Around the Corner

I've been following the use of technology in social entrepreneurship for the past few years. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem then organizes, operates and assumes risk, as in a business, to create social change. The goal is to utilize market forces to achieve some social good. Technology leaders like Pierre Omidyar of eBay are very active in social entrepreneurship. Of course not everyone has the capital of the Omidyar Foundation, but everyone can make a difference and technology allows us to make a big difference together.

I recently learned about Free Rice. Free Rice donates 10 grains of rice to hungry people around the world through the UN World Food Program for every word you get right in an online word matching quiz. In 2008 the combined efforts of all players donated 43,942,622,700 grains of rice. At 50,000 grains per 1kg bag, that's about 878,852 bags of rice.

So how was so much rice donated in 2008? Answer: The network effect. Social media utilities like Facebook allow us to make a big difference together through our social networks. Yes, it's on Facebook too. Imagine if every time your friends log into Facebook, they answer ten questions and their friends answer ten questions, and so on. If your social network, like the internet, is scale free, and you have lots of friends, then you have the ability to help fill a lot of bags.

So if you love challenges, especially word games, in addition to doing some good you can have fun and keep your vocabulary sharp.

Play, Learn and Do Good !

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Like many of you I was fascinated by the stifling innovation video. Did you know that video was filmed by the Barriers Analysis team at NASA's Johnson Space Center? The characters in the video act out familiar mindsets, assumptions and processes that all too often put up roadblocks to innovation and inclusion. Justin Kugler tells the story of the video on the Open>NASA blog in his post called Pathways Beyond the Barriers. Kudos to NASA for being transparent about their efforts to change the culture of bureaucracy!

You'll read words in Justin's post from the language of innovation: inclusion, acceptance, spark, learning, building, investigating, fostering, people, trust, optimism, openness. Innovation is an attribute of an organization's culture and the words used by that culture speak to how and whether innovation is nurtured within the organization.

The characters in the film had to make a series of judgments. It's no easy task to make these judgments, but they are grounded in our values. Our values are the foundation of our culture and they are revealed through the language we use every day.

There is some interesting research emerging on how the values of innovation can improve management and organizational performance. Last month I attended the Gartner Symposium and heard a luncheon address from Gary Hamel of the London Business School. The Wall Street Journal and Fortune magazine have both named Hamel one of the world’s leading management experts . I was fascinated by what he had to say. His point was that today’s management techniques and organizational models were developed for the Industrial Age, mostly by men born in the mid-1800’s. Industrial-era management is ill-suited for today’s knowledge economy, and we need new thinking. I will blog more about this in a later post, because I really think Hamel is onto something vital, but you can read more in his latest article for Harvard Business Review, “Moon Shots for Management.” Here he suggests a set of 25 ambitious goals for 21st-century management to “shoot for,” including:

- Fully embed the ideas of community and citizenship in management systems

- Reduce fear and increase trust

- Create a democracy of information

I think the challenge for the public sector will be evolving management systems in a manner that recognizes our unique obligations to the public trust and sound use of tax dollars. There are many hopeful examples, however, including NASA’s. Another example of innovative management thinking is GSA’s support for my starting this blog. It took the work of numerous organizations, including legal, communications, IT, and my supervisory chain, to get it going. Yet no one ever said it couldn’t be done. Indeed, everyone had the perspective that this is a good thing and let’s see it done properly. And for that, I am very appreciative.

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Have you ever wondered where great ideas come from, or whether there are some great ideas out there that you just haven't heard yet ? Well, the annual Technology Entertainment and Design (TED) conference is a hot-bed for those ideas. And this year it's being held from February 4 through February 8 in Palm Springs.

TED started in 1984. Back then its goal was to bring together leading thinkers and doers from the diverse fields of technology, entertainment and design so they can share their best ideas. Since then TED expanded its scope to include world leaders, scientists, musicians and more. And these thinkers, doers and leaders have agreed to share their best ideas with you for free. You'll find videos from people you'll recognize like Al Gore who spoke last March on the pace of climate change. Here's a talk by Tony Robbins on why we do what we do and how we can do it better. Bill Gates just gave a talk on philanthropy and education that hasn't been posted yet. But you'll also find videos with fascinating ideas from people who you may not know.

The theme for the 2009 conference is "The Great Unveiling." Ethan Zuckerman from Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society is live blogging from the floor of the conference.

Enjoy!

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