"Points of Light" in this modern world?

I am writing today after a long break in this activity because I have a need to express some thoughts. Maybe they are helpful to some of those who read this blog but that advantage, major as it may be to you, is only incidental THIS TIME to me. Please forgive me for this.

It seems that all around me BIG things are happening - family is doing very well, daughter just graduated from Medicine, she's getting married this weekend, some of my adopted professional "children" (those of you who know me know that I adopt a small band of people early in their careers and help them in some catalytic way and then watch as they set their part of the world on FIRE with successes) have found new GREAT jobs and are happy, one just had a baby, the business is thriving even in these so-called tough times and all is well etc etc etc.

And yet through all of that there is an occassional DEEP dark cloud that overpowers me and shakes my belief in this world to the core. You see my good friend Larry Falls is suffering from late stage pancreatic cancer. I almost cannot bear to see someone of his quality and personal and professional stature have to suffer the indignity that this illness brings on its vistims. I know that some of you have read the website that describes the concept of the Real Human Being ( http://www.realhumanbeing.org/index.php/about-rhb ) where my friend Dave Howlett describes a story I once told him and has quite successfully converted that story into a way for people to think and interact with one another. Well, I feel that Larry Falls is the ULTIMATE REAL HUMAN BEING. He's compassionate, generous of spirit and continuously sees only the GOOD in others. So it is PARTICULARLY painful for me to see this modern-day hero have to suffer like this.

Yesterday, a ray of sunshine shone into that gloom and I was somehow reassured about my fellow man. It turns out that news of Larry's situation spread far and wide and SOMEONE took it upon himself (thanks Grant) to make a web site to honor Larry Falls ( www.everybodyoveslarryfalls.com ). The news is spreading even faster and farther now and the posts are absolutely HEARTWARMING. You really SHOULD try to get to know Larry while there is still time or at least see for yourself what the acclaim for a REAL HUMAN BEING looks like through the posts. Its great to know that good people ARE recognized by all of us and that there IS room for Points-of-Light like this one in this universe yet. When one touches YOUR life next time remember that this modern day approach is a way to give people an opportunity to see what the world thinks of them while they are still on it and it helps those whose lives they have touched to "find" one another and to carry on a tradition. Thanks Larry for being a mentor to me!! I hope that you become the first person to CONQUER this horrible disease and that you get the miracle you so RICHLY deserve.

Gossip-The social weapon Friends- The antidote

Scientific American today posted an interesting article which appeared in my Google Reader (for those of you who don’t KNOW about Google Reader you REALLY should look into it… and NO I’m not paid by Google.). Here’s the connection to that article

http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=pssst-gossip-hurts--but-friends-can-2009-04-09

The main thesis in this short note was that Gossip hurts (A somewhat OBVIOUS fact) but that friends are the antidote to this weapon of society. Having been the victim of bad rumors and innuendo behind my back I am ACUTELY aware of how dangerous and sinister the effects of gossip can be. Some time ago a person I had known for over a DECADE at that time and whom I considered a personal friend used a workplace situation he had become a victim of to turn the tables and make me an unsuspecting victim of that very same situation. The tragedy; I had actually worked HARD behind the scenes to help him by standing up for him and speaking out against the conclusions that were being spread about him. His utterly false, backstabbing gossip, which he spread far and wide, actually had a devastating effect on my career. I am not alone. Today we know for a fact that adolescents use gossip to cement cliques which can be used by some to force others into horrible acts (including murder). Now we often hear that the “cream always rises to the top” and that “adversity makes one strong” etc. but the net effects of false gossip can be the same as an assault with a weapon on someone. If that attack is strong enough and well enough planned, it can have a crippling effect on one’s future. Does this mean that gossip is ITSELF evil? I’d rather believe that all powerful instruments in our civilization have the capacity to do as much GOOD as they can do evil in the wrong hands. The skill is in using the tool in the right way.

There is need in my opinion to harness the social power that can be exerted in gossip. What if we all made a decision to stand up and say what we believe to be correct of our friends when we hear others (even larger groups of others and even powerful groups of others) saying things about our friends that would diminish them in the eyes of the society that they want to be a part of. It’s risky but don’t we OWE it to our friends to do them this favor? People’s reputations are made by people talking about them when they are not there to defend themselves. Well chosen gatherings can make it possible to spread lies about anyone (even Mother Teressa was not exempt) and to make them stick and propagate by hearsay and gossip. If we make a decision to say good things about people, that too can stick and propagate through gossip. Wouldn’t it be a much better world if we could rely on our friends to (a) quash false rumors about us and (b) propagate GOOD stories about us when we were not there? Who knew it could be so simple to make this a much better society for all of us to live in?

Dubai, Mumbai, Shanghai,…or Bye Bye.

A week ago I was in Vancouver and visited with my good friend Paul. Paul runs a successful business connecting Asia with Canada. As we enjoyed a delightful dinner at a really super restaurant in the downtown area the conversation inevitably turned to the financial downturn we are all experiencing these days and I asked him “How is it in Asia?” His comments were distinctly optimistic compared to the doom and gloom we hear everyday on this side of the Pacific. So I asked him why this might be the case. His answer REALLY struck a chord with me. He said “Back East they have a phrase these days…” you guessed it! …”Dubai, Mumbai, Shanghai … or Bye Bye” The financial power structure is REALLY moving away from North America and those of us who choose to look at the world STILL only through North American glasses (defining all of reality ONLY as NA centric) do so at our own peril.

It strikes me that just as the book that all of us in the “hippy generation” grew up on - I’m OK you’re OK” – shows, there are three phases in the development of anyone’s personality (I’m NOT OK you’re OK, I’m OK you’re NOT OK, I’m OK you’re OK) so also there are the SAME three phases in the development of North America as a persona in the global village. Certainly Canada is still in late phase ONE but the US may be in late phase TWO. In order to really thrive we need to all come to Phase THREE. We need to look for the STRENGTHS in each of our trading partners and ask what we can do with them not how we can develop the SAME strengths so that we can out compete them. Then we need to understand what the rest of the world perceives as OUR strengths and make ourselves excel at THOSE things – to REALLY become world LEADERS in those strengths - and attempt to recover real and sustainable value from them. The old order would be wrapped up in having sufficient amounts of all of the required strengths to create and sustain a COMPLETE human ecosystem in one country. This is OLD WORLD thinking in my opinion. It is no less parochial and no more sustainable than the same attitude in each province or each main city. We are a SINGLE entity – the world! We need to think of life in this way to survive the emerging new order of things.

Busting with all of these rather revolutionary thoughts (at least for me) I attended the annual Roger Martin event. He’s the Dean of the Rotman School of Business in Toronto and the head of the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity – to most of us fans he’s simply referred to as Dean Martin! I heard one speaker after another say how great and world-renowned our research in Canada in SEVERAL sectors is. Then they all went on to say (in one way or another) that we need to MATCH the spending on TECHNOLOGICAL innovation with spending on MANAGERIAL innovation (for the cynics this was sort-of self-serving for the head of a BUSINESS school but I was not amongst them) and I couldn’t help thinking ”Do we REALLY need that in Canada?” I could not help thinking that this was only true if we wanted to build the entire ecosystem WITHIN Canada’s borders only. What if we thought GLOBALLY for a moment? What if we contributed what the world CLEARLY identifies as our strength – TECHNICAL innovation? This would only work for Canada if we could recover enough ROI from the licensing of those technologies to ANYONE worldwide who could build them into successful products and profitable companies. What if we left that to those with indigenous VCs (REAL VCs not disguised bankers) and innovative managers? We hear a LOT these days about starting companies from the FIRST DAY with a global view of the markets. What if we take that one step further and start a company from the MANAGEMENT point of view by thinking globally too? Would such a company that seeks to draw what it needs (technologically AND managerially) from wherever in the world where it is STRENGTH actually have an edge? Would it make impossible demands on the cultures of the participants? Would travel become an unsustainable burden? Do we HAVE to develop all of the strengths that we need in EVERY country that aspires to succeed? It strikes me that the better way to reach Phase THREE for all of us is to acknowledge and demand the strengths from each country that they already have and create truly GLOBAL enterprises that could be housed anywhere in the world but which have multinational stakeholders so that EVERY participating nation gains from its success. This would be a world worth living in as long as we can TRULY work out an equitable share for each contributor NOT based on the dollar value of what they contribute but based on the added value that they CONTRIBUTE through their own special skills and expertise. As always your comments would be welcomed.

The "Join my network" disease

Has anyone noticed the recent upswing in requests to join someone's network on Linkedin or Facebook or is it that I suddenly have friends in places where I didn't even know there were places before? I have one contact who, together with his wife may account for about 10 to 20 announcements of new linkages made PER DAY!(sustained for the last 6 months or more) I know, I should simply turn off the RSS feed on my site if I don't want to get all of these tidbits. But ... in the good old days it was actually FUN to see who is connecting with whom. If it were still a serious effort to connect with people and do something with that connection (such as even update poeple about your life from time to time) it might be worthwhile. I know of a group who have simply made it a game to see who can "reach" the most people through this tool. It is really a bit of a shame and actually undermines the value of the tool. The original idea was to be able to check for common friends etc. when meeting someone new. I think that with 2400 in the list of this couple and climbing on a daily basis this could become a bit of a farce.

Now don't get me wrong, I am always flattered that someone asks to have me join their particular "exclusive" little network. But when you see that you are simply a part of a number counting game it could have the opposite effect. I think it all boils down to the economy right now and how that affects all of our self confidence and how THAT in turn can lead one to want to have a large "network" of "friends", but folks; there is SIMPLY NO EASY WAY TO MASS PRODUCE A REAL NETWORK. It is (as I have mentioned before) like planting a fruit tree when one is hungry and looking to eat the fruits before one starves.

I recall once when I had lost a job and someone decent tried to help me. Let's just call him John ... because his real name WAS John :). After he had helped me through the worst part of the initial loss and shock, John said to me "I want you to update me with your progress each month so that I can offer REAL help whenever I see the opportunity." I started writing to John each month summarizing my progress and emphasizing the POSITIVE things that had happened that month. Soon it became a daily goal to find something positive that I could put down on the note to John. Sometimes it was nothing more that the weather being exceptionally suitable for job hunting etc. But always there was something. The thoughts and observations often sparked some suggestions and encouragement and soon that changed my whole disposition. When I landed my next job, one day I was chatting with my new boss (with whome I have developed a lasting friendship over the years) and he mentioned that the REASON he had hired me was that he'd been struck by my incredible optimism even though I'd been on the job hunt for asome time at that point. It is possible that John actually DID help me find my next job after all! As time went on I encountered others who helpedme and seemed GENUINELY interested in participating in my life's journey. The "John list" has grown over the years and I now send out the same monthly note (no more that a few lines NOT like a Christmas letter!) to 56 people. THIS is my network. Luckily for me I have never had the need to tap into this network to get a job but I am sure that if I needed the encouragement and REAL help it would be THIS group who would give it and not anyone else. I would encourage those now engaged in the time-consuming task of simply increasing their contact network to spend the same time REALLY getting to know a small part of that group. THIS is the REAL network that will grow like a tree and shade you when you are scorched, feed you when you are hungry, and cover you in the storm. Who knew that simply old fashioned ideas may STILL be useful. Your thoughts and comments are (as always) most welcome.

Networking is Like Planting a Tree

I’ve written about networking, and how much the very word has been misused, before but I today I had occasion to think again about the same topic. I was at a breakfast meeting which has, as one of its express purposes, the promotion of networking amongst its members. Each attendee gets a chance to stand up and say a few choice words about themselves so as to orient others about their own interests and expertise. Every one of us has, no doubt, been to one of these types of meetings. Far too often it is when we are “looking for our next adventure on the journey of life”. After the meeting people generally hang around and chat with some old friends and try to meet some new ones based on these introductory remarks.

TWO people stood up at the introductions and said “…I am looking for a job so I’m networking here today…” and it struck me! Networking is like planting a TREE. One starts with a sapling. One waters it and nourishes it and makes sure no one accidentally steps on it. In a short while the sapling starts to put down roots. On the surface nothing much happens at first as all of the nourishments go to make better stronger roots below the surface. Then it starts to grow. It becomes tall and strong and withstands some storms and MANY winters. It resists drought and pestilence and even begins to offer shade on those hot summer days. Eventually it bears flowers, leaves… and yes; if it is the right kind of tree it offers fruits.

“I’m looking for a job so I’m here networking…” is like saying “It’s almost lunchtime and I’m hungry so let’s plant a fruit tree…” I just doesn’t work like that. Now each of us is in a rush and have little time to just be friends with EVERYONE we meet but those who have taken the time and made the effort in the right area for the right length of time have shown their commitment to that area over others and it is PRECISELY the reason why their network will pay off in that area eventually. We need to nurture our network like we take care of a plant. We need to nourish it, protect it with constant effort, and shelter it in good times and in bad so that it grows and flourishes. If we are too busy to network we IMPLICITLY say this is not important enough to me to be a priority. There are a hundred urgencies that could EASILY displace this activity from our daily routine. But we do this at our own peril. When we are hungry, or need shelter from the storm we cannot expect the network to sustain us and to do for us what we have not done for it. Far too often young professionals network actively until they find their first job and then simply drop out of the networking scene. They are soon not missed any more and then even forgotten while their employers get full days of dedicated work. Unfortunately, their job situations being what they are these days they soon find themselves dusting off the old rolodex and trying to resurrect old acquaintances. This is like trying to water a plant that one has put in the closet for a few years and forgotten about. People have moved on. They are busy moving their own networks forward and most of all they remember that the last time you used them until you didn’t have an immediate need for them. This implicitly made fools of them and pointed up their inability to judge who to trust and this is something people remember. There’s an old saying “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on ME”. So more than not being useful, the old efforts may actually act AGAINST you if you pursue a shortsighted view of the networking game. People base their decisions about who to help out on TRUST and RESPECT and that is only built over time and with steady constant effort. I know we are all busy but I’m sorry; there is simply no quick fix to this problem. Make the commitment early and STICK with it. Don’t be on the lookout to harvest what you have barely planted.

The Privilege of Mentorship

“No man ever stood so tall as one who stooped to help a child” so the saying goes. This saying sounds simultaneously profoundly touching and somewhat condescending to me. I think of the act of helping the next generation somewhat differently. I think of it as a privilege granted to me by someone who trusts me enough to genuinely expect me to put them above my own life’s agenda.

Imagine a society where the ONLY way to achieve anything of significance in one’s life was to help others to achieve it… where one NATURALLY ascribed all of a person’s achievements to their TEACHER rather than directly to the person themselves. The consequences of having such a societal norm would transform society – no less. In order to succeed in such a society one would have to pick the right people to mentor and then devote oneself to making them better - MUCH BETTER - than oneself. This would be the only way to succeed since nothing we could do ourselves would ever result in acknowledgement to the doer but rather only to the teacher. We would be forced to convey all of what we have learned – not just the essentials – to the next generation and insist that they be better than we ever were. We would have to be sincerely engaged in this or we would have no hope of having achieved anything. Think of the consequences of such a societal norm. The next generation would be sincerely interested in learning from the previous since they could trust that the older generation would genuinely WANT (even for the most self serving of needs) to transfer all of their experience and knowledge to them. It would ensure progress – true progress - of our society, and it would empower all of us with a common purpose – to learn as much as we could from the experiences of past generations so as to be BETTER than them. It would make both teacher and student PROUD when the student exceeded the teacher! It would make us also pick and choose the very best teachers and students so that the possibility of truly moving past ourselves could be realized for both parties.

By now you are probably thinking “This can never REALLY happen! Right?” but history has already proved you wrong. This is the old eastern tradition of “GURU” and “CHELA”. In old eastern cultures a distinguished teacher simply walked the land teaching in villages and at other gatherings as he thought fit. They would naturally gather about a dozen or so younger people intent on learning as much as they could from the guru through experiencing life with the teacher. The guru for his part would carefully select these “chelas” so as to maximize the chances of producing, through them, a generation of gurus MUCH better than the present one since it was the ONLY way they had of truely achieving their lifes goals. Then the teacher would dedicate his life to transmitting as much of what he knew to these deciples as possible in the time left to him on earth. This is actually not such a foreign tradition even in the west. It is at the heart of Christianity itself. In other words not only is it POSSIBLE it is in fact part of the fabric of who we are today. But the tradition has been lost. Somewhere along the line society started to look no further than the performer rather than looking at the teacher. The teacher began to see the student as his “competition” and therefore started to teach them a little less than what they knew so that they would always have the upper hand over their students. One upmanship was born. Who can blame them for this. It is what they had to do to survive. But their survival has put our society at risk today. We are doomed to repeat the mistakes of our teachers. We are slowly – generation by generation – diminishing as a collective. We are all complicit in this evolution and we all have it in our power to change it if we so desire. Mentorship is one of the avenues to do that. If we each start by deciding to GENUINELY help someone realize their dreams by contributing our own experiences to their success – exposing all of the embarrassing mistakes that we have made along the way - with nothing asked in return except the sheer joy of watching a promising younger person succeed better than we ever could hope to, then we will have done something of GREAT significance in the world. We will have changed it forever. Mentorship is a privilege and those who perform well as mentors can be truly proud of their achievements and their legacy.

Inter-University Collaborations

According to Brian Uzzi, Benjamin F. Jones, and Stefan Wuchty of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management as quoted in Chemical and Engineering News this week http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/86/i41/8641notw11.html the amount of INTER university collaborations is on the rise in the US and also produces better quality research than INTRA university collaborations or single-author papers. It is apparently a very thorough and complete piece of work.

This is worth thinking about as two things happen around us 1: the financial crunch in North America is bound to put the squeeze on research dollars at universities eventually making it all the more important to utilize our research dollars in the best possible way. 2: Fields of research are interacting more and more and the BEST new discoveries now appear to come from those interfaces between previously quite disparate disciplines of science. Given that research dollars will be shrinking one can only assume that travel to meetings (especially meetings in OTHER disciplines) will be on the decline. So one can reasonably ask "How will intelligent, successful scientists in one discipline meet really successful scientists in another so that the most fruitful sorts of cross-discipline collaborations can develop?"

One answer is provided by services like that which ArrowCan Partners Inc provides. Last year we connected more that 100 scientists in Canada with others in seemingly orthogonal fields of science whom they would not otherwise have met. There is a real need for the scientist turned business entrepreneur who will seek out the best and connect them with others through personalized and trusted introductions. Knowing how important a trend this is helps me to continue this work even in the dead of winter in Canada when travel is not at its easiest.