Inside Personal Growth

My very good friend and author Ron Schultz has hit it out of the park with his new book entitled “Creating Good Work- The World’s Leading Social Entrepreneurs Show How to Build A Healthy Economy“.  In my interview with Ron we discuss his passion for social entrepreneurship and how this movement can and will change the way and focus of how we do business.  “Creating Good Work” shows how using free market principles will solve pressing problems and to make a positive difference in the world.

Ron’s personal contribution is a chapter on “How Change Happens And Why It Sometimes Doesn’t”  An important lesson Ron learned from his mentor Howard Sherman who introduced him to “a theory of business action” is that if the principle is flawed no matter how diligently we try nothing new and novel that can effect positive change will ever emerge from our models if the principle is wrong.  We must realize that at the root of social entrepreneurship we have to embrace change and learn how to thrive in this new environment.

Associate Dean Craig Dunn from Western Washington University contributes a chapter on “Deliberate Disruptive Design.”  Craig states that the term social entrepreneurship, fails to adequately catpure both the head and heart of the matter: thoughtful, caring design that is at the same time deliberate and disruptive, to the point of being fundamentally subversive is what is needed to shift our thoughts and actions about what we do and become in the process of embracing being a social entrepreneur.

Much of “Creating Good Work” is devoted to the amazing stories of individuals who are changing the world through amazing projects and service to our world.  Dorthy Stoneman from Youth Build, Bart Weetjens with Apopo, Bill Shore with Share Our Strength are just a few of the many social entrepreneurs profiled in “Creating Good Work“.  This books guides you from the theory to the practice and ultimately to success stories of individuals making a big difference.

If you have any interested at all in learning about social entrepreneurship and how you personally can make a difference in the world, then I highly recommend that you read and learn from the amazing stories told in  “Creating Good Work”.

Enjoy my interview with author and editor of “Creating Good Work” Ron Schultz.  You can visit his website by clicking here.

It is not to often that I come across a book that I am as excited about as “Business Model You“. Maybe it is because I am the preverbal entrepreneur and I am always looking for ways to improve myself and how I do business.  If you are like me, then you are really going to enjoy  Tim Clark’s new book for it is loded with amazing techniques and tools to help you transform your career.

“Business Model You” in essence was crowdsourced.  Tim and his collaborators Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur solicited the thoughts and ideas from 328 work life wizards from around the world.   Some of their profiles are included in the book providing the reader with insight into how they used the “Canvas” to reshape their careers and lives.   As stated in ” Business Model You” it will give you a distinct advantage, because while many workers define and document organizational business practices, few formally define or document organizational business models.  Even fewer individuals apply the power of business model thinking to their own careers.

The whole book is based on something called “The Business Model Canvas”, which describes how nine components of a business model fit together, is a powerful technique for painting pictures of how organizations work.   Those nine components are: customers, value provided, channels, customer relationships, revenue, key resources, key activities, key partners and costs.  If you would like a picture of the canvas ( a picture is worth a 1,000 words) please click here to be directed to the downloadable PDF of the canvas.   So why is this important?  Author Tim Clark  shows you how to convert the nine (9) components into “The Personal Business Model Canvas”.  Those same (9) components then then turned into questions that allow you to immediately understand the importance of the canvas: who helps you?, what you do?, who you are and what you have?, what you give?, how you help?, how you interact?, how they know you and how you deliver?, what you get?, how you help?.

I hope you enjoy this great interview with Tim Clark about “Business Model You”.  This book if used properly can truly alter your career and life.

If you are interested in watching a great YouTube video about the book click here.  I also encourage you to visit the “Business Model You” website and join the community of thousands who are collaborating together throughout the world helping one another define new and exciting careers.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing author and futurist Cecily Sommers.  I have always had a personal fascination with people who can predict the future, and while Cecily doesn’t state that she predicts the future she does engage her readers into understanding how to look for signs of how to predict and capitalize on the changes we are all attempting to adapt and adopt too.

Her book teaches the reader how to engage in new thinking in order to connect today’s pressures with tomorrow’s realities.  “Think Like a Futurist” explains how the social, economic and environmental crises of our time spring from just four constant and predictable forces.  Those four forces are resources, technology, demographics and governance and these four forces determine our future trends.  As Cecily state “over time, humans have been able to harness the power of the four forces for their own benefit. In the process, they have moved from a postion of hand-to-hand combat with the forces in a battle for survival, to one of greater comfort and ease.

Cecily’s book is not a book about identifying trends, but rather transcending them, which is crucial in today’s fast-paced world where success is often defined as movement from deadline to deadline (crisis to crisis).  Throughout “Think Like a Futurist” you will learn how to make your perspective both more elastic and comprehensive–you will find a long term vision needed to see opportunities on the horizon and understand how to realize them.

I hope your enjoy this great interview with a fascinating author, extremely knowledgable and wise who knows how to help you see the trends that are shaping our future before they manifest.   You can watch a great video about the book by clicking here to be directed to Cecily’s website or you can watch a great YouTube video by clicking here.

There has probably never been a book that is as timely at Jonathan Fields, “Uncertainty-Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance.”   We are all living in a world of uncertainty, filled doubt and fear–let’s face it we are living unprecedented times.

In Jonathan’s new book he speaks about the single greatest determinants of high level success as an innovator or creator in any realm is the ability to manage and at times even seek out sustained high levels of uncertainty, bundled lovely with risk of loss and exposure to criticism. He states these three psychic horseman of creation must often not only be sought, but embraced repeatedly and with increasing levels of intensity over extended periods of time.  In fact, they are often signposts that you’ve entered your next big creation crux move.    Now while this philosophy might seem contrary to the belief that we need to avoid uncertainty  and the associated stress, this is where Jonathan states we receive our breakthroughs and are exposed to high levels of inspiration and creativity.

Uncertainty is about what goes on in your head, your heart, and your gut as you strive to create something truly extraordinary.  It is about the nutty things we do, the gremlins we battle and the decisions we make and action we take in the pursuit of long-term, large scale creative, artistic, entrepreneurial and organizational greatness.   In Uncertainty-Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance our author states that it is these three psychic horseman of creation that lead to so much suffering and  in spite of the havoc they so often wreck, that they must remain present.

The best part about about this book is that our author provides transformational personal practices that let you feel the uncertainty, risk and exposure necessary to high-level creation, but experience them more as opportunity rather than deep suffering, anxiety and paralysis.

So no matter what you fear or doubt might be about the uncertainty in your life Jonathan teaches you personal techniques that will help you  cope with and embrace uncertainty and reframe your vantage point by turning it into a positive.  You will also learn to build the tools and strategies into the fabric and culture of your endeavor, allowing them to fuel your own creative efforts and the work of those charged with moving your venture forward on all levels.

If you are interested in learning more about how uncertainty can help you fuel brilliance then I highly recommend reading this book.  The stories and advice Jonathan Fields has for the reader are exceptional.  I hope you enjoy my interview, and should you want to learn more about the author please click here to be directed to his blog, or watch this great TedX video where Jonathan is speaking about fear and uncertainty.