Coast; and the cultural frontier between, arguably, the Western World and Asia.

The way that students were encouraged to create ideas and concepts was even cooler. Enter Moura Quayle, one of Sauder’s newest faculty members. The group of 40 plus MBAs were shown how to incorporate Design Thinking into their planning. So, what is design thinking? Well, Ms. Quayle has some great explanations for such questions: “design thinking is a collaborative, exploratory process, rooted in user research, in which a multi-disciplinary team applies creative and critical thinking techniques to conceive, test and develop innovative responses to design, policy or business challenges and opportunities.” Design thinking is all about being integrative and holistic, thinking visually and spatially, iterative and non-linear, and it’s a safe way to risk (testing ideas before implementing them).  Now, not everyone is a fan of design thinking. Take Peter Merholz, for example, who argues that design thinking marginalizes the “spreadsheet crowd” and, really, is actually just “social science thinking” in disguise. Ms. Quayle, as I imagine she does all the time, has an answer for this, given that her approach actually fuses “business” and “design” thinking, well, it’s easy to see why Sustainable Business Design lives up to Ron Kellett’s, UBC School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture, quote: “as a matter of survival, successful business will learn to design and continuously improve itself as a matter of course rather than exception…” The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management turned to a Design Thinking concept on the heels of last year’s financial meltdown.

Here’s a brief glimpse of the process (the previous link to Jim Ratcliffe’s Apple.com blog has six steps, while Moura Quayle’s model below has eight):

  • Define: where is the opportunity?
  • Discover: what are the resources? Engage participation!
  • Re-think: what does it all mean?
  • Envision: brainstorm!
  • Select: what concept should we develop?
  • Develop: how can we translate this concept into tangible, testable form?
  • Deliver: empower and implement.
  • Evaluate: what is our process for ongoing monitoring?

Very important. These concepts are to be arranged, visually-speaking, as part of an interconnected circle into which you can enter through any theme, depending on where your body, heart, mind, and soul are in the design process. ACTIVITY: draw a circle and create eight sections (think pie, people).

Six Thinking Hats - a cool graphic with some expansion below!

Six Thinking Hats - a cool graphic with some expansion below!

If you haven’t already, check out Vancouver’s handsome Mayor’s face on the cover of The Georgia Straight. Gregor Robertson’s vision is to make Vancouver the Greenest City on Earth. Fair enough. Great idea. And it’s going to take more than just him, the Vision Vancouver team and committees of enthusiastically uncompromising bureaucrats. Such a project must be designed by all of us. And here’s where it gets interesting. My suggestion is that, no matter what community you’re trying to build, you engage your clients, collaborators, neighbours, stakeholders, partners, and/or sheep with the following tagline: this is our community by your design. “Our community” implies ownership, inclusiveness and importance – we all have a stake in this community. “Your design” implies collaboration, accountability and impact – you will play a major role in shaping this community with your ideas.

To wrap things up, here are eight simple tools (one for each stage of Moura Quayle’s design thinking formula) that you can use while collaborating with your friends, neighbours and, possibly, sheep to better design your community:

  • Tool 1 – Free Write: just as it sounds, find a blank piece of paper and start writing about ideas!
  • Tool 2 – Asking questions: whether you ask “why?” five times during a conversation or try to ask 10 open-ended questions beginning with “how” or “what” – well – this is a great way to discover key concepts about your project.
  • Tool 3 – Six Thinking Hats (see amazing image to the right and below based on Edward de Bono’s theory): depending on what problem you need to solve or what conversation you need to have, you might require a different thinking hat; it’s always great to have visual aides to get a point across.
  • Tool 4 – Brainstorm: pretty straightforward; remember, everyone contributes good ideas during a brainstorm.
  • Tool 5 – Synetics: take your idea apart and put it back together to make sure it works.
  • Tool 6 – Open Evaluation Matrix: well, it took until 3/4 through this business-minded article to get to the word “matrix,” which was, I think, Forbes Magazines business word of the year for 2009…
  • Tool 7 – Time-task Schedule: while being realistic, outline the whole process and assign tasks to people, no matter how minor they might be.
  • Tool 8 – Storytelling: keep an accurate and detailed record of your idea’s story so that you can effectively evaluate it’s impact on your community; more importantly, how can you present something amazing if it doesn’t have an amazing story to go with it?

So there it is. People in communities reading this blog. I encourage you to get out there and work together to better design your community. After all, we don’t want the MBAs of the world to get all the credit again, do we?

Have fun with it!

- JCH

Copyright Paul Foreman - de Bono's "Six Thinking Hats" - which one is your favourite?

Copyright Paul Foreman - de Bono's "Six Thinking Hats" - which one is your favourite?