An Open Mind: Key to Successful Cross Cultural Communications

Without a map Columbus probably would not have "discovered" America. But a map mislead him into thinking he had discovered India. So I love maps; but I realize that they can mislead. Phantoms in the Brain, page 39- "When asked what his biological studies had taught him about God, Haldane replied- the creator if he exists must have an inordinate fondness for beetles for there are more species of beetles than any other group of living creatures. By the same token, a neurologist must conclude that God is a cartographer. He must have an inordinate fondness for maps for everywhere you look in the brain, maps abound." by V.S. Ramachandran, Professor at UC San Diego. The good thing about a brain map (unlike a physical map) is that every interaction updates our brain map. I talked about this at the recent "Successful Cross Cultural Communications" event hosted by FountainBleu in the context of understanding and overcoming stereotype biases. The human brain creates maps to classify and simplify the life around us so we can function 9-5. Stereotypes in our heads are just like maps- useful but possibly misleading. If we can accept this, we can actually enlist what we already think we know about another culture (when one thinks about ‘cross-cultural’ there’s an assumption that it’s about people from different backgrounds, but it’s much broader than that. It encompasses differences in geography, languages, generations, companies, functional areas, regions and industries) simply be prepared to update your knowledge - add to or create a new map.
And the old cliches about keeping an "open mind" or "active listening" or "suspend judgement" that leave you wondering what action to take, start making sense.

More than Money: its about Mindshare

Socially motivated organisations often get so tired of the incessant need for fundraising, that they quit or they lower their ambition and start thinking small. How then to keep your spirits up? Keep going?
Create Mindshare- A few weeks back, I attended the Pratham sponsored entertainment program put together by 8 amateur singers and one dance company. The financial goal ($10,000) was modest but the ambitious goal was creating awareness about education (and the lack of access to it) in India. The first thing I noticed was how different the event was. There were no "stars", no "egos", no agendas. Amateur talent was provided a platform, the tickets were affordable and it was a concrete forum for bringing together friends, family around a worthy cause. With a cast of over 45 people it was easy to fill the West Valley auditorium to meet the financial goal. It was particularly heartening for me to see teenagers born in the US eager to understand and give back to children less fortunate than themselves and racking their brains to figure out how.
While asking for funding is like harvesting the fruit off a tree, a program like this is like sowing a seed. Kudos to the Pratham volunteers that came up with the idea and executed it to perfection. Other organisations see the value of creating mind share. Niroga http://www.niroga.org/ teaches yoga and mindfulness skills to at-risk youth and other under-served populations. Their model holds great promise as a low cost strategy for reducing juvenile crime and violence, truancy and dropout rates, chronic health problems and many other problems affecting children and the communities they live in. Niroga is hosting a brunch on October 3, 2009 in Oakland, CA. This benefit event promises to be a great time, with delicious food, musical entertainment by members of the Oakland Youth Chorus, and inspiring remarks by students and teachers involved in Niroga programs. There is no charge to attend the event, but most attendees do pledge to make a donation at the event.
Business is Business. Whether a for-profit or not-for-profit, sustainability and even more so, scaling the venture, requires a business model with a recurring revenue stream. But till you get to that point don't forget the power of people- everyday people who want to give but don't have a forum for it. Create mindshare and reap the benefits.

Metrics and Management for Heart-Head Impact

My workshop last week at Stanford about technology fuelled social innovation as applied to the for-profit as well as non-profit world drew an exceptional group of change agents from industry, NGOs and universities. The theme- every transaction is a business - whether registered as a for-profit or non-profit and how technology can help. Some highlights:
1- A business "Metrics Intelligence Management" solution (MetrixLine) applied to Give2Asia as an example of how real time metrics generation is relevant for non-profits and can reduce the cost of data-gathering - with a live demo showing "customer" (in this case - donor) profile, balanced scorecard (management metric) and more. (by CEO Aman Walia)
2- A live interactive session showing the use avatars and game technology for education (kidscom.com) about social responsibility in teens. Our session had about 12 teens (under 14) who were asked what social issues they cared about among other things - Number 1: health care; number 2: providing a "family" for kids who didn't have one. (by Founder Jori Clarke)
3- An example of how to make a mainstream lending institution engage in micro finance through loan (social) guarantees (UnitedProsperity.org) while also providing the individual story just as an MFI would do. Another feature of this session was an illustration of partnerships (UnitedProsperity, MFI's and Banks) so each does what they are best at without re-inventing the wheel - a theme in the workshop (by Founder Bhalchander).
4. More to come...

Top 5 Myths in Social Entrepreneurship

The change-leader is a myth-buster. As technology fuelled business models change, nowhere is this more applicable than in the field of social entrepreneurship. The top 5 myths are:
1. If you want to do good, you have to create a not-for-profit company.
2. If you want to create a social enterprise with a mission, you cannot do this in a for-profit company.
3. For-profit companies are incompatible with a social mission.
4. Shareholders demand quick returns
5. Triple bottom lines (profit, people, planet) are incompatible
The fact is that the current legal and financial instruments are limited in how social impact is measured and hence the tools need to evolve. But tools can't evolve unless social entrepreneurs see them as tools to be changed. "Be the change" said Mahatma Gandhi. Nobody said myth-busting is easy - but its a lot easier if you firmly believe in the change.

Philanthropy Needs Technology

The NonProfit Times released its Power & Influence Top 50 list on Aug 1 saying-"Service is the new black. It’s so fashionable that those leading the national service movement have packed the catwalk of The 2009 NPT Power & Influence Top 50". I have no quibbles with the idea of service and "Volunteering as a Fashion Statement". However, I would like to see philanthropy shift from a "service" model to an "empowerment" model. I agree with Change.org, Nathaniel Whittemore who says social media is shifting the power dynamics of philanthropy when he writes-"Some are honored for their attempts to better train the nonprofit industry, others are noted for the innovation which they've instilled in their foundations. The one major homage to technology comes in the recognition of Holly Ross, director of the awesome NTEN nonprofit technology conference." He goes on to say that bloggers are missing from the list. The power of the Internet and social media is the ability to reduce emotional distance between people of different types. Non-profits and foundations have an opportunity to get more technology into their operations both to reduce costs as well as to engage both donors and recipients in a more "democratic" way - where both parties are seen as benefiting.

Muhammad Yunus Honored by Obama

Last week, the White House announced that Professor Muhammad Yunus will be one of the recipients of this year's Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Medal of Freedom is bestowed by the President and is the highest civilian award in the United States. President Obama said: "These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds. Their tremendous accomplishments span fields from science to sports, from fine arts to foreign affairs. Yet they share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way. Their relentless devotion to breaking down barriers and lifting up their fellow citizens sets a standard to which we all should strive. It is my great honor to award them the Medal of Freedom."
When Dr. Yunus receives his award, he will be joining a distinguished group of individuals that includes Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. Adds Warner P. Woodworth, Social Entrepreneur & Professor, Organizational Leadership & Strategy, Marriott School, BYU: "I have had the privilege of working with Professor Yunus for over a decade as he has advised a number of the NGOs my partners and I have established around the globe. From those little efforts, mostly launched with BYU students using my courses as incubators for global change, over 50 projects have been launched, and 22 have become NGOs. Last year alone, we collectively raised more than $46 million, trained approximately 340,000 microentrepreneurs, and grew our client base to about 6.1 million impoverished individuals who received a loan during 2008."..."While critics say the poor are lazy and that they are irresponsible, our microcredit experience, not only in the Third World, but also now in America, is that they simply need an opportunity. Our NYC outstanding loan portfolio has grown to over $950,000, and these borrowers have also cumulatively saved over $150,000, which demonstrates the impact of our savings program (http://www.blogger.com/www.grameenamerica.com/ <http://www.grameenamerica.com/>)."

Sustainability workshop- Aug 7 at Stanford

My workshop, Media and Management Bridges for Heart-Head Impact is on August 7th 9-4. Check out the video link for details. Presentations include Hybrid business lifecycle, The Millennium Project and MetrixLine platform and practical tips on using online media tools for brand creation and management. Discussion items:
° Managing tradeoffs between business (profit) and social (people, planet) goals
° Public-Private Partnership strategies for harnessing markets to solve social/environmental problems
° Pragmatic changes non-profits should take to be effective and to scale

How to increase your personal wheel of influence

At the annual WITI keynote last month, I heard about the "personal wheel of influence" - about how you treat every business interaction as a "relationship". The idea is simple- people intuitively understand that relationships are a lifelong thing, not one-time transaction and it alters behavior from short term wins to long-term mutual benefit behaviors; inspires give-take and inspires us to think in terms of increasing "social currency" defined as our value to others. Think of a wheel with YOU at the center. Around this draw all other interested parties into circles (sales, marketing,customer etc) and then pretend that you are not in one meeting but in a long term relationship at every meeting you have. What would you do to grow the inner circle? Add value to others. Key to growing the YOU circle is understanding what your value is and to grow that vale. If you engage from the perspective adding value, the personal wheel of influence grows automatically - an outcome, willingly supported by others of what you do. To know your key value and grow it - complete the following sentences:
1. - I am known for... (write 2-4 things)
2. - I want to become known for ...(write 2-4 things)
and then have fun!

Microfinance to Mainstream?

Micro finance methods have captured our imagination, hearts, social conscience and even our technology innovation dollar, but, sadly, never the institutional support that ideas need to go from boutique to mainstream. Till now. Eric Bellman, Wall Street Journal July 6, 2009 headlines "Rural Demand Helps Indian Banks". Bless his WSJ heart, the byline says "once considered a burden, remote branches prosper on aid for farmers". Note: aid, not loans. Other than that quibble (though technically aid is correct, because there are some subsidies involved but given all the baggage associated with the word "aid" I would rather use "stimulus" or something else), the rest of the article is worth every bit of ink. India has been resilient to the global meltdown because of growth in rural India; technology to reach remote areas and as market is growing, traditional for-profit banks are moving in too- completing a virtuous cycle. Key points:

- rural banking growth - from 12% to 20% has offset decline in urban - from 28% to 19% which is more tied to the global economy

- technology helps - remote branches have a finger-print scanner and mobile phone for identification and processing (State Bank of India) - loans and deposits are small amounts

- the benefit is felt by the state owned banks, which were forced to maintain rural branches (at a loss), but as the "market" is growing, multinationals (e.g. HSBC) are entering the market -thus taking it mainstream

-because of low default rates etc. - interest rates are competitive (10%)

- customer profile- "No one in my family has ever had an account"

I generally highlight media coverage of business+technology+social impact - and coming from WSJ - I thought it was especially noteworthy. In fact it made me track down other noteworthy articles (one especially on cell phone growth in India) by the same author.

For emerging markets -if there is a killer app - it is banking - whether it is delivered through cell phones, kiosks or moving vans; think of the potential customer base! I hope this story is an indication that "microfinace" is moving to "finance" - its the kind of change the world needs.

Purpose vs. Profit Driven Venture Creation

I like it. And it is not just the alliteration. I like it because "Purpose" and "Profit" don't sound mutually exclusive whereas "Social" and "Profit" do. When it comes to championing a business approach (vs. philanthropy) to address social issues like job creation, access to education, health care and even climate change, there is no elevator pitch. Most of us in this field talk about "sustainable business" or just stick with social entrepreneurship or social business (substitute venture, capital, purpose, impact...as fits) because that is what works in search engines. Historically we are conditioned to think of a business as for profit and philanthropy (or government action) as being for social impact. But we know that the strictly for-profit venture is just as unsustainable long term as is pure charity for social impact - hence the need for a mixed model - where we need profit AND we need social impact. I was reminded of this with a recent email from Jerri Chou, who I met at the "Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business" awards.
Jerri writes "I run a company called All Day Buffet which launches purpose driven ventures, one of which being The Feast Social Innovation Conference. I was really quite excited for your award last night -- for you personally and the social innovation world in general. Much of our work is galvanizing the community and movement on this (east) coast (despite old school philanthropy and investment) so seeing recognition for your work was a pleasant surprise.
Our next venture is also based in education and democratizing creativity and innovation skills through distance learning, (which I noticed you've done some work in) so would love to get your thoughts in case you're interested. Regardless, congratulations again and hope to stay in contact"
What I found intriguing about Jerri's work is that her company is trying to change the whole thinking around sustainable business creation not just through launching ventures but also holding events to create mind share and leadership in this area. Coming up is- The Feast: Social Innovation Conference, New York // October 1-2, 2009
http://www.thefeastconference.com