Archive for January, 2009
A Freshman’s Hunt for Happiness
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009Have you ever seen one of those lists of crazy holidays? You know, things like “California Dried Plum Digestive Month,” “Elvis Presley Week,” and “International Programmers’ Day” (all actual January holidays, believe it or not!)? Well, this particular week, January 18-24, is “Hunt for Happiness Week.” When I think of “hunting for happiness,” I can’t [...]
An Historic Day
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009Today, January 20, 2009, is inauguration day. Since 1789 (the inauguration date was April 30 that year), when George Washington first uttered the now famous, “So help me God,” forty-three men have taken the oath of office. And today, our forty-fourth president, Barack Obama, will join them. There have been many firsts through the years: [...]
Upside Down Assumptions
Thursday, January 15th, 2009A while ago, I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. I had expected Mr. Yunus to talk about micro-lending. But the evening held much more in store. He told the extraordinary story of building the Grameen Bank and the [...]
Counting Sheep
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009“The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald According to a recent article by Jessica Yadegaran of the Contra Costa Times, sleep disorders are on the rise. The article reports that approximately 66 percent of adults have trouble sleeping at least one night a week, according [...]
The Promise of Zero Waste Industrial Ecosystems
Sunday, January 11th, 2009I have had a strong interest in business sustainability for many years and worked to promote sustainable practices while working for the city of Seattle and later running FlexCar. One of the most interesting books on the subject was Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. It is packed with innovative examples of [...]
Sometimes Innovation is Child’s Play
Thursday, January 8th, 2009Sometimes, great innovations can spring from attempting to design a complicated product for use by an unsophisticated audience. For example, not too long ago, the CBS television news magazine 60 Minutes ran a story featuring the work that Nicholas Negroponte is doing with his organization One Laptop per Child (OLPC). Their mission is to provide [...]
Virtualzing Yourself
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009We’ve all read a lot about business outsourcing and the use of freelance help for everything from website design to accounting. In the past few years, the rise of low cost freelance services is making it easier to “virtual-ize” yourself and focus your time on more productive (or enjoyable) activities. In particular, there is a [...]
Finding Hope in a First Global World
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009In the recent financial turmoil and economic tremors, some believe we are witnessing the decline of Western style capitalism and the American way of life. As a serial entrepreneur who has experienced first hand the benefits of our economic system, I naturally find such sentiments disturbing. But an interesting counterpoint to such gloomy predictions is [...]