For benefit/community interest corporations.

The U.K. and soon the U.S. are putting together some great new hybrid models that look to engage the power of the capital markets in ventures that are created strictly in community interest. Take a look here for a primer on the U.K. model and here for launch pad to some of the U.S. work. Seeing the evolution of markets is a wonderful thing.

How authentic are you?

I just saw two interesting perspectives on connecting with what people care about. One of which is from client/collaborator Communicopia in this presentation and one is in this article in Canadian Business titled "Sell More by Creating Desire".

This theme is something I'm seeing more and more everyday particularly with the steady growth in popularity of social and environmental justice issues. Whether it's a company giving to a charity, creating a new product, or simply your own efforts to make a difference the durability and success are anchored in authenticity -- is it connected with the true nature of who you are as an organization or an individual?

In the presentation the basis of this is understanding the core of who you are (as an individual or an organization), what you are here to do, and what the value is in what you have to offer. In the case of the article, the idea is more about trying to perceive what people are really seeking in their lives and give them something that aims to satiat that seeking. The trouble with trying to figure out what it is that people are seeking is that it is incredibly transient and shifts with the times and with the trends. It's also not based on what you are uniquely good at so begins to take on the feeling of a cheap knock-off, pr 'spin', or other pile of bs.

We all know that feeling of something quality, integrity, and substance when we come across it. It something that only comes when it's anchored in what's true and when the experience and communication speaks directly to the truth. That's when people can start to form real connections with the organisation or individual behind the product or message. Doing things the otherway around is well... an effort in futility... except for the consultant you've hired to work really hard to create something that doesn't exist.

That said, knowing ourselves is a very difficult thing to do. In my experience with emerging entities this takes a healthy amount of time, courage, and integrity. Think about it for yourself or your organization. Do you really know why you are here? What's the core purpose that you are here to fulfill and what's your truly unique contribution in doing that?

For a good overview and some great examples of this stuff from the organizational perspective you can purchase a great article here. Of course, you can always go hire a consultant - either way, good luck, you'll get what you want. Just remember - the only thing that's authentic will be finding your truth - not adopting someone elses.

Accelerating the Collective Potential for Positive Change

I've just come across www.slideshare.net and figured I'd try it using the latest version of the presentation (here) that I'm working with on the topic of accelerating the collection potential for positive change.

Let's see how this works... and of course... I'm always interested in feedback!

To the point... .

So this is what it comes down to:

I'm exploring:
- ways to accelerate the individual capacity for positive change
- ways to systematically, repeatably, apply the entrepreneurial approach toward environmental and social justice

The principles I'm working from:
- The community holds the knowledge and experience.
- We facilitate their wisdom
- We orchestrate their solution

So... if anyone has anything that maybe relevant (connections, docs, initiatives, etc.) to either of those areas that I'm exploring, I'd love to hear about them!

What's got my attention.

This process all started with me trying to get a feeling for two things:
- what am I uniquely able to do?
- where do I want to focus my attention?

Of course those questions both prompt deeper questions - which have been a big part of my journey lately - but what I came up with that best captured it for me was the statement I've been sharing: co-creating entities and initiatives in service of restoring balance among people and the planet.

The first part is where this venturing approach that I've been developing came out of - a way of trying to capture my experiences into a repeatable process that would be able to achieve greater results/impact.

The second part was a little trickier because it implied that I had a vision of what balance looked like. If not, then how would I know what would help achieve that. Well that posed a tricky problem because well... who can predict the future - really?

In asking those questions though, and going through the desire to start a company to do this to just getting a couple of sample projects going to finding myself in the middle of an example unexpectedly, what I find myself left with are two things that seem to be holding my attention. And those are:

- in what way could people individually be opened to more positive change?
- what is it in the entrepreneurial approach that brings people together for positive change?

For me these are deeper than my attachments to specific models or viewpoints and are opening up a new avenues of exploring them. In a way, I don't even have to worry about what I 'do' anymore, my collective experiences and ability naturally informs the choices I'm making and the opportunities that are arising.

Funny... I've gone from vowing not to start a company, to trying to get one going, and am back to not having anything to start. And in all of it, I am actually doing a project that's an example of the model I was so attached to, and am having more and more fun every day.

Let's see what tomorrow brings.

The future of organizations.

I just read a very interesting paper called "The Future of Global Action Networks" (look for the document link a little ways down the page). What was interesting, was not necessarily the discussion of "Global Action Networks" but the underlying observations on how they operate and are setup. From my perspective, these approaches to organizations are going to be fundamentally important to the most relevant organizations of tomorrow.

If anyone has done or wants to do a summary of this document please let me know. I'd love to post it here.

This has been one of those rare reads for me... something I'm sure I'll be referencing for many years to come.

It's just money.

Well, I'm back.

It's been an interesting start to the year and I'm starting to test some of the examples of this 'model' I've been developing and have actually, unbeknown to me, wound up in a project that actually represents the model I'm developing (funny how that happens). I guess that's partly because, as with most things, the model isn't really new. It's essentially just an intentional version of the common entrepreneurial approach. What seems to strike people most however is not the approach but the idea that the seed financing happens before there's even an idea... where there is only an intention for some sort of result or impact.

It's amazing to watch the resistance come around that one aspect in particular. So much seems to be bundled around money and the power the holder of it can have over those that want it. Mess with money and you mess with control... or so it's perceived. Really they are separate issues.

In my experience actually, only once money and control are dealt with separately does the ability to set the most helpful controls in place emerge. In a way it serves as a useful test in getting to know a partner. If the conversation gets into the ways of setting up the controls, I know we're on the same page. If it's stuck on returns and percentages we're in opposite ends of the bookstore.

Am curious to see what resistance emerges next. For now back into crafting the docs.