to do something to help the world’s more than 25 million refugees? Any business — no matter its size — can give them a boost, says Melissa Fleming, chief spokesperson for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. On Saturday, June 9, I had the honor of co-hosting the first-ever TEDx event held at a refugee camp — it took place at Kenya’s Kakuma Camp, home to more than 186,000 people from 19 different countries. The 15 speakers and artists were a mix of current and former refugees as well as experts who study how the public and economies respond to them, and you’ll be able to watch their talks and performances online in the months to come. Whi... posted on Jul 31 2018 (9,351 reads)

recalled. “But along with that pleasure and smoothness was a dark zone in my head.” He began meditating — and he realized that he felt compelled to return home and use his knowledge to bring light to Bihar. Back in India, he and his friend Yadav, an entrepreneur, spent the next few years experimenting. They explored the possibility of producing organic solar cells. They tried growing a plant called jatropha, whose seeds can be used for biodiesel. Both proved impractical as businesses. They tested out solar lamps, but found their application limited. “In the back of my mind, I always thought there would be some high tech solution that would solve the problem,&rdquo... posted on Nov 8 2014 (14,814 reads)

spread his message. But how did this middle-class former accounting student from Cottesloe Western Australia become a force for social change? What drives him to risk public scorn to get his messages across? And what impact is he having? His acts challenge us to face our fears, dare to be vulnerable and enjoy the resultant connection with others. Giving value Pete first had an inkling that life could offer more than he’d dreamed while studying international business, accounting and entrepreneurship in the Netherlands. Away from his family, his friends and the life he’d always known, he found himself free of the expectations that had shaped his life... posted on Jun 3 2015 (24,252 reads)

people who know me best know that at heart I am just a quiet gardener. My garden has probably taught me the most about how things grow - and thrive in a vibrant and sustainable manner. These lessons have shaped my approach to encouraging responsible growth in business and to the ways I apply my intention, attention and energy. A gardener sees the world as a system of interdependent parts - where healthy, sustaining relationships are essential to the vitality of the whole. "A real gardener is not a person who cultivates flowers, but a person who cultivates the soil." In business this has translated for me into the importance of developing agreements and partnerships whe... posted on Apr 26 2017 (12,296 reads)

Bite a string of sandwich shops in Edinburgh and Glasgow operating a suspended payment system where customers can buy a coffee or meal to be collected by a homeless person in the future. The scheme is so successful that there are already tens of thousands of free meals in the pot. “We can now feed people for an entire year,”says Social Bite co-founder, Josh Little John.“Any homeless person who comes into the shop is simply never turned away.” Social Bite is a social business – a commercial enterprise which gives all its profits to good causes. In Social Bite’s case these include an eye care hospital in Bangladesh; a foundation providing small business... posted on Dec 10 2017 (12,688 reads)

he told them. When Paul was a young man, the world had other problems, many of which persist today: the war in Vietnam, civil rights abuses, racism. At just 18, he became Martin Luther King Jr.’s press co-ordinator, helping to organise the historic March on Montgomery. He photographed voter registration drives in Bogalusa, Louisiana and Florida. Later, in Mississippi, he captured images of the Ku Klux Klan—the group kidnapped Paul and held him prisoner. At 20, Paul moved into business, opening one of America’s first natural food stores, Erewhon. With every step he’s taken since that time—whether as an author, entrepreneur or businessperson—protectin... posted on Apr 13 2018 (13,814 reads)

Worline is Executive Director of the CompassionLab at the University of Michigan, a research scientist at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University, and co-author of Awakening Compassion at Work, forthcoming in February 2017 from Berrett-Koehler. She sat down with author and entrepreneur Nir Eyal to discuss why empathetic teams make better business deals, how more caring leaders can help prevent corporate scandals, and the steps for cultivating compassion at work. This conversation originally appeared in Heleo: In-Depth Conversations with the World’s Leading Thinkers. Nir Eyal: What is the business case for c... posted on Sep 13 2018 (7,675 reads)

residents from debris while everyday citizens rallied together toys for the holidays. When floods in Malaysia displaced thousands and set a hundred-year record, people stepped up in all corners to provide relief, including a newlywed couple who offered up the feast of their canceled wedding banquet to flood victims.   Business and Work Goes Beyond the Bottom Line 2021 was witness to an array of changes in the landscape of how we work and do business. Alongside inflation and waves of "Great Resignation", we witnessed multiple corporations and U.S. states boosting their minimum wage in spades: from Unilever ... posted on Jan 4 2022 (15,126 reads)

do things, makes quick assumptions about perceptions based on its previous knowledge.  And often these assumptions are wrong. Learning to draw can help to make one’s perceptions fit more closely with reality. First of all, drawing teaches accurate perception—how to see what is really “out there.” Second, perceptual skills learned through drawing can transfer usefully to other fields. For example, learning to accurately see negative spaces is useful in business problem‐solving. In business, there is a term called “white spaces.” Writers of business books recommend that business problem‐solvers look at the ‘white spaces,&rsqu... posted on Jul 9 2023 (2,711 reads)

For years, he would interview job candidates, and he would only be able to hire one and have to turn everybody else down. He would often give up his entire afternoon just trying to find jobs for the other people who he couldn't hire himself, really opening up his personal network to do that. A lot of times, this orientation toward helping others got him in trouble. In one particular case, he had a colleague who I ended up calling Brad in the book, who essentially was getting out of the business, and he needed somebody to buy his clients quickly. Peter said, "Sure, I'll do it." He basically paid about $10,000 for Brad's clients on the spot, just to help him out. The... posted on Apr 24 2013 (46,907 reads)

year, hundreds of thousands of new graduates enter the business world, eager to climb the corporate ladder. Their progress on the early rungs of that journey will often be determined by qualities like hard work, determination, knowledge and technical proficiency. But business consultants Alan S. Berson and Richard G. Stieglitz argue that those same qualities prove less helpful at higher rungs on the ladder, and may even be one's downfall if they are not balanced by a very different set of leadership qualities. They sum up the thesis of their new book, Leadership Conversations: Challenging High-Potential Managers to Become Great Leaders, like this: "As you move into upper leade... posted on Jul 2 2013 (36,709 reads)

are more likely to overrate themselves and to develop blind spots that can hinder their effectiveness as leaders. Another study by Development Dimensions International Inc. found that 89 percent of front-line leaders have at least one blind spot in their leadership skills. When we're in a leadership position, our blind spots can cause a great deal of damage, not only to our career but to the people who depend on us. How can you avoid this potential pitfall for yourself and your business? These eight tips can help. 1. Raise your awareness of the top blind spots. This Executive White Paper shows the 10 blind spots that are most risky to personal and organizational success. ... posted on Sep 18 2013 (38,308 reads)

fellowship in Asia. I think part of that was the time in life. But part of it was being deeply immersed in another culture and environment, and having to learn another language. I think that helps me as much as anything because it provides a fair amount of empathy in the way I think about issues and the work. I am quite adept at cross-cultural work, and I’ve done that my entire career. Sometimes that’s literally geographical or language culture. Sometimes it’s cross-sectoral business, and a lot of my time here at Davos has been spent working. One minute I’m talking to pharmaceutical CEOs. The next I’m talking to ministers of health. And the next I’m talk... posted on Oct 26 2013 (14,216 reads)

notes anotherreport from the National Association of Realtors. “Millennials own fewer cars and drive less than their predecessors. They’d rather walk, bike, car-share, and use public transportation—and want to live where that’s all easy.” Why Walking? Why Now? What’s driving the growing passion for walking? “It’s a convergence of factors,” says Christopher Leinberger, a real estate developer, George Washington University business professor, and a leading advocate for walkable communities. Those factors are: 1. The well-established link between walking and better health , which is reinforced by recent research point... posted on Feb 10 2015 (26,146 reads)

to develop a set of rules, a blueprint for problem solving. It’s not always problem solving, but that’s mostly what we try to do. That’s what this book is. It’s meant to be a fun, engaging, practical way to think about the way the world really works, [to] think about the way incentives really work, and the way that people really respond to incentives rather than how they say they might. Then, if you’re trying to solve a problem — big or small — in business or government or in your own family, you can maybe slightly increase your chances to actually solve [it]. That’s the idea. Grant: Well, you certainly accomplished those goals. You st... posted on Mar 25 2015 (67,270 reads)

there is a continuum. The original founding fathers focused more on government of negative constraints. Freedom from.. and our government has moved into a more positive role of providing for people in their lives. I wonder if you think that we have gone too far. Jerry: One of the thrusts of the founding of this country was to put up a structure. This is where capitalism begins with great vision. We made the distinctions between interests and desires. We have money as the main motive of the businesses and economic progress, social progress. These are interests in people. People want be wealthy. People want to have property. People want to raise families well. People want to be remembered... posted on Jul 4 2015 (8,835 reads)

I've learned through experience that people remember pictures long after they've forgotten words, and so I hope you'll remember some of the pictures I'm going to share with you for just a few minutes. 0:55    The whole story really starts with me as a high school kid in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a tough neighborhood that everybody gave up on for dead. And on a Wednesday afternoon, I was walking down the corridor of my high school kind of minding my own business. And there was this artist teaching, who made a great big old ceramic vessel, and I happened to be looking in the door of the art room -- and if you've ever seen clay done, it's magic... posted on Aug 1 2015 (11,317 reads)

‘semiconductor’ of the 21st century will be a solution to understanding behavior and behavior change. Knowledge@Wharton: In terms of passing this information onto students or corporations, what’s the most important thing for them to understand about the difference between grit and talent? There’s probably a large difference between the two and how that can affect your future success. Duckworth: Well, as Wharton students probably know already, people in business use the word “talent” in different ways. Sometimes HR or the CEO who’s looking for a new hire uses it broadly to mean everything they’re looking for — just every... posted on Nov 26 2016 (15,479 reads)

impoverished parts of the globe. What’s more, the centuries-old institution of education has been turned on its head. So, how did he do it? AB: What gave you the idea for University of the People? SR: My former education company was a great success but I started to feel that something was missing. I was conscious that, for some people, getting a great education is nothing but wishful thinking. It’s just too expensive. So I ended up selling my university and the rest of my business to go into semi-retirement in New York; but I soon realised this wasn’t for me. I needed to continue doing things, but I just didn’t want to continue doing the same thing. Afte... posted on Mar 11 2017 (19,865 reads)

The toaster was given a “rough surface texture, allowing it to grow old gracefully” and its birth date was cast into the aluminum so owners could enjoy celebrating its service year after year. The Optimist even included a simple toast counter so that, “When you hand the toaster down through the generations, your children will know you’ve enjoyed 55,613 rounds of toast!” The greatest challenge to making such a long-lived product is coming up with a workable business plan. Ever since the term “planned obsolescence” was coined during the Great Depression, the U.S. and much of the world’s economies have relied on the disposal and replaceme... posted on Apr 24 2017 (16,249 reads)