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Kellogg Volunteers

The end of the year is finally here! Everyone I know finally finished studying for finals today. To everyone out there, congratulations on finishing. To all those about to start summer jobs, safe travels and good luck. And to all those about to start in the fall, you’re in for a great ride.

But this post isn’t dedicated to talking to the recent grads or admits, instead it’s to quickly highlight some volunteer activities that Kellogg students got involved in this year.  Courtesy of Kellogg’s volunteer club, Kellogg Cares, I wanted to share some of the activities that many students in the Kellogg community achieved this past year. Many of which I participated in myself.

1. Blood Drive – 64 units of blood collected, helping to save 192 lives in the Chicagoland area, and coming in 107% above goal (and 15 units above last year’s total)

2. KelloggCares – ~250 Kellogg students, staff, and faculty joined together to help dozens of local organizations for one day

3. KVOL and Run|Bike|Swim Shoe Drive – collected over 25 pairs of shoes for those in need

4. Gift Drive – Collected $1300 in cash and gift donations for delivering 240 holiday gifts for local Evanston children

5. Food Fight – Raised almost $7,000 for Greater Chicago Food Depository

6. Organ Registration Drive – 35 donors registered; talked to hundreds of students who were already registered about spreading the word

7. Marrow Registration Drive – 32 donors registered, spread the word about this lifesaving opportunity

8. 5K – Over $4,000 raised for Children’s Oncology Services to send four kids to camp

9. Clothing Drive – 1,200 articles of clothing collected to help Chicago area adults find employment (over 70% increase in donations from last year)

10. JA in a Day – 16 students volunteered to teach classes of Chicago students on economic and business principles

11. Ten Minutes at TG – 200+ cards made and donated to Children’s Memorial Hospital; 150+ cards/ letters written to women at Deborah’s Place homeless shelter

Not only has it been a fun year, but it’s been a pretty great year of service at Kellogg. We look forward to continuing the trend upon graduation.

It feels impossible to sprint later

This theory is true much of the time.  Imagine running a one mile race.  You start off in the middle of the pack and pace yourself.  You bet on the idea that in another lap or so, you’ll shift gears, catch up and eventually win.  But there’s just one problem. The moment you try, you don’t have as much left in the tank as you thought.

This happens all the time. In track meets, a runner starts off running to slow and then when they try to sprint and catch up, the runner can barely maintain their speed, let alone run faster. Especially in really long race.

It happens all the time in basketball too. A team plays half heartedly before playing hard in the 4th quarter. Then they start making a run but before they can catch up, the game ends. Or the team doesn’t have enough energy to make it all the way.

The same thing is true in business. You start off doing just enough,  but when you try to push something through later,  execution issues in slow you down. And you don’t have the time to attend to everything.

In law firms, the deadlines come up too fast and you may not have enough time to do all the research.

In the start up world, too many issues surface and you don’t have the time to take care of them all.

I propose the idea that in some cases, it might make sense to start off faster. To run harder. To do more. To spring NOW. Because when the time comes to “turn it on” you may not have as much in the tank as you need.

www.educationmattersproject.org is ready to view and share

How can we fix the education system today? My readers, friends, and colleagues talk about that question all the time, and many of them ask me that same thing. To answer this question, we have to understand what’s broken and what people care about in the education system. So here’s my question right back to them: Why does education matter to you?

Over the past few weeks we’ve gone out and asked the world this single, straightforward question. To compile the responses, we’ve created a forum for people to lend their voice and a multi-media technology platform to get the word out in a meaningful way.

Our website is totally free to read, share, translate, print and, most of all, use to start an essential conversation about why education is important.

It took a lot to get it to you. We’ve gotten help from a few MBA students, law students, journalism students and undergrads. So I’m encouraging you to take a few minutes to check it out, and  after you read it, I’ll ask you to put up a story of your own.

There’s never been a more pivotal time to move our communities forward by showing how much education matters. Please help us in spreading that message.

Entrepreneurship Lessons from Carter Cast

When students think about their post-MBA careers, they can go one of two ways. They can follow tradition and take really great jobs that people take every year. Or they can pursue something less traditional. On one hand, there’s merit to getting a job that provides structure and pays well, especially for some people.  On the other hand, there’s also merit to pursuing the entrepreneurial route. Not only is it a great learning experience but it’s always the best way to build skills while working on something you are passionate about. At least that’s what Carter Cast, former CEO of Walmart.com told me this morning.

Just minutes ago, I got done chatting with entrepreneurial guru Carter Cast. Carter came to Kellogg just months ago to help ramp up its entrepreneurial program. Like me, Carter is a Cardinal Wildcat – more specifically, a Stanford and Northwestern (Kellogg) alum. And so I had the chance to tell him more about what we’re working on, and he gave me a few great pieces of advice.

“Understand your purpose” Carter said. Know what your true north is and keep working towards it, even when you have to change the business model a bit.  He said this as I talked about how my business model was changing. No longer were we focusing on what we did when we had the idea, but our ideas are really different now.

He also said, “Be true to who you are.” Understand your skills and make sure they compliment where you want to go. He gave a story how he used to want to be an olympic swimmer and basketball player. But he came to find that swimming required training his upper body and basketball his lower body. So they were not complimentary, no matter how much passion he had. And that made success more difficult.

Carter also revealed the impact he wanted to make at Northwestern. That it was not just about getting a “leadership” title and being named Director of Kellogg’s Entrepreneurship Center but instead that he came here to teach people about entrepreneurial leadership.  He wanted to help emerging entrepreneurs to go out on the ledge.  In fact, the best advice he said, was “Who  cares if people don’t believe in your idea? Do it anyways?” He went on to suggest that we should learn from them when they challenge you but forget about them after talking.

Thanks again Carter for the great lessons. I look forward to hearing more about your experiences. And to staying in touch as we launch our website.

Cory Booker: 2012 State of the City Address

Few politicians today are riding the wave that Cory Booker is. He’s doing great things not just in Newark but all over the US, all on a mission for change. His mission includes increasing economic opportunity for people in Newark, improving schools not just in New Jersey but all across the US, and improving the quality of life for children and families.

While there is still quite a bit of work to be done, Newark became a catalyst for change in the United States. And leading that change is Mr. Booker himself. A hungry and capable politician. A man with a big vision. And a pretty big following – 60,000 Facebook fans and 1.12M Twitter Followers just to start.

But don’t take it from me, take it from Cory himself, who says, ”

In 2011 we marked a groundbreaking year in Newark and, despite the global economic decline, we welcomed more businesses, enhanced programs for our residents and significant advancements into our City. While 2012 may present some challenges, we will approach these challenges in the same way we have in the past — through efficient governing and innovative solutions that benefit our residents and our City.”

Tonight (Thursday, March 1st)  you can tune in and hear more of what he has to say on corybooker.com. Booker will give his sixth State of the City Address from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Given his recent momentum in the political world, not to mention his selection as Stanford’s 2012 commencement speaker, it should be interesting to hear what his plans are for 2012.

Jeremy Lin and Wildly Important Goals

Today, Jeremy Lin is on top of the world. He’s starting NBA games, television coverage, ESPN magazine, invitations to all the top events in New York City, and more fame and status than ever thought possible. It  all adds up to a life that seems perfect. One that hopefully continues for the entire season. One that could end up getting him a very large contract at the end of the NBA season. And perhaps most importantly, one that could end up inspiring millions of people about achieving Wildly Important Goals more than ever before.

The definition of a goal is: (1) the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim and (2) the terminal point in a race. We all have goals we want to achieve. We all have terminal points and results that we want to happen. This article from the New York Times talks about Lin’s goals and how he decided to work to achieve them.

One of my favorite quotes from the article says, “Jeremy Lin’s rise did not begin, as the world perceived it, with a 25-point explosion at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 4. It began with lonely 9 a.m. workouts in downtown Oakland in the fall of 2010; with shooting drills last summer on a backyard court in Burlingame, Calif.; and with muscle-building sessions at a Menlo Park fitness center.”

Jeremy Lin wanted more than the status quo. He wanted to take advantage of the opportunity when it came. He wanted to work hard when nobody believed in him. Another quote says, “Quite simply, the Jeremy Lin who revived the Knicks, stunned the N.B.A. and charmed the world — the one who is averaging 22.4 points and 8.8 assists as a starter — is not the Jeremy Lin who went undrafted out of Harvard in June 2010. He is not even the same Jeremy Lin who was cut by the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 9.”

In short, Jeremy Lin’s story is one of having a Wildly Important Goal, and then doing everything he could to make it happen. “Beyond the mystique and the mania lies a more basic story — of perseverance, hard work and self-belief.”  If you love what you’re doing and work incessantly to achieve it, then prepare to see it come to pass. If you are able to dream of the impossible, it just might happen.

CLICK HERE to read the article in its entirety.

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Missions

“The mission is what you exist for, and everything is secondary to the mission. The mission is what will take people up the hill. … The mission has to be driven down through every level of the organization so everybody understands what we are trying to accomplish and is committed to its accomplishment. ”  The are the words of former Secretary of State Colin Powell. ”

As Colin Powell said, mission is one of the most important things you can have. It wakes you up at 5am when everyone else is sleeping (this is how I am ever writing this post), it helps you focus intensely on things when focusing seems impossible, and it keeps you optimistic even when everyone else tells you know.

In business school having a mission is critical. Because there are too many distractions and often times too much clutter. And then when you see half your class get swept up in the herd affect it’s hard not to go with them.

The same is true in law school. People all study for the same reason, to get the best grades, to make it to the best firm, to take on that big firm associate title, that half the class doesn’t even like. You see it happen every single year.

And it’s even more true in the startup and nonprofit worlds. When resources are limited. Skeptics are unlimited. And time is running out by the day. And you have to worry about what to do when you run out of funds.

So how do you avoid that? How do you focus on what’s right? How do you stay true to your mission? And how do you focus on it when all your incentives tell you to do something different?

I propose that the best leaders know how to do this and that they are intensely focused on the core mission. The know it. Breathe it. Live it.  Because without it, you just might get swept away.

So what is your mission?

If you don’t know yet, then I propose that you do your best to have a better sense before going back to school. Or before trying to start your next big movement.

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CLICK HERE for my old post on business plans. In short, missions are better than business plans.

Stuck In Between

I’ve been thinking about a number of quotes recently. I’ve even been tweeting them more frequently. Well, one quote that I read this morning is “We’re hoping to succeed; we’re okay with failure. We just don’t want to land in between” by David Chang.  Not only was it interesting but it reminded me of one of my favorite quotes about taking risks of all time by Teddy Roosevelt.

Teddy Roosevelt has one of the best quotes of all time. He said, “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

Teddy is very serious in that quote, just like David Change was.  But were you serious when you agreed. There are a lot of people out there that talk about this, many even say it publicly. But sometimes, not many people are willing to take the risk.  And few are willing to put themselves on the line to be wildly successful.

The problem is that this not only ensure that you won’t wait but more importantly it destroys the likelihood of being wildly successful. And in the end, almost guarantees that you will land somewhere in between.

So I propose that Teddy Roosevelt is right. That the greatest risk in life is not taking one. Perhaps wise words to at least one person on this Valentines Day.

Storytelling: Jessica Jackley, Kiva and Ted

After weeks thinking about the storytelling platform I’m working on, I’ve recently started looking around online at other platforms that exist. They span across industries, geographies, business models and schools. Additionally, some platforms don’t resemble typical storytelling platforms today. Instead they do things that are much broader and much more multidimensional than they originally envisioned. I propose the idea that this is proof of the power of good stories not only to inspire people but also to help them take action and create change in the world.

One video about storytelling that I really like is the TED video by Jessica Jackley, Poverty, Money and Love. Watch the video below to see the power that both young people and MBAs can have by following their passion and believing in great stories. In this case, Jessica explains “that Kiva is really about stories. It’s about retelling the stories of the poor.” (see 9:30 for this part).  The core values that mattered to Jessica were struggle, progress, hope, respect, and optimism. Jessica called for us all not only to listen to the stories of others but also to take part in them.

And she ends with an enormously compelling two minutes, including a statement where she comes to tears at the end:

“For me, the best way to be inspired to try is to stop and to listen to someone else’s story. And I’m grateful that I’ve gotten to do that here at TED. And I’m grateful that whenever I do that, guaranteed, I am inspired — I am inspired by the person I am listening to. And I believe more and more every time I listen in that that person’s potential to do great things in the world and in my own potential to maybe help. And that — forget the tools, forget the moving around of resources — that stuff’s easy. Believing in each other, really being sure when push comes to shove that each one of us can do amazing things in the world, that is what can make our stories into love stories and our collective story into one that continually perpetuates hope and good things for all of us. So that, this belief in each other, knowing that without a doubt and practicing that every day in whatever you do, that’s what I believe will change the world and make tomorrow better than today. Thank you.”

Storytelling is not only my interest but also my passion. This was also the main theme of Jessica’s talk. I hope you’ll consider watching.

What’s Your Story?

The stories that we tell each other are of the utmost importance. They matter not only in business but also in law.  The stories we tell in our MBA applications and law school applications. The stories we tell in our interviews. And the stories we tell about our careers. We can inspire people behind us and inform others how they can succeed themselves. As such, I propose that one of the best things we can do is learn how to become better storytellers.

This quarter I am taking a class on public speaking. In short, we spend the entire time giving short talks and speeches in front of a group of about 15 other students. And then we spend the rest of the time helping evaluate classmates who give their talks and speeches. As you might imagine, this is one of the hardest skills to perfect. Not just because it’s tough but also because it’s something every one of us fears. At least at first.

The first thing we learn in the class is that public speaking is the thing people fear most.  In fact, we learn that the order goes: (1). Fear of public speaking (2.) Fear of death and (3). Fear of spiders (Arachnophobia). But this doesn’t come as a surprise. After all, nearly everyone I know got a bit nervous about speaking in front of crowds.  And the same is true for most of the people in the class. And these are some of the smartest, and most accomplished people across the US.

My goal today is to become a better public speaker and more importantly a better storyteller. Imagine how you feel when you go to an inspiring talk. Imagine how you left inspired and with more insight than before you heard it.  And then imagine how you feel when somebody shares the details in a compelling way. Maybe they’re smiling. And maybe they discuss the nuances of the story and keep you on the edge of your seat. And in the end, you feel like you took part in their story, not just listed.

I propose that the ability to do this is one of the most important things we can learn. In the business world, we can tell great stories about our companies to investors to get more funding. And we can tell stories to recruit top employees to work with us. In the public sector, we can tell stories about our visions to inspire people to work on our campaigns. And we can tell stories about the future, not only to get more funding but also to build our constituent base. And in law, we can tell stories about our clients. And we can compel the judges and juries to see the merits of our side.

The ability to do this is what we’re all working toward in the class.  And its also the ability that differentiates great leaders from good ones.

So what’s your story?

Best Wishes in 2012 from Kellogg and Dean Sally Blount

As the year comes to an end, students and faculty are beginning to think about the new year. First years about recruiting which will hit them hard in just a couple of days. Second years about what they want to do after business school and how they want to spend the last few months. Admits about what schools to attend and how early to start networking. And everyone else about New Years resolutions, not just at work but also with their friends and families. Well, recently Dean Blount at Kellogg sent an email to the school wishing us a nice 2012.

Recently Dean Blount of the Kellogg School sent an email to the student body wishing us a great 2012.  See below for the email, which includes a video about what Kellogg aspires to do in 2012.

Dear Kellogg Community,

At the beginning of 2011, we set an ambitious agenda to reposition Kellogg strategically, operationally and as a brand. Now, we’re ending the year with a nearly complete strategic plan, a newly articulated brand positioning, a new organizational structure, and an architect for our global hub. Our team has prepared a video (CLICK HERE to see the video) that captures our progress.

And now as 2011 comes to a close, I would like to thank you and our entire community — for your trust in me and for your belief in Kellogg. It means a lot.

With gratitude–

Sally Blount ’92
Dean

A few quotes from the video

• We believe business can be world changing
• Its the willingness to challenge convention; challenge the status quo; to not accept that just because it’s always been done this way that, that’s the way it should be done in the future
• It’s out grounded wisdom, its our courageous and collaborative spirit, and its that pioneering vision … that’s Kellogg.
• There has to be a competitor that challenges the status quo if you really want to stay relevant to the modern world.

“Here’s to the Crazy Ones” -Apple on Thinking Differently

In the past week or two since the passing of Steve Jobs, there has been a lot of press about Steve, Apple, and many of the products the company made. A lot of it has been about how Jobs thought differently. He he had interesting ideas, took risks, and in the end revolutionized business. Given that, the video below about “Thinking Differently” has recently surfaced again over the past few days. In it, images of transformative people throughout the 20th century are shown as a narrator toasts to them for changing the world.

Many of the articles online suggest that the original videos aired years ago. In the version that aired on TV, the narrator is Richard Dreyfuss. But there’s also a second version, where Jobs himself walks us through the video. The latter is the version that I’ve included here.

In the end, we can learn a lot from Steve and the video. In business schools and law schools today, people flock to all the same careers, benchmark what everyone else is doing, and value convention over risk-taking.  But what if more people “thought differently?” What if they recruited for new industries. And what if more and more people worked on something outside of the traditional scope of the MBA.  Maybe one of them would become the next Steve Jobs. And help make the world a more interesting place.

Well, if you’d like some inspiration on how to do that, below are the words to the video. And below that is the video itself.

“Here’s to the Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world – are the ones who DO!” ~ Apple Computers

Manager or Leader?

There is a worldwide discussion going on today that distinguishes what it means to be a manager and what it means to be a leader. In times past, the words have often been used interchangeably. But today, the characteristics of the roles are more separated than they’ve ever been before. In short, managers as those who direct and help execute for an organization. And leaders are those who guide, inspire and provide vision to the organization.  So the question today is, what does really mean? And which one are you? Manager? Leader? Or both?

There are a lot of resources out there which discuss the topic. A topic that I’m also interested in.

I recently read a blog post by Seth Godin talked about it. His blog post said the following:

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Managers work to get their employees to do what they did yesterday, but a little faster and a little cheaper.

Leaders, on the other hand, know where they’d like to go, but understand that they can’t get there without their tribe, without giving those they lead the tools to make something happen.

Managers want authority. Leaders take responsibility.

We need both. But we have to be careful not to confuse them. And it helps to remember that leaders are scarce and thus more valuable.

** I like Godin’s analysis because it mentions how we need both – not one or the other.

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Another opinion I like is the interview by former Dean of HBS.  I’ve linked to the video here before but in a series of two interviews he talks about what leaders are. In the VIDEO (48:30) the Dean says the following

“Not all of us in the world have the privilege of working in something that itself is inherently passionate.  Some of us work where it`s like work.But everybody can be in a place where their work is valued, where they have opportunities to grow, where they are respected, and where they can see the connection between their work and the larger purposes that they serve. And that has been something I’ve tried to do at this place.

And so I gave a little motto: There are no unimportant jobs at the Harvard Business School. Everybody has an important role to play. And you work in an organization to help people understand that`s not rhetoric. It`s real. ….

And that is what leaders do. Leaders instill in people a sense of purpose and they inspire people. They inspire people if they are god. because they connect people to the larger purpose.

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In the same manner, business schools talk a lot about leadership today.  What you can do to lead an organization. What it takes to be effective. Interestingly enough, one of the main critiques of MBA grads is that they have great technical skills but that they also have less than perfect leadership skills. That they don’t always navigate organizations or manage people as well as they could. But instead that they shine because of their analytical and quantitative skills.

As a first hand viewer today, I wouldn’t say that the statement is incorrect. After all, that’s what many of the so-called “top” employers look for too. Interviewees that can run the numbers. Create spreadsheets. Produce detailed PowerPoint presentations. And do math in front of them in an interview. Not people that can tell a good story. Manage hundreds of people. Convince the masses. Or come up with a new and innovative idea on the spot.

So in many ways there is an interesting disconnect in what leaders do, and what so called “future leaders” are taught. It’ll be interesting to see how this disconnect continues to play out.

Mayor Cory Booker Comes to Chicago

On Monday, October 10th at 6pm Chicago time, I’ll be attending an event with Mayor Cory Booker in downtown Chicago. The event is held at Luxbar and is geared specifically at young professionals.  As many of you probably know, Mayor Booker has had tremendous success during his tenure as Mayor. He has worked on issues like educational reform and he has been striving to make Newark a model for successful urban education. It will be interesting to not only hear hear his thoughts about Newark but also about his plans to improve education in the future.

So you’re probably wondering, what are some of his ideas?  What are some of the things he believes in?  And what is his vision for the future? Since being elected into office, Cory has undertaken a few public interviews explaining.   On Morning Joe’s Education Nation on MSNBC, he discussed Education Reform (CLICK HERE to see what he talked about). Similarly, on NBC Nightly News with Brian William’s, he discussed the report on Newark Public Schools and the Mark Zuckerberg $100 million challenge grant  (CLICK HERE for the video). Further, I might also recommend checking out this great speech he gave at Williams recently.

According to Cory’s web page, you can also see some of the issues he believes in most.  He posts a PDF entitled 25 accomplishments in 25 months. Likewise, he also posts collection of videos and articles HERE that discuss the ideas he considers most important.

Because of this thought leadership, this year, Time Magazine named Cory one of the 100 most influential people in the world. One of my former classmates recently said, “I believe he’s leading forward-thinking policy around Urban development, Education, green-space preservation, and more. He’s the mayor of Newark, but he’s become an icon around the world.” And, in the words of one of my friends Suneel Gupta, “It’s been a while since I’ve been truly inspired by a policy maker.”

The buzz today is that Booker represents a new generation of leadership in the US. And that he is transforming Urban America one day at a time. This is why a number of people are going to enjoy going to the event in Chicago next week. So if you feel inspired by reading his background, then perhaps you will join in at one of his events around the country. The one in Chicago is  on 10/10. Let me know if you’ll be there.

You can see more details and sign up for the event here. And should you decide to sign up: you should sign up using the names of my good friends … and change agents Emanuel Pleitez and/or Suneel Gupta.

Emanuel Pleitez Helps Launch the Loft Institute Social Network

I have been fortunate to get to know some incredible professionals from the Stanford and JD-MBA networks, and I’ve talked about a few of them on the site before.  Well another one of them is good friend, and up-and-coming political organizer Emanuel Pleitez.  Emanuel is one of the few people I know that has thrived both in business and also in the public sector.  Since graduating from Stanford, Emanuel has not only spent time firms like Goldman and McKinsey but he has also worked with a number of community organizations. Recently, he even teamed up with the Hispanic Heritage Institute to launch social network, named the Loft Institute.

So you’re probably wondering, what is the Loft Institute?  Well a number of themes emerge.  It’s a network of hispanic professionals. A database of job and networking opportunities. And more broadly a way to bring fast track professionals together. The name Loft means “Latinos on the Fast Track.” And the mission of Loft is to reestablish the American workforce as a global competitor by investing in the youngest and fastest growing segment of the population – the Latino community.

Emanuel has some lofty goals for Loft. He’s using it to create leadership summits in big cities around the country. As a way to get Latino leaders in the same place at the same time. And as a venue to get young professionals and students from around the country to network with each other. In fact, Loft even came out with a new list of Loft Fellows to help do that just days ago.

Fortunately, it sounds like these goals are not far-fetched, as Loft has long been making an impact, even before the launch of the new website. Over the last six years LOFT Institute has had member all over the country. they work in government and private sector firms, as well as in Fortune 500 companies. They also in industries including engineering & technology, healthcare, retail, sales, business, finance, construction management, public service, public policy, and entertainment.

In addition to going to the Loft website Emanuel also maintains a blog and a Twitter Account, where he actively write updates about Loft. Likewise, in the future, you’ll probably also be able to find more information about Loft here on my website, as I’ll be helping as a new media advisor to the site.

In sum, if you’re have an idea that you think can change the world, be proactive and go for it. And even if you have a job that demands most of your time, figure out how to do it anyways. Because the best business leaders know, that its not just about doing well but it’s also about doing good. And that life is not only about making money and negotiating deals, but it’s also about helping others along the way.  And in the end, leaders will do whatever they can to make that happen.

Best of luck with Loft Emanuel.

Compass Summit Assembles Thinkers To Address World’s Vital Challenges

Every now and then I like to write posts about nonprofits and other game changing organizations that are doing really interesting things. Organizations that not only take on the biggest issues of our day but also organizations that bring diverse people together to work on the biggest issues of the future. Well one of those organizations is Compass. And just recently, I learned that they are putting on this year’s Compass Summit, a conference that discusses “what’s possible, what’s ahead, and what matters.”

The Compass Summit is a conference of big ideas, driven by conversations.  The organization is asking our partners as well as participants to expand their peripheral vision of other fields and to look over the horizon to consider what matters most and where the world should be heading. The conference will run from Oct 23-26,2011, at The Terranea Resort, right outside of Los Angeles.

My college friend Sophia Larroque is helping to organize this event.  As such, I figured I’d pass along the word to those readers here on my site. Below is an email I received directly from her about the summit

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Compass is a gathering of accomplished and inventive people aimed at  tackling urgent large-scale challenges facing our institutions and companies: climate change, mass urbanization, capital shortages, technological dislocation and much more.

Former Fortune editors Brent Schlender and Peter Petre are joined by Scientific American editor-in-chief Mariette DiChristina and her staff to producing Compass, and many of the ideas explored at the conference will be reflected in autumn issues of the magazine. With the help of advisers and sponsors including McKinsey & Co., SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), Intel, and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development, we are crafting a program to engage topics as diverse as:

Leadership: How To Start A Movement

Leadership is one of the topics I write about most here on my website. How leadership is not only something that’s important but also that it can come in many forms. In one example of this, I recently found a video from TedTalks named “How to start a movement.”  The idea of this video is to show that being a leader means starting something that attracts attention, gets a few followers, and eventually hits a tipping point. That process isn’t easy, but in just three minutes, this video shows you exactly how that phenomenon plays out.

I’ll also note that I stumbled across another blog that listed the same video. I don’t know the writer but she has some interesting content on her site, so thought I might add the link HERE in case any of my readers are interested. The blog is written Erica Dhawan who is in the MBA/MPA program at MIT/Harvard in Boston.

Without further ado, see below for the video.

The Leader Who Had No Title

I wrote this post to put up one of my favorite short video clips online. The name of the video is the Leader Who Had No Title. It comes from the website of Robin Sharma the leadership guru who not only create short videos but also writes books about leadership. One reason I like this video is because it’s pretty inspiring. In today’s business world, most people do what they can to get ahead, get promoted, make more money and get a better title. But this video reminds us that those things aren’t as important as impact. And that you don’t need a title to make a difference.

Deadlines

One thing I’ve learned about business school is that there are a a lot of deadlines. Not only do you have to get a lot of things done but you also have to do them on a very specific schedule – two days to finish this, five days to finish that, three hours to finish something else. That concept also holds true in the business world. Especially for MBA-level jobs, where you’re given multiple workstreams, multiple emails, and multiple priorities, but just one job: to finish all of it on time.

I’ve written about how busy business school is before. In one of my favorite posts, I compared “business” school to “busy-ness” school (CLICK HERE) and how becoming too busy is actually bad for you. Well, in some ways that analogy also translates to the job you have. Not only do you feel just as busy as you are in class but you also put more pressure on yourself to do well because the stakes feel a little higher. You want to produce a quality work product. Make a good impression on your team. Ensure you do good work and your manager gives you a good review. And in the end get an offer, even if you don’t plan to accept the job.

But the real question then is at what cost? For some, they get it by doing exactly what they expected. But for others, that cost is running around scrambling to please everyone even if that’s not your personality type. For others, working more hours than you ever expected or wanted. Taking on more and more work from more and more people. And ultimately taking on more deliverables with quickly-approaching deadlines that would seem unreasonable to anyone not in business school.

Here’s the schedule. Follow it! Here’s the email documents for tomorrow. Read them all by 9am! I just sent you ten calendar invites. Accept them! And be on time!

And because you have multiple deadlines, everything becomes more important, so you speed up. Working like a machine, for a machine (boss), in a machine (company), with other machines (coworkers) who are all doing the same thing.

And eventually, the goal isn’t to produce a great work product. But instead to take on more workstreams than before, to work more efficiently than last time and to make better powerpoint slides and excel models. And once you finish that, then you can do more.

So in some ways, the MBA has become the new assembly line.  You move things forward as fast as you can. The  work becomes more specialized to help you speed up, so you only take part in a small part of the process. And things more automated.

Likewise, the work also never stops. Just like Toyota “never stops the line” a company’s project flow doesn’t stop either. They find more people to do more small parts. Buy new systems to increase their efficiency. And leverage operations technicues, such as optimal batch sizes, flexible resources, and critical path times, to keep the line moving as fast as possible.

But what if your company stopped the line on purpose tomorrow. And instead of figuring out more deadlines to give you, instead allowed you to spend all of tomorrow thinking about mind-blowing innovations for the company.  And what if your job wasn’t simply to hit twenty deadlines but instead to submit 20 game changing ideas that could change the company.

Not only would you be better off but I’m guessing the company would be better off. And if you had thousands of smart people doing this at the same time all over the world, then maybe the world would be better off too.

Just a thought. Maybe something to think more about when you become CEO of your company.

But until then, I need to go check my calendar to see what deadlines I have for work today.

Failure In Business School

Failure is the best teacher. That’s the lesson my parents always taught me.  It’s also the lesson many of us have heard from our professors and bosses as we’ve navigated our professional careers so far. But how accurate is this advice? And can you ever think back to a time where you didn’t necessarily agree with it? Well, after seeing lots of successes and failures over the past year in business school, I’ve come wonder about the same question. Is failure actually good for you?

As you might imagine, there are two competing sides to the argument.

On one hand, conventional wisdom says that the best way to learn is to learn from failure.  Because yoou’re more heavily invested. More emotionally connected. And think about things more intensely when everything goes wrong. Especially entrepreneurs, who have to learn because they can’t afford to make the same mistakes two times.  This concept is also reinforced in business school, where almost every activity is set to have a lot of competition. And since everyone can’t win, then a lot of people have to fail. This forces you reflect on the things you didn’t do well enough, and figure out how to do it better the second time.

On the other hand, most people know that failure is also hard to take. Especially when the stakes are high and you’ve put a lot of  time and effort in to pursue your the end goal. This happens every year in business school during the core classes, where only 40% can get As, meaning that 50% have to get Bs and 10% have to get Cs. And these 10% are usually very smart people. This also happens during the recruiting cycle, where people spend hours pouring over cases and studying industry trends but aren’t successful pursuing certain jobs. In some cases, failure can not only hurt emotionally, but also undermine your self-confidence. There’s been many stories about that at the top business schools, not to mention complaints from students who participate.

Upon reflection, in some cases, I wonder if people actually learn anything from failure.  Maybe instead, they are worse off. And even when things end up better the second time, it’s because those who failed are simply better at trying the second time around than the first time. And so no matter whether they succeeded or failed the first time, they are better than people who haven’t done it before, but not necessarily better specifically due to failure.  And even when they aren’t “actually” better the second time around, maybe other people think that they’re better so give them more support, helping them to do better the second time.  In this way, the act of failure hasn’t added value.

But don’t confuse my argument.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t learn when you fail.  After all, in some cases failure can offer you the most unique insights that you might not have gained otherwise. But in the end, I just wonder whether creating a culture of failure, and specifically constant failure as created in business school, is actually better than a culture of success. And are MBA programs doing the right thing by setting up these scenarios where students fail, on average, a lot more often than they succeed.

I don’t know the answer. Either way, it’s an interesting debate.