by Nicolas Takamine

0 Comments »

, ,

How Twitter Makes You Smarter

Yes, it started out as a way to let the universe know, in 140 characters or less, bits of utterly inconsequential information like the fact that one has just eaten dinner and is now sitting on the couch. And apparently, this immateriality was precisely the idea around which the service was built. Four years later, though, Twitter is a truly valuable communication tool.

In June of last year, for example, Twitter was instrumental in allowing protesters after the Iranian election to remain in communication with the world in the face of repressive retaliation from the Ahmadinejad government. This past January, it helped to share stories, images and messages in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, and played an important role in rallying the world to send $10 million in text-message relief donations in three days.

On a day-to-day basis, Twitter is a very effective way to discover great content (whether news articles, blog posts, videos or other resources). In fact, it's one of the most effective ways, I have found, when used in the right way. Twitter has far transcended its stigma, for me, by pointing me to horizon-expanding and thought-provoking ideas and resources.


The question, then, is about how to use Twitter effectively. Out of the 50 million tweets now being sent each day, a good chunk are bound to be useless, just as they were anticipated to be in Twitter's early days. There are good tweets, too, but with so many, using Twitter sounds like certain information overload. It doesn't have to be, though; the key is in who you follow. (If you need a Twitter mechanics primer, read this.) Following a small set of key, active tweeters in the areas in which you are interested will give you access to most of the good, relevant information. These tweeters either originate links to this material or retweet the relevant tweets of others. Not every tweet will be particularly insightful, but a quick scan will help you choose which links to follow. I follow 40 or so tweeters and am connected with the right amount of a variety and a quality of content I simply cannot match with other media sources.

If you're not already on Twitter, try it out. I list below a select few tweeters who consistently share high-quality content and who might be of interest to readers of this blog.

Recommended Tweeters

@socialentrprnr – Nathaniel Whittemore is a blogger on Change.org, among other things, and shares great content on social entrepreneurship.

@harvardbiz – If you've read my November 9th post on the ProInspire blog or have heard me rant, you know that I think almost all business literature is useful for social profit organizations as well. @harvardbiz shares links to the great blog posts and management tips that appear on the Harvard Business Review's website at HBR.org.

@NextBillion – Tweets from NextBillion, the community dedicated to exploring the connection between development and enterprise, link to NextBillion.net blog posts and much more from around the web.

@acumenfund – Jacqueline Novogratz's Acumen Fund shares a number of interesting stories and insights from its investments and from Jacqueline's own experiences.

@ntakamine – Yep, that's me. I feed links to these blog posts into Twitter but also share and retweet other good, thought-provoking content I encounter.

Prefer Email?

I know many who would not use a Twitter application on their phone or desktop, as I do, and would never get into the habit of visiting the Twitter website to review their tweets. Fortunately, there's a solution which allows you to have tweets sent to you on a regular basis in one email. If you'd prefer to review your tweets in an email, follow the steps below once you have set up your Twitter account:
  1. Use FreeMyFeed.com to "unlock" the stream of tweets you collect from those you follow. (On your Twitter home page, click "RSS feed" on the right sidebar and log in. The RSS feed URL to which you are directed is the feed you need to unlock using FreeMyFeed.)
  2. Then use feedmyinbox.com to have your tweets emailed to you on a daily basis. Simple as that.
Enjoy!



by Nicolas Takamine

0 Comments »

, , , , ,

Ideas in CSR: Three Examples of Leveraged Competencies

The idea that a business' obligations are broader than maximization of profits is growing quickly these days (I'm going to avoid here the worn-thin indictment of "Wall Street" for neglecting these obligations; seriously people, enough already). A business, the concept holds, is also a social citizen and bears the responsibility of contributing to a just and sustainable society. A core component of this responsibility centers on companies doing business in a socially responsible way. For instance, Starbucks buys only "ethically sourced" coffee beans and Coca-Cola works to reduce its packaging and water footprint. But some companies are also pursuing another, less-common, angle on being a good social citizen.

Successful companies are successful because they have a more masterful command of certain key abilities than anyone else. In business-speak, these differentiating abilities are a company's "core competencies". Google's cloud computing and accessible satellite imagery capabilities are untouched. Coca-Cola's ability to rapidly move high-volume consumer products to retail locations around the world is astounding. Wal-Mart's ability to work with its many suppliers for greater efficiency is unprecedented. These companies have competencies that no other organization on the planet can match, period. Now, they are exploring ways to leverage their competencies to create social value in addition to private wealth.

Google's Deforestation Monitoring Prototype

Deforestation of tropical rainforests is one of the leading sources of carbon dioxide emissions. The UN's REDD framework (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) is designed to make it worthwhile for rainforest nations to prevent deforestation, but implementation will require the ability to accurately monitor deforestation activity.

Google, through its "philanthropy" arm, Google.org, is partnering with forest science experts to combine their software with its Google Earth satellite imagery technology to analyze changes in forest cover. Google then donates computing power from the "Google cloud" to reduce analysis time from what would take days or weeks on even a top-of-the-line desktop computer to a matter of seconds. The result is a prototype tool that brings us one step closer to having the power to effectively implement deforestation prevention strategies like REDD.

Coca-Cola's Pilot of ColaLife

ColaLife is a campaign aimed at engaging Coca-Cola (and eventually other companies) to help address what can be a big problem in the delivery of aid supplies in recipient countries: distribution. The idea is that one can purchase a Coke almost anywhere (the company's rise to dominance was built on the vision of putting a Coke "within an arm's reach of desire"), but that, in contrast, aid supplies like rehydration salts, medicines or water purification tablets sometimes do not make the "last mile" in distribution.

Last year, Coca-Cola and its local bottler in Tanzania began testing ColaLife's idea of leveraging the company's distribution channels to deliver aid supplies. They are exploring the viability of transporting "AidPods", which are packages designed to fit in the free spaces found in a crate of bottles, along with their product. In a good example of how NGOs and the private sector can work together, Coca-Cola is partnering with NGO AED for their expertise in social product distribution and social messaging.

Now, piggybacking on Coke's distribution channels is by no means a full solution to aid distribution challenges. And, indeed, the results of Coca-Cola's initial viability tests are not yet available, so it is unclear if the program will be continued. Nevertheless, that the company is open to exploring these types of possibilities is encouraging.

Wal-Mart's Sustainability Index

Wal-Mart is turning heads lately with its new effort to develop a sustainability index, which aims to assess suppliers, create a lifecycle analysis database and develop a simple tool to help customers make purchasing choices based on sustainability information. In the same way it famously manages its suppliers to achieve lower costs, Wal-Mart is now leveraging the same system for increased transparency around sustainability.

As Joel Makower explains in a thoughtful post:
It's definitely a bold move, one that stands to raise the bar on sustainability and transparency, empowering both retailers and consumers to leverage their buying power to affect change. It stands to spur innovation in products and processes. And it appears to be around for the long haul. Walmart has gone well beyond talking the talk here. It's changing the game.

The Concept of Leveraged Competencies

The word "leverage" is thrown around a bit too loosely, much like the "blame Wall Street" buzz-phrase of recent popularity. In fact, it probably belongs on a generalized version of this list. But, just as "infrastructure", "impact" and "catalyst" are valuable concepts in the right situations, so "leverage" has its appropriate uses.

Heather McLeod Grant and Leslie R. Crutchfield, authors of the nonprofit best practices book Forces for Good, explain the practical concept of leverage well:
In physics, leverage is defined as the mechanical advantage gained from using a lever. In business, it means using a proportionately small initial investment to gain a high return.
In the three cases I describe above, the massive investment these companies have made in business excellence presents us with a unique situation: great social value can be created with a relatively small incremental investment. These companies are, in this sense, leveraging their competencies for social good.

by Nicolas Takamine

1 Comment »

, , ,

“Back When I Was in College…”

My parents often wistfully remark how lucky my college-aged brothers are to still have the opportunity to attend lectures (just as they used to tell me, too). These days, as I encounter so many intriguing ideas that I can never explore deeply enough, I'm beginning to understand their point of view. How great it would be to have that educational experience again (...perhaps with better beer and with wine that doesn't come out of a box, this time).

Well, I can look forward to grad school, but in the meantime, I have been making use of another great resource for hungry minds: SpokenWord.org. It's a search engine/directory of audio and video podcasts from around the web. There is a ton of great content there, including an eye-opening Stanford University talk by Siddharth Kara on how to end modern sex slavery by attacking its economics (I mention this one not to kill the mood, but because it's one that everyone should listen to). You can find excellent content from Stanford's Social Innovation Conversations channel and the TED Conference's TEDTalks series, among many, many others. It's like being back in college—without the 8 A.M. classes. And the tuition.

With about 3,500 members, SpokenWord is still a relatively small community. Frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't taken off yet. But it's growing and there are already over 500,000 programs to browse. Chances are you'll find many a program to help keep you productive even on that morning commute. For starters, check out Think: Social Innovation's collection for a selection of great podcasts.

Like other value-enhancing knowledge management tools, SpokenWord grows in its power to point users to relevant content with each new program rating or comment. So pour a glass of non-box wine, take a look around and, if you find something interesting, rate it—and share it with a friend.

by Nicolas Takamine

0 Comments »

, , ,

TRASI: New Tool for Impact Evaluation Resources

The Foundation Center has long been a crucial source of support for both philanthropic and service delivery organizations in the social sector. In early 2010, it will launch yet another resource in an area crucial to enabling a jump to the next level of progress in the sector: impact evaluation.

What Foundation Center is calling Tools and Resources for Assessing Social Impact, or TRASI, is a database of 150 approaches to impact evaluation for social sector programs and social investments, with contributions from Acumen Fund, Dalberg Global Development Advisors, Independent Sector, among many others. The first document returned in my first search was a great report, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, containing a detailed overview of social impact concepts. An aggregation of knowledge and resources like this (and, importantly, one that is available for free) is a key step in truly empowering the sector with impact evaluation knowledge and tools.

Other essential steps, of course, include continuing to develop these approaches—the impact evaluation field, after all, is nascent—and helping to build the capacity to implement the approaches within the social sector. It is therefore encouraging that TRASI was developed with help from McKinsey, who appears to be working on a very similar initiative of its own. McKinsey is among the institutions that do a wonderful job of creating knowledge—and sharing it. How the sector internalizes the knowledge and builds the capacity to make the concepts central to its work remains to be seen.

TRASI is in beta testing right now, and needs feedback to help improve the tool before launch. Learn more and sign up here, or simply browse the database for resources for your organization. And, in the spirit of supporting progress within the sector, share what you find helpful!

by Nicolas Takamine

0 Comments »

, ,

Climate Change and Biodiversity

This post is a participation in Blog Action Day, an annual event held every October 15th that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance.

This year's Blog Action Day issue is climate change. But rather than add to the plethora of discussion about why climate change is bad, I want to share a very interesting initiative that responds to the challenge. And interestingly, as "biodiversity warrior" Cary Fowler points out in this TED video, this initiative may be the only example of a project in which all the countries in the world, literally, have come together to do something that is both long-term, sustainable, and positive. Mr. Fowler describes here a backup seed bank system, hosted by Norway, with the task of protecting our agricultural output in the face of climate change by preserving diversity in the genetic resources of our crops. A mighty task indeed.


by Nicolas Takamine

0 Comments »

,

Elegant Solutions


"In dance or martial arts, elegance is minimum motion with maximum effect. In a mathematical proof or a computer program, elegance is the minimum number of steps to achieve the solution with maximum clarity…Like an elegant theory, an elegant solution is recognized by its parsimony of definition and power of explanation."1
An abalone shell, self-assembled, molecule by molecule from ions in seawater, is twice as tough as high-tech, man-made ceramics. The tiny lenses that cover the body of a brittle star, also self-assembled in a water-based process, are the best optic lenses that we know of. A beetle's entire exoskeleton consists of just one material—chitin—which is sturdy, breathable, waterproof, and colorful, without pigments, just by virtue of the structure of the material.

In its ability to solve the greatest of problems with remarkable elegance, nature has us beat by a mile. There is much for us to learn.

Janine Benyus, recognizing this, is leading a field called biomimicry, which seeks to learn from the 3.8 billion years of "R&D" that nature has generously performed for us. For many of the problems we face today, Ms. Benyus points out, nature has already developed a solution in one situation or another—and has done so in ingenious, elegant ways.

In her 2009 TED Conference talk below2, Ms. Benyus chooses to focus on the physical applications of biomimicry, but the principle is relevant in any context. So my question to you is: what can you learn from nature that will make solutions in your line of work more elegant?



If you're curious about what you can learn from nature and apply to your work, visit Asknature.org, a project of Ms. Benyus' Biomimicry Institute. This innovative website organizes biological information by design and engineering function so that, in the words of Ms. Benyus, "Any inventor, anywhere in the world, in the moment of creation, will be able to type in 'how does nature remove salt from water,' and up will come [information about that process in] mangroves and sea turtles and your own kidneys."

Ingenious. And elegant.

1 Although this quote comes from the politically oriented website http://www.elsol.org/, I quote it here in an apolitical context.

2 Check out an earlier presentation by Ms. Benyus on the PopTech website here for additional interesting applications of biomimicry.

by Nicolas Takamine

1 Comment »

,

Conferences of the New Paradigm

Since moving to Washington, D.C. last month, I have been excited to see what kinds of interesting conferences and events come through town, in part because, as this area is the seat of the federal government and home to a unique ecosystem of people, businesses, and social sector organizations, the D.C. perspective on social innovation may very well be of a different flavor than that of the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area to which I am accustomed (more on this idea further down the line). As it happens, two very interesting events—a conference and a panel discussion—are scheduled to be held in the coming weeks.

The one problem, unfortunately, is that they both occur in the middle of the day during the work week, and I won't be able to attend.

The Leadership for a Better World Forum, hosted by the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, and a panel discussion titled "Do We Need a Nonprofit Capital Market?," hosted by the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, are both events that I would have loved to attend. Back in June, I wrote about Opportunity Collaboration, another great event I won't be attending, in this case because it will be held in Mexico, costs $4,750, and is designed as a series of working business meetings for people who are already leaders in social entrepreneurship, social sector organizations, and social capital markets or philanthropy.

The information, insight, and perspective shared at these events have so much potential to inform and inspire meaningful change. Yet, there must be millions of people worldwide who, like me, cannot take advantage of the learning opportunities they present.

That's why I'm so grateful when organizers make a commitment to bringing their event to the world when, after all, they can't bring the world to the event. These organizers post video, audio, and transcripts of conference sessions for the world to access for free online. TED, a leader when it comes to this idea, makes a great effort to ensure its content is accessible by everyone, including non-English speakers and the hearing-impaired, by adding subtitles and by having volunteers translate videos into various languages. What's more, TED publishes all of its content under a Creative Commons license, so the information can be freely shared and reposted.

To me, this kind of openness is a reflection of what might be considered a new level of consciousness, perhaps even a new paradigm, in which the principles of information sharing, transparency, empowerment, and connectedness, among others, are seen as being central to progress. After all, the more that knowledge from events like these is shared, the greater impact it will have.

Below, I have put together a list of some of the conferences and organizations who exemplify this idea and support the social innovation field by making their content available online (are there others you know of?). I encourage you to browse and to leave a comment to share anything you find that inspires you!

Hudson Institute

To begin with, the Hudson Institute posts transcripts and audio files of the events it hosts. Watch for information from the "Do We Need a Nonprofit Capital Market?" panel, to be held on September 17th, at the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal's website. Click here for archived content.

TED

As we have said, TED does an amazing job of sharing content from its TED Conferences in accordance with its mantra of "Ideas Worth Spreading." The Conference began in 1984 to bring together the worlds of technology, entertainment, and design (hence T-E-D), but these days hosts the greatest thinkers in a number of disciplines, including Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, and many, many others. Videos can be found directly on the TED homepage.

Social Innovation Conversations

This collaboration between the Conversations Network podcast service and the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business publishes podcasts of social innovation-related discussions with experts and practitioners in a broad range of fields, as well as recordings of a variety of Stanford-hosted panel discussions and presentations. Podcasts can be found here.

Skoll World Forum

The Skoll World Forum is a collaboration between The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and The Skoll Foundation. The Forum "connects prominent social entrepreneurs with essential actors in the social, academic, finance, corporate and policy sectors – all working to accelerate sustainable social benefit." Find videos from the 2009 Skoll World Forum here.

Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp

The 2009 Boot Camp was one conference I was lucky enough to attend (it was held on a Saturday). Podcasts of sessions from the 2009 Boot Camp are being posted over time, but you can already find the great opening address by Arianna Huffington and the closing panel discussion, in addition to podcasts from past Boot Camps, here.

Social Capital Markets

The Social Capital Markets 2009 conference wrapped up just last Thursday. According to their website today, video of panel sessions and blog highlights will be available in the coming week. In the meantime, check out the SOCAP09 blog and the Social Capital Markets YouTube channel.

I'll be the first to share something that inspires me. Here is a TED video featuring Jacqueline Novogratz, one of my heroes, discussing the power of Acumen Fund's approach to social venture capital:


« Older Entries