How Do We Cultivate Mindfulness As A Society?
Posted: December 8, 2019 at 8:09 pm
Download copy from here How Do We Cultivate Mindfulness As A Society
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Finding creativity in plain sight: How to question convention and allow inventive thinking to flourish – Fora.ie
Posted: at 4:49 pm
Its people that are creative, not organisations.
Creativity is something that is in high demand, falling under the set of soft skills that are now a huge advantage in business.
However, creativity exists outside of learned expertise, its more about the way an individual perceives reality. With this in mind, its important to note that its people that are creative and not organisations.
The most obvious characteristics that come to mind are artistic; such as painting, sculpture and music. These are indeed creative, but these are skills that have been honed over many years, practised, fine-tuned. They are a form of learned expertise, just like accountancy and medicine.
The less obvious forms of creativity are when we talk about thinking creatively. This is far more interesting, and far more accessible for everyone to do: It is just thinking.
Most ancient cultures lacked the concept of creativity, seeing it as a form of discovery and not creation. They assumed that all around them was divine, furnished by the Gods, and not humans. Humans didnt have the divine right to imagine something into reality. That was reserved for Gods.
Humanism allowed us to move past this view though, and a combination of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment accelerated it. It removed the authority of thought, a single, all-encompassing view.
This lead to a questioning of conventional ways of doing things, and allowed inventive thinking to flourish, new ideas, new concepts and completely new ways of viewing the world arose. But when conventions are questioned by someone, they arent viewed as creative thinkers, they are viewed as troublemakers.
We dont like change so we shun the unconventional thinkers, and this is the key point. Creativity can be challenging. Its about questioning assumptions, proposing the preposterous and not being bound by the perceived right or wrong outcome.
Harnessing creativity
Many people consider business creativity to be the domain of only certain departments or people. This is a drawback, as it thrives on diversity and cross-departmental input.
Its about ideas, observations and innocent questions that can spark new and valuable ways of doing things. To foster this though, a structure needs to be in place to allow people to contribute in a meaningful manner.
In 1951 Toyota launched its creative idea suggestion system. Its slogan Good Thinking, Good Products is in Toyota factories around the globe to encourage all employees to suggest improvements or ideas. This differed from the normal suggestion box approach in that it had very clear guidelines and a clear path to resolution.
It meant ideas were evaluated on their merit, and not on who was proposing them. It also explicitly stated that permission for suggesting improvements was not required, thus removing the hierarchal barriers that can impede creativity.
Intermingle expertise
One of the reasons that scrappy start-ups become successful is that they are working on a limited budget, which means that they cant afford a specialist for every role. This can seem like a handicap, but it is one of the reasons they succeed.
An organisation stocked with experts tends to have a conventional way of doing things, as informed by each of their specialisms. When that expertise isnt available though, a different way to do whats needed will be found.
This new, non-traditional approach can be the reason that the start-up finds success. It brings a different perspective to proceedings, one unencumbered by traditional patterns of thinking around the discipline.
One way around this limitation in larger organisations is to create a system that allows departments to seek fresh viewpoints from other internal teams or departments. This isnt a form of offloading problems, rather it allows for different points-of-view to be applied to it, and sometimes a novice in the field might propose something that everyone else has missed.
Create areas to focus on, not goals
Conceptually it can be hard to view goals as a negative thing, we are primed to achieve them from an early age.For creative outcomes, it is important that they are removed.
By setting fixed goals the results that are defined are already set. This is the opposite of what is required when seeking new ideas and outcomes. When you ask for the expected, thats what you will always get.
Instead, create areas of focus to concentrate on. These can be centred on optimising or innovating, customer-facing or inward-facing, departmental or company-wide. Its not important which, what is important is that there isnt a fixed goal in mind for what you want the creative thinking to apply to. This allows for a range of results to indicate success. It can also present results that can surprise because when the narrow success goals are removed, creativity flourishes.
Most organisations are brimming with creativity, but they need to seek it out to get the best results.
Designing environments and structures to enable this is crucial, and finding the people that are willing to ask the questions, explore the unknown and to challenge everyday assumptions. They can be young or old, just in the door or part of the furniture. They may be known internally as lacking experience, difficult or trouble makers. Find these people and creativity will thrive.
Keith Kent is the founder ofEpigram,which works with organisations to improve their business through innovation.
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Finding creativity in plain sight: How to question convention and allow inventive thinking to flourish - Fora.ie
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Booker T. Jones discusses his book among this weeks author talks – Marin Independent Journal
Posted: at 4:49 pm
Book events
Barnes & Noble: 313 Corte Madera Ave., Corte Madera; 415-927-9016; barnesandnoble.com. Dec. 10: Fetch-22 release party. 6:30 p.m.; Dec. 12: YA Book Club discusses Scythe by Neal Shusterman. 7 p.m.; Dec. 13: Lindy West discusses The Witches Are Coming. 6 p.m.
Bay Model Visitor Center: 2100 Bridgeway, Sausalito; 415-332-3871. Dec. 14: Marin City photographers Nita Winter and Rob Badger sign their book, Beauty and The Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change. 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Book Passage: 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera; 415-927-0960; bookpassage.com. Dec. 8: Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts discusses Fight Like a Mother. 1 p.m.; Dec. 8: Paula Arai discusses Painting Enlightenment. 4 p.m.; Dec. 9: Booker T. Jones discusses Time is Tight. 7 p.m.; Dec. 10: Rabbi Tirzah Firestone discusses Wounds Into Wisdom. 7 p.m.; Dec. 11: John J. Prendergast discusses The Deep Heart. 7 p.m.; Dec. 14: Sasha Paulsen discusses Dancing on the Spiders Web with Georgeanne Brennan. 1 p.m.; Dec. 14: RC Marlen discusses Pocket in the Waistcoat. 7 p.m.; Dec. 15: Toni Bird Jones discusses The Measure of Ella. 1 p.m.; Dec. 15: San Anselmo resident Jamie Kurtzig discusses Onederland: My Childhood with Type 1 Diabetes. 4 p.m.
Point Reyes Presbyterian Church: 11445 Highway 1, Point Reyes Station; 415-663-1542; ptreyesbooks.com. Dec. 14: Poets Ada Limn and Matthew Zapruder read from their recent work. 3 p.m.
San Rafael Public Library: 1100 E St., San Rafael; 415-485-3321. Dec. 9: Monday Night Reading Group discusses Excellent Women by Barbara Pym. 6:30 p.m.
Anne T. Kent California Room Map & Special Collections Annex: 1600 Los Gamos, suite 182, San Rafael; 415-473-7419. Dec. 9: Historian and It Happened in Marin author Jim Holden discusses Geography & Action in Marin: Featuring Rare Marin County Maps. 6:30 p.m.
Firehouse Coffee & Tea: 317 Johnson St., Sausalito. Dec. 8: Pen Men of Marins poetry reading. 3 p.m.
Marin Centers Showcase Theater: 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael; tickets.marincenter.org. Dec. 10: Chris Taylor and Bryan Young discuss Star Wars: The Skywalker Journey Returns Home. 7 p.m. $8 to $25.
San Anselmo Council Chambers: 525 San Anselmo Ave., San Anselmo; townofsananselmo.org. Dec. 10: Asian Art Museum docent Yoshi Fukamiya discusses Demons, Creatures and Monsters in Asian Art. Noon.
Studio 333: 333 Caledonia St., Sausalito; wtawpress.org. Dec. 12: Novato poet Francesca Bell, Yu-Han Chao, Cai Emmons, Judy Grahn, Brittany Ackerman and Florencia Ramirez read their works at Why There Are Words. 7:15 p.m. $10.
Compiled by Colleen Bidwill The Literary Calendar appears Sundays. Email calendar@marinij.com or mail to Literary Calendar, Marin Independent Journal, 4000 Civic Center Drive, Suite 301, San Rafael 94903. Items should be sent two weeks in advance.
From the editor: Mentoring Monday — a day for women and about women – SILive.com
Posted: at 4:49 pm
Hi Neighbor,
Today were talking about women. If youre a guy, read on anyway because theres a good chance you know a woman wholl be interested.
The Advance/SILive will host a unique event in February for any Staten Island woman who wants business advice, or educational advice, or volunteering advice lets just say any advice whatsoever.
And we have the women to give it. Fifty-five of them.
On Feb. 24, a Monday morning, at 8:30 theyll be in the Vanderbilt on the boardwalk in South Beach waiting to talk to you. One-on-one.
We call it Mentoring Monday. Its all about women and all about helping their careers.
You might be a high school student wondering what to do after graduation. Everyone tells you, Go to college. But whats your goal?
You might be a college student. Grad school? Law school? An MBA program? Or should you get out there in the world and start working?
You might be a 30-or-40-something woman in a workplace looking to move up. Or a mom whose kids are grown and out of the house. You want to get back in the workforce. But how? Whats your first step?
Fifty-five businesswomen whove Been There, Done That want to talk with you.
The Advance/SILive is bringing those successful women together Feb. 24 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. to give you that opportunity. Therell be lawyers, doctors, educators, health-care administrators, cultural leaders, non-profit leaders, bankers, public relations experts, marketing and real estate professionals and more.
Their experience is vast, ranging from the director of business strategy and engagement for data analytics for Bloomberg LP, to the executive directors of Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden and the St. George Theatre, to a VP of Con Ed, to a Ph.D whos a cancer researcher, to a variety of fund-raisers of a host of non-profits, to an online book publisher, to the president of the Chamber of Commerce, to the women behind one of the most successful florist businesses on Staten Island. And thats just a sampling.
All you need do is sign up at https://events.silive.com/e/mentoring-monday. There is a $20 fee to register ($25 beginning January 1) to help cover some of the cost.
The day shapes up like this:
Get there early. The day really begins at 8 a.m. with registration, a continental breakfast and a chance to mingle. Youll get a booklet emailed to you after you register, and a copy that morning, that will detail each mentors expertise so you can scope out who you want to meet.
In fact, right now on that events page I just mentioned, theres a list of mentors and their businesses.
The mentees thats you -- will be divided into two groups. For the first 45 minutes of the morning, half the group will do speed mentoring. Thats spending 5 to 7 minutes with a mentor of your choice, before moving to the next.
Meanwhile, the second group will join round table discussions led by a mentor.
For the second 45 minutes, the groups will switch and the round table participants will speed mentor, while the speed mentees will do the round tables.
It might sound like organized chaos but it has been done for years across the country. In fact, we are using the model American City Business Journals has used for years. The newsweeklies are part of the Advance family, with 43 business journals across the country. The Staten Island Advance/SILive and all our sister sites across the country are joining the business journals this year to do Mentoring Monday on the same day Feb. 24.
Sign up and youll be part of the 10,000 women across America participating in the program at the same time.
How to sign up? Go to https://events.silive.com/e/mentoring-monday.
Well take it from there and be in touch.
And before you guys ask, Why just women? let me tell you. Even in this age of alleged enlightenment, when women supposedly have the same opportunity in the business world as men, they just dont.
The Pew Research Center found that although the gender gap in pay has narrowed since 1980, an analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers in the United States shows that in 2018 women earned 85% of what men earned.
Based on this estimate, it would take an extra 39 days of work for women to earn what men did in 2018, the researchers reported.
Another study shows that women are less likely to be hired into entry-level jobs than men, even though they currently earn more bachelor's degrees. As employees move up the corporate ladder, the disparity increases. Only 79 women are promoted to manager, compared to every 100 men, the report states.
So thats why we are urging 55 women who have moved up the ladder to tell those behind them how they did it.
Hope to see you Feb. 24 bright and early! Ill be serving the coffee.
Brian
Link:
From the editor: Mentoring Monday -- a day for women and about women - SILive.com
BWW Review: A NOH CHRISTMAS CAROL at Theatre Of Yugen is a stunning traditional Japanese theatre re-imagining of Dicken’s famous tale. – Broadway…
Posted: at 4:49 pm
A Noh Christmas Carol
Based on Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol
Directed by Nick Ishimaru
Theatre of Yugen
In a Bay Area blessed with a multitude of traditional Christmas chestnuts, Theatre of Yugen's captivating and enchanting take on Dicken's A Christmas Carol is a must-see addition to the scene. Artistic Director Nick Ishimaru takes Yuriko Doi and Cienna Stewart's 1993 noh, kyogen, kabuki, and butoh reimagination to stunning heights demonstrating that Dicken's themes of isolation, altruism and good spirit is indeed universal and open to a variety of unique interpretations.
Every moment of this production is a thrill for the senses, from the slow, measured entrance of Ebezo Sukurooji [Ebenezer Scrooge] in his traditional Haorrihakama, to the ethereal physical and auditory landscapes by set designer Joshua McDermot and Sound Designer Ella Cooley, the haunting music of Zhoushu Ziporyn and the extraordinary costume designs by Liz Brent. Cassie Barnes lights the show with otherworldly shadows and subtlety.
Nick Ishimaru has the traditional noh role as 'koken', meaning "the one who watches from the back". Much more than a stagehand, Ishimaru is an essential element of the proceedings, playing multiple instruments, moving set pieces and providing ethereal sonic effects. A Noh Christmas Carol uses Ishimaru as a kurogo, a later kabuki tradition on the koken with the added duty of drum calls to simulate the characters footsteps.
The storyline follows Sukurooji as he receives a visit from his deceased business partner Jakube Mashima [Jacob Marley] with a warning to change his miserly ways or be doomed to linger forever as a ghost. The ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-To-Come take Sukurooji on a mesmerizing voyage through his life and times to influence his values. Dickens' morality tale is ingrained in our minds, but Yugen's presentation with its almost ballet-like movements, attention to facial movements and hand gestures elevates the emotional content within the standard stage presentation.
The 6-member ensemble cast is outstanding, all playing multiple roles except for Ryan Marchand as Sukurooji. Marchand is commanding as the cheap, imperious boss. A day off for his clerk is "a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket" and he's quick to evict a poor woman from her land and home. Kate Patrick is absolutely frightening as Jakubei's ghost, clad is white tattered linen and the obligatory chains. It's her tortured, contorted agonizing movements with an echoed pre-recorded voice-over premonition that makes her a Jacob Marley you will never forget.
The scenes of Sukurooji's past are delicate and bittersweet. We witness his turn from man to businessman, pulled away from love by his obsession with wealth. His lover (Mika Oskarson-Kindstrand) leaves him when she feels he's broken his contract with her as he "weighs everything by gain". Christmas present has the Tiny Tom story, this time is little, coughing Tomo, a puppet who will eventually open Sukurooji's heart. Mika and Roy Eikleberry play his poor but grateful parents among their numerous roles. The three Ghosts are fascinating creations (Meryn MacDougall and Kate Patrick); one looks like a serene old elf, another an over-zealous sprite, the third a shrouded mute. I'm assuming all three are based on Meiji Japanese folk characters.
Director Ishimaru understands the connections between Dicken's themes and those incorporated in noh theatre in the alleviation of suffering through spiritual enlightenment. Connection to community and being our best selves is the simple aspiration presented beautifully here.
A Noh Christmas Carol continues through December 29, 2019 at Theatre of Yugen, 2840 Mariposa Street, San Francisco. Tickets available at http://www.theatreofyugen.org or by calling 415-621-0507.
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BWW Review: A NOH CHRISTMAS CAROL at Theatre Of Yugen is a stunning traditional Japanese theatre re-imagining of Dicken's famous tale. - Broadway...
Grow Yourself — and Your Company — With These 4 New Year’s Resolutions – Entrepreneur
Posted: at 4:48 pm
December 4, 2019 4 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Growth comes in many shapes and sizes. To you, it might mean growing your team by bringing more developers on board, boosting revenue by overhauling your sales process or growing your interpersonal skills via emotional intelligence training.But theres no need to choose between business and personal growth. These four New Years resolutions can help you grow in both directions.
With entrepreneurs like Grant Cardone claiming that you need to work 14-hour days to earn a million dollars, work-life balance can seem like a pipe dream. While overwork might help your business in the short term, it wont benefit you or your company in the long run.Overwork can lead to burnout, health problems and team dysfunction.
One of the best ways to lighten your load and strengthen your company in the process is through delegation. Payroll platform OnPay found that nearly half of small business owners and managers do their own accounting and finance work. Every minute you spend counting beans is one you cant devote to leader-level prioritieslike product innovation, or personal ones, like self-care.
Related: How the Culture of Overwork Is Damaging Your Productivity and Your Health=
Not all growth can be measured in minutes, money or number of heads. Growing a company also means making it a better place to work. Although your companys culture is unique, your cultural goal is not, i.e. ensuring your work environment encourages everyone on the team to thrive, both personally and professionally.
Start with engagement. According to Gallup, seven in 10 American and Canadian employees aren'tengaged at work. Rather than ask your teammates whether theyre engaged-- a question they may not feel comfortable answering honestly -- ask how you can make them feel more excited to come to work. Approaching your culture on the level of individual preferences helps you understand what motivates each person. Not only does that make you a better manager, but it also gives workers a sense of ownership in your company. Rich, inclusive cultures are built around individual contributors, not company leaders.
When an entrepreneur disrupts an industry, its because he or she combined business and industry-specific insights in a new way. Yet just 9 percentof small business owners have a bachelors degree in business, time-tracking tool TSheets reports, and only 3 percenthold a masters or doctoral-level degree.
If youre a techie by trade, dont spend so much time building your software development skills that you fall behind in general ones like sales and marketing. Even if youre a physician who outsources everything your practice needs except a medical expert, you still have a team to manage.
Fortunately, brushing up on your business skills doesnt require formal education. Carve out time at the start or end of every workday to read relevant guides. Ask a member of your team to show you the ropes. If you need the accountability of a class, take a free one online. Join a mastermind group or an executive networking organization in your area to learn from others's experiences and gain new perspectives.
Related: 5 Ways Employee Engagement Makes Your Company More Competitive
Innovation Growth Lab, a global consortium of entrepreneurs, claims that small business owners can increase short-run profits by an average of 20 percentby working with an experienced mentor. By helping you spot and shore up your own "unknown unknowns,"mentorship gives your business a boost.
When choosing a mentor, find someone as different from you as possible. Although it can be uncomfortable, growing your business is a matter of gaining new perspectives. If youre an American male with a background in marketing, what about a woman tech entrepreneur who grew up in a different country? Just as importantly, be a mentor to someone else. Maximize the benefits to your business by taking an employee under your wing. Not only will mentorship grow his or her skills, but a Robert Half study found that99 percentof surveyed CFOs said being a mentor also benefited them.
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Grow Yourself -- and Your Company -- With These 4 New Year's Resolutions - Entrepreneur
Pain and Purpose By William King Hollis is Motivational Magic VIDEO – Eurweb.com
Posted: at 4:48 pm
*Seven years ago international motivational speaker, William King Hollis, an aspiring NFL player, put a 45 caliber handgun to his temple and considered taking his own life. He had endured a lot of pain and adversity by the age of 23, having lost his mother to a heroin overdose and his father to many years in prison.
Now, however, he sees the world through a completely different set of eyes. Currently possessing his own brand, William Hollis Motivation, he has amassed millions of views on YouTube, traveled the world to places like Milan, Italy and Sydney, Australia, and garnered praise from some of the worlds top speakers and influencers including Les Brown, Gary Vee, Grant Cardone, Ne-Yo, DC Young Fly and late rapper and entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle. On November 7th, he released a one-of-a-kind album, Pain and Purpose.
Hollis is the rose that grew from concrete. A product of the projects in Pontiac, Michigan, he is an undeniable force that people from all over the globe and from all different backgrounds and age groups tune into for the strength to push harder and to overcome self-limiting beliefs.
Im from the slums, Im not even supposed to be here by most peoples accounts, Hollis said. I couldnt read until I was 16 years old and now I am an international motivational speaker making $20,000 a speech. This album is an album everyone needs to listen to. Its not Hip Hop, its not music. Its proven, great mental development. I put my life into this album.
'Pain and Purpose'William "King" Hollis
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Pain and Purpose By William King Hollis is Motivational Magic VIDEO - Eurweb.com
Recalling the Shunryu Suzuki and Zen in America – Patheos
Posted: at 4:48 pm
The Zen priest Shunryu Suzuki died on this day, 48 years ago, the 4th of December, in 1971.
I write about him from time to time. Here I repeat some of that, with some editing and a small addition or two
To begin at the beginning there are actually two Suzukis who stand large at the dawn of Zen breaking forth into our larger North American culture.
The first is Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki, best known as D. T. Suzuki, a scholar, translator, and essayist, whose writings both directly and through the popularizations by his sometime disciple Alan Watts, first introduced many of the basic principles of Zen Buddhism to the American public.
The other is Shunryu Suzuki,Soto Zen priest and missionary teacher who introduced Zen practices and established the first major Zen center in the West.
Shunryu Suzuki was born on the 18th of May, 1904, in a villageabout fifty miles from Tokyo. His father was the abbot of Shoganji, the local Soto Zen temple. His mother was the daughter of a temple priest.
He died, as I noted above, on the 4th of December, 1971. He was sixty-seven years old.
He began formal Zen study at the age of twelve with So-on Suzuki, a successor to and adoptive son of his father, at Zounin temple in Mori. At thirteen he was ordained unsui, a clouds and water priest. When his teacher moved to another temple Rinsoin, Suzuki followed him. At fifteen he returned to his fathers temple. At this time Suzuki began to study English. This would become a life-long interest of his. Later he continued his formal training with the master Dojun Kato at Kenkoin in Shizuoka. He attended Komazawa University, studying Buddhism and English. At twenty-two he received Dharma transmission from his teacher. However he continued his training entering Eiheiji, one of the two mother temples of the Soto school in Japan. He later also studied at Sojiji, the other of the two mother temples.
During the war many Zen priests supported the war effort much to the embarrassment of their later Western disciples. Suzukis involvement is unclear, but it does seem he was involved in at least some anti-war activities. This marked him out as unusual, and probably meant he would not advance in the hierarchy. And in fact Suzukiserved primarily as a country priest.
The Beat generation was in full swing and people were first learning there was such a thing as Zen. And they started coming to visit the temple asking for instruction. He invited them to sit with him early in the morning.
And with that what would become the San Francisco Zen Center complex began.
It is not possible to overstate Suzuki Roshis importance in the establishment of Zen in the West. If you want to learn more about him, his biographer David Chadwick maintains an amazing archive at Cuke.com.
My own beginning Zen practice was fostered by his centers. My first instruction was at Sokoji, and my practice began at a branch of the Zen Center complex, what was then called the Berkeley Zendo.
And, I am only one of thousands his life and work touched.
He left three dharma successors, his son Hoitsu Suzuki, Shoko Okamoto, and an American Richard Baker. Through them the largest stream of American Soto Zen begins.
Many bows, great teacher. Endless bows
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Recalling the Shunryu Suzuki and Zen in America - Patheos
The Slow Death of Stanfords Startup Culture – Stanford Review
Posted: at 4:48 pm
At age 19, Steve Jobs moved to India, converted to Zen Buddhism and seriously considered becoming a monk. At Apple, he liked to wash his bare feet in the company toilets.
Steve Jobs was a genius. He was also a really weird guy.
Although Jobs himself did not attend Stanford, our university has built a global brand as an incubator of similarly different thinking and disruptive entrepreneurs. The results speak for themselves. From Hewlett and Packard to the contrarian Paypal Mafia, Stanford graduates turned Silicon Valley from a Wild West of rogue coders into an economic juggernaut.
But Stanford is a very different institution today than it was even five or ten years ago. For a school The New Yorker once called a tech incubator with a football team, our current crop of undergraduates is not incubating much.
Instead of app ideas, precocious freshmen now come to Stanford with carefully-researched lists of potential internships for the upcoming summer. They apply by the hundreds to an alphabet soup of pre-professional organizations like ASES, BASES, Stanford Consulting, Stanford Finance, SWIB, SWIF, SWIP and SWE, all promising exclusive access to recruiters and resume-enriching professional development events. Even truly gifted computer scientists, once an enterprising group of misfits and hackers, chase six figure starting salaries and carry around identical copies of Cracking the Coding Interview.
We can hardly be surprised that Stanford students are seeking prestige and stability. Stanford now pulls students from the exact same pool as other elite universities, retaining almost half of our cross admits with Harvard and 70% with Princeton and Yale. To be admitted is (with some notable exceptions) an exercise in sophisticated high school box-checking.
Why, then, do we expect these new admits to suddenly become status quo-destroying entrepreneurs the day they set foot on Palm Drive?
Thirty years ago, institution-smashers like Peter Thiel put Stanford on the map. I worry there is little room in our class of corporate operators for similar anti-establishment eccentrics.
To be clear, current Stanford students are plenty interested in startups and entrepreneurship, as evidenced by the sheer number of students with Entrepreneur as their LinkedIn header.
However, digging deeper into the profiles of these Stanford Founders reveals an ecosystem of dubious undergraduate ventures with little to no market potential. There is a proliferation of Instagram knockoffs targeted at such random subgroups as amateur athletes, art enthusiasts and (not kidding) people with airpods. Questionable world-changey concepts abound, promising change and opportunity while offering no apparent product. Many of the companies listed are, upon closer inspection, just newsletters or agglomerations of Google results.
And this doesnt include the significant number of startups that are actually a single student doing a completely normal hobby, like volunteering or drawing, and then calling themselves the Founder/CEO of a non-profit or local art collective.
It is hard to imagine that any of these companies are making money. But thats not really the point anymore. This hollow breed of startup exists largely as a resume padder, brought into existence to show Google or McKinsey that their student founder is innovative and a self-starter. Unsurprisingly, theyre usually abandoned once said founder gets a brand-name job.
For many Stanford students, a startup has become the first rung on a new kind of corporate ladder. A common life plan for business-oriented undergraduates now goes along the lines of I want to go to business school, then start my own thing, then get into VC. The content or success of the own thing is incidental.
Not exactly a recipe for innovation.
Stanford is still the place to be if you do want to start the next big thing. In terms of raw numbers, we produce the most startups of any university. Our graduate schools support the cutting edge research that can turn industries on their heads. And if you do happen upon a good idea, funding is literally right down the road.
Yet our increasingly pre-corporate startup culture discourages the disruptive thinking necessary to start a great company. We may have some true innovators in our midst, but they probably do not spend their time organizing events for BASES.
Six years ago, Stanford co-term and future Rhodes Scholar Miles Unterreiner published this widely read salute to the irreverent Stanford spirit. In it, he declares that Stanford would never allow the encrusting tendrils of ivy to creep over our walls and ensnarl the engines of progress that hum eternally beneath the sandstone.
But the conventionalism that pervades our East Coast counterparts has nevertheless found its way to campus. Sure, we still prepare more students to work at Facebook than Goldman Sachs. Many will even have a startup at some point. But these new-world status seekers are very different from the groundbreaking entrepreneurs who (actually) changed the world with their companies and built the Stanford we know today.
As Stanford continues its rise into the 21st century, it will do so as one of dozens of elite universities grooming smart kids for stable and lucrative employment. Theres nothing intrinsically wrong with that. But some of our spirit is being lost.
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The Slow Death of Stanfords Startup Culture - Stanford Review
Should You Hire Anyone And Everyone Who Wants To Work For You? – rabble.ca
Posted: at 4:48 pm
Greyston was founded 36 years ago in Yonkers, New York, by Bernie Glassman, who practiced Zen Buddhism and pioneered the practice of Open Hiring (which Greyston has since trademarked). Greyston was founded on the idea that a profitable business could be the backbone of ethical practice, Brady says. The companys slogan reads we dont hire people to bake brownies, we bake brownies to hire people, and indeed the concept is that simple. Anyone who asks for a job at Greystons Bakery will get one. It may take a little whilepeople sign up on a list, and when theres a job opening, theyll be contacted in the order in which they signed up. Thats it. The company does not use background checks, drug tests, or interviews; hiring is done on the basis of faith that if someone is given a job, they will do it, and their skills and salaries will grow as they work.
At Greyston, which currently employs 130 people, open hiring creates a pipeline for careers on the bakerys manufacturing floor and throughout the rest of the companys operations. People who are given a job start off as apprentices, during which they go through a 10-month job training and life-skills course. Around half the people who begin an apprenticeship choose to complete it and stay at Greyston, and when they do, theyre then assigned an entry-level jobworking the mixing machines or overseeing the slicing and packaging of different-sized brownies for distribution.
The company helps individual employees develop a career path, and provides them the supportwhether it be additional job training or a GED courseto follow it. Dion Drew, for instance, joined the team as an apprentice in 2009, and, after a number of promotions, is now a supervisor and new-hire manager. Delaney Philogene started as an apprentice at Greyston, moved on to the assembly line, then secured a job as an accountant with the company, and now works as an accountant for another. The idea, Brady says, is to equip people with both life and job skills that they could use to advance at Greyston, or take on to other companies. Either way, when people advance, it creates more space for more people to join as apprentices and begin their own careers.
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Of course, Brady says, it doesnt always work outa number of people have passed through Greystons open hiring system to find that the work was not for them, or that they couldnt keep up with the demands of a fixed schedule.
But more often than not, open hiring leads to the same type of dedication Hookway saw in his own practice of giving people a chance. Brady feels that there are numerous, often overlooked avenues for introducing open hiring at companies. Janitorial services companies like CleanCraft are an obvious fit, but for larger companies, mail services, cafeteria staff, and other administrative work could all potentially work with an open hiring model. Specifically, he says, if companies are now choosing to outsource jobs to third-party contracting agencies, they should instead consider bringing them back in-house to provide a pipeline of opportunity to a wider range of people.
In doing so, they might see some benefits: While the annual employee turnover rate in similar manufacturing and production industries hovers between 30 and 70 percent, at the Greyston bakery, its just around 12 percent. Furthermore, because Greyston does away with the typical hiring processwhich, between background checks and drug tests, can cost up to $4,500 per hireits able to use the money saved to pay its employees a higher wage. While apprentices start at minimum wage, production supervisors, like Dion, earn a salary of around $65,000 with full benefits.
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Should You Hire Anyone And Everyone Who Wants To Work For You? - rabble.ca