Week #10

A hybrid business is a for-profit business that actually focuses on a social cause, for example a buy one, give one model. This model can be introduced in shoes, school supplies, etc. A hybrid that we learned about is TOMS, a company I don’t really agree with because they are apparently creating more damage than good. The thing that bugs me the most is that they don’t want to admit it. What they are doing is taking out any local shoe businesses because TOMS shoes are free and given to the people and because they believe they can benefit from that there is no need to buy shoes at the local shops. It is hurting the economy in South America and in the different countries in which they are located.

The more I think about a Buy One, Give One model I think it would be more beneficial if you were to buy TOMS, for example and the equivalent amount, let’s say, $50 is put into something that the local people really need; maybe starting their own local business. With the Buy One, Give One model you’re limiting yourself to things that the developing world may not need or want, but could benefit from the amount of money that product is in using it for something they really do need or want. I believe the Buy One, Give One model could be better and applied in such a way that can really help the economy in developing countries.

Week #9

         I continue to think what I will do for my career, something that will enable me to provide for my family but also allow me to do good in the world and hopefully solve a social problem or two. The more I think about social business I wonder how I can apply those principles and concepts that have been done before and still be innovative in my career of doing whatever I’ll chose to do.

         I believe a business can still be considered a social business if it makes profit and attempts to provide solutions to social issues. To me, that seems like the definition of what a social business is and we are seeing more and more of those types of businesses in the world today.

         The different between philanthropy and business is one is more focused on funding and putting money into social causes whereas business is more for gain and capital for the company itself. In social entrepreneurship the contrast by finding that middle ground of where to put the money and how to actually make the money. They coincide by putting to two together in a social business where the motive to make the money is geared towards social causes, but you’re still striving to make a profit.

Week #13

This week one of the TED talks really stood out to me, “Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!” by Ernesto Sirolli. What he had to say was perfect and is something I strongly believe in. I thought it was so interesting how he said there is zero infrastructure and no offices or buildings that they are located out of. They take on the challenge of reaching out to the individual and their specific needs. Now that to me is impressive and inspiring. I would love to be apart of his organization to help the people and also find more innovative ideas that we can apply to his organization.

Reflection Questions:

·      What do you think President Hinckley means when he says that we need time to meditate? How does this help us improve?

I believe this is very relevant to our day because we live in times of deadlines, rush hour, busy work schedules, and so many things we create for ourselves that make us really busy. If we follow President Hinckley’s council to stop and meditate it will enable us to see things as they really are. As I’ve applied this in my life I’ve noticed a difference with how I’m able to accomplish things and I don’t get burned out because I’m able to prioritize and see things clearly. Meditation has been huge for me in my creative ability to be innovative and think of ideas that help others and myself succeed.

·      From the talks you have read, what do you feel is the most applicable thing you have learned that applies to creating a successful business?

I believe if we can channel a lot of our energy towards helping and blessing the poor and the needy we will be blessed with success. I love how Elder Holland stressed the fact that Jesus Christ’s ministry was focused on the poor and the needy and he blessed them and made promises with them that they would receive the kingdom of God. I know that as we have empathy for those that are poor and needy it will move us with compassion to create life-changing experiences for them and a bi-product of that would be a successful life in business.

Week #12

This week I enjoyed the reading from How to Change the World and the principles it taught. Some of the key things it taught are the following: Willingness to Self-Correct, Willingness to Share Credit, Willingness to Break Free of Established Structure, Willingness to Cross Disciplinary Boundaries, Willingness to Work Quietly, and Strong Ethical Impetus. These are all important and I truly believe we should apply them as we strive to work with others, whether they be our partners, employees, clients, etc., we should be aware of these principles so we can perfect them in our dealings with the people we encounter.

Other than providing loans and money to the poor, explain other benefits that came about from Muhammad Yunus' Grameen Bank.
After that took place, there was something that is extremely important that was realized, the poor can be trusted and be reliable. The Grameen Bank's statistics were amazing when it came to the poor paying back their loans at 97%. All these people wanted and needed was an opportunity and the Grameen Bank offered that.

How did Muhammad Yunus have to "unlearn and relearn" what economics had taught him?
He was taught to have a certain mindset about lending and interests and things that had to do with the upper class citizens who had money. When he decided to start a bank for the poor he had to unlearn the mindset of working with the "wealthy" and relearn how economics really can benefit everyone. Essentially, the key was changing his mindset and the mindset of those around him.

Week #7

Something that stuck out to me this week wasn’t in class, but in the entrepreneurship society meeting this Thursday. Brother Earl spoke and gave one of the best insights I’ve ever heard in my life. It was so impactful that I feel it was another rare cornerstone which was laid for a foundation of success in my life; something I needed to hear in order to become my full potential. He quoted Elder Bednar who gave a great speech. I won’t speak too deeply about what Elder Bednar said, but he quoted President Packer who said the following, “It is the understanding of almost everyone that success, to be complete, must include a generous portion of both fame and fortune as essential ingredients. The world seems to work on that premise. The premise is false. It is not true. The Lord taught otherwise. I want you, our children, to know this truth: You need not be either rich or hold high position to be completely successful and truly happy. In fact, if these things come to you, and they may, true success must be achieved in spite of them, not because of them.” When I heard this, it felt right to me. I want to live this way for the rest of my life.

As a philanthropist you need to make decisions that are based on the potential outcome of the organization in which you’re about to invest. What research has been done proving that this product or service is needed? Has it been tested, and if so, what were the results? Philanthropists need to make the decision of how much money to invest and for how long. Philanthropist should be involved in their investments and make it their passion. It would be a good idea to be aware of the financial status of the organization quarterly. These are some of the decisions and things to consider in the process of investing resources.

When a business invests in a cause they should consider those causes that may be personal or have a passionate drive behind them. Once your are emotionally involved then the drive to make something function properly and be sustainable is more valuable and important. The emotional engagement is what will carry you through the times that are filled with stress, failure, doubt, and even pain. If you are passionate and know that the service or product is something that is actually creating wealth (spiritual, emotional, physical, mental) then you’ll find a way to succeed.

Week #6

This week our guest speaker was Heidi Fransen who spoke about Operation Underground Railroad. She is from Rexburg and has been promoting O.U.R. the past year. Operation Underground Railroad was founded by Tim Ballard, a former CIA agent who specialized in human trafficking. He started O.U.R. about a year ago in order to save children that are slaves to human traffickers that sell these children for sex.
Heidi Fransen gave information that was almost hard to believe because of the remarkable statistics and facts. There are about 2,000,000 children being held against their will sold as sex slaves. There are about 200,000 children in America that are being trafficked. The number one consumer is Americans. Child sex slavery is one of the biggest problems right next to drug trafficking and arms trafficking.
Something that killed me to hear was that the children will be rapped around 30 times a day and their life expectancy is about 7 years because they turn to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain. Tim Ballard and his team have connected with the Elizabeth Smart Foundation which helps the children to recovery after they are saved. The children are physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually damaged and need years of rehabilitation. O.U.R. train the different governments that they work with so they can independently perform these operations.
The human traffickers get these children through different medians. Some parents will sell their children in order to get more money because they are so poor. Human traffickers will also offer great opportunities and deals the children and the parents will accept because they want a better life for their children, but then it turns into something they didn't expect. Another huge portal of finding these children are through social media. Tim Ballard said, "The internet is the portal to the darkest places in the world." We may not realize it, but there are more and more people that are getting involved with these children sex slaves because it all stems from pornography. It may start with soft porn which leads to harder porn which leads to child pornography which ends up trying to find pleasure with real children. It is sick, but very real and we cannot ignore it.
Right now O.U.R. is trying to spread awareness because not a lot of people know about it. Heidi has been a huge asset for the organization through promoting it and getting them to show their documentary, Abolitionist here in Rexburg.
We can get involved by visiting their website, www.ourrescue.org and finding ways to help promote and get involved in the stop against pornography and human trafficking.

In class we also went over a few things of how to start a business and what to expect. One of the questions posed is, "What do you think of the statement by Mike Tyson 'Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth' in reference to starting up a business? How is this statement true regarding brand new enterprises? I believe that it is important to be flexible in the plans we make because starting a business creates opportunities to make changes, develop ideas, and make the product or service more relevant to the consumer.

Peter Singer states that each of us spend money that we don't really need. What does he suggest we do with that money? What is the most effective way to give charitably?
We could find different charities that are valuable, trustworthy, and actually making a difference in the world. We will have to do our research because there are different kinds of charities and some are more specific to certain issues. We can all give to different movements that are taking place today.

Week #5

I really enjoyed this week's topics. We learned about outputs, outcomes, and impacts. I've thought a lot about this. In one of the readings it talks about the importance to measure the outcomes in order to notice and observe the impacts. One reason why this is important to me, to make sure that you really are making a difference and not just wasting time, money, efforts, etc., in order to please your own desires, is because where I'm from I've seen that happen. I'm from the Navajo Reservation and there are Caucasians from Utah that want to "help" and so they'll dump off random things like candy, foot, old clothes, etc., and all that stuff goes to waste, it is literally thrown away as soon as we get it. My dad has made enemies with some people because he'll tell them to go through him in they want to make a difference. They think they can come in to some place and try to make a difference without contacting the local leaders? That isn't the way it should be, they didn't understand the concepts of outputs, outcomes, and impacts.
One of the questions that we are not asking when striving to make a global impact is "what works for them?" Ask those you are trying to serve and the locals what they're needs are. In order to come up with a great solution it is necessary to do research before, but sometimes a lot of the questions come after trying it, that is why focus groups are so essential. Sometimes the most simplest solutions are the most important solutions because they are the ones that work most effectively and efficiently. When thinking of a solution, it can be hard to know what the consequences are, but that is one thing you have to practice, is trying to understand what the long-term affects will be if we come up with this solution.
The question, "Do you think it is worth the money and the resources to accurately measure impact for a nonprofit organization?" is interesting because I think it can depend. First of all, I'm not sure how much money it costs to do an extensive form of research on impact, but I'm sure it's something to consider when trying to decide whether to do it or not. And second, I think it's sometimes difficult to accurately measure the impact in some cases. I do believe that research and resources should be put into any project, but for me the question is how and how much of it will you perform? I strongly believe that in order to know if you are accomplishing something good in the lives of others and to see if you can do better or anything differently, it is necessary to do research and invest in resources to figure out what is actually happening in the project.

Week #4

    On Tuesday we had a guest speaker, Brother Julander who spoke to us about Design Thinking and Innovation. First of all, what is Design Thinking? On the website, http://www.byui.edu/clusters/design-thinking/what-is-design-thinking the definition is written as follows, "In a nutshell, Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to solving problems. It uses an organized method of defining the problem through observing and empathizing with the people who are impacted by it, generating multiple solutions, prototyping one of the solutions, and then testing it." The five things that go into design thinking, which are mentioned in the definition that go into design thinking are empathy, define, ideate, prototype, and test. In my opinion, empathy is the beginning to a solid idea to solve problems. The reason I think this is because in order to get to the root of any problem you'll have to be "in" the problem and not just see it "from" it's perspective. 

    I believe that all the steps to the human-centered design is necessary because it puts you in the right mind-set before going into a project. With empathy you're able to understand to a greater degree of what the problem or solution may be, then you're able to define it in a way you're able to have the meat and core of the project. Once that takes place it's time to brainstorm and search for every possible problem and answer. The prototypes are necessary because you're able to see what works and what doesn't for the design. And obviously testing the solution is essential in order to see what needs to happen to change and tweak. 

    Creative Confidence is essential to social innovation because I believe we can all come up with ideas that will lead to good solutions, but sometimes we're too afraid to even speak our mind. Creative confidence is important in my life because I've seen how it's affected my creative abilities at times. There have been times when I would have mind road blocks because I felt like my ideas would be put down every time. With social innovation we need creative juices to be flowing because the issues and concerns of today's world are not easy to solve. We can't do the same things we've been doing all these years and in some cases we need to start from ground zero. Things are constantly changing and if we don't have creative confidence we will never be able to solve the big and small problems of today's world. 

Week #3

This week there were a few things that stood out to me. In class we talked about the different topics by which a social entrepreneur can help and make a change. They are health, education, poverty, environment, human trafficking, and child welfare. We were put into groups to focus on one and learn from the others about what they discussed about their topics. I was impressed to see how much I don't know and also how much opportunity and resources there are out there to use to help and support in those specific efforts. We also had a guest speaker, David Pigott who spoke to us about is social venture he's been working on. In Africa about 90% still use wood fire stoves to cook. While that is happening the forests are depleting and it is estimated that within the next 30 years there will be no more wood to use. Pigott has observed this problem and may have found a solution. There is a plant called water hyacinth which grows extremely quickly. Pigott presented to us the solution of replacing wood for the fires with this plant, water hyacinth. It was fascinating to listen to what he has researched and what he plans on doing to solve this growing issue in Africa. It was very inspiring. The last thing that impacted me was the idea of being able to become and stay passionate. The four things discussed include: slow down, be grateful, do things to help the less fortunate, and take note and take action. I realize that this path of social entrepreneurship can be overwhelming and discouraging at times, but if these four things are put into practice I image the road will be durable and life will be fulfilling. 

In the Hans and Ola Roling's TED talk, they said, "If you have a fact-based world view of today, you might have a chance to understand what is coming next in the future." I agree with this statement. I believe that a study of collected  past and present informational facts will give solid understanding of what is to come in the future. Through facts we are able to pull out patterns of cultural activity, food and cooking habits, economical and health patterns, and other patterns in yesterday and today's societal issues. Facts are solid tools of being able to understand a situation, learn from it and create a solution which will take place in the future.

Time Ballard said he feels guided by the Spirit in his work. I believe following the Spirit is essential to social entrepreneurship because you are dealing with real issues that effect people's lives in either health, poverty, environmental, different kinds of abuse, child welfare, and other world-wide issues. Because you and I have finite minds and we can only see so far, we are required to receive divine help which will enable us to know what to do with Heavenly Father's children. Most of these issues have been around for thousands of years because they are difficult to solve. The Spirit will guid our thoughts, words, and actions as we strive to do good among our fellow brothers and sisters. Heavenly Father doesn't just care about our spiritual well-being, he is concerned of what we do for a career because he wants us to be happy, successful, and able to serve his sons and daughters. 

Week #2

One of the three ideas that stood out to me is the process that entrepreneur’s go through; opportunity recognition, business planning, resource marketing, managing growth, and change. The reason why this stood out to me is because this was an answer to a question I had, “where to begin and what is the process of thought in order to accomplish change?” I try to search or recognize opportunities of social problems. I don’t know how good I am at doing that, but I want to be able to recognize a problem and figure out a solution through planning, resource marketing and managing growth. The other thing that stood out to me is what Rob Tonks said about the Ballard Center’s core: sustainable, scalable, and replicable. It’s simple, effective, and it is easy to follow in any case or situation you’re put in. The last thing I’ll mention is what Tonks also said about the 2 key objectives: issue area and personal contribution. Asking those questions in those two categories will enable you to understand the big question you asked in the beginning; where do I fit in? But this is specifically for social entrepreneurship. 

As a college student, I relate to those BYU students who desire to make a change in the world because I too want to use my own skill set to figure out how I can produce change in people’s lives. As I was listening I wanted to figure out what I can do now and not wait for some great opportunity to make a change in peoples lives. I am currently in the process of working with someone trying to promote a fundraiser for a disabled individual to raise money for his hospital bills, food costs, vehicle expenses, etc. This will be our big project for the semester that will try to get a large number of people involved. I want to develop certain skills through this project in oder to be an asset for bigger projects in the future. 

I am grateful I read Lara Galinsky’s article, “Not everyone should be a social entrepreneur.” By reading that article it opened up my eyes to realize that I can provide social entrepreneurial help, or in other words, be a change maker. For example, The Good Line, is a creative agency that creates video content for social entrepreneurship movement’s and organizations. I would like to do that and hopefully one day I’ll be able to work with The Good Line. In one way or another, I want to be involved in social entrepreneurship and have the same qualities they do; ambition, mission driven, strategic, resourceful, and results oriented. 

Week #1:

     The content presented in the material this week gave me a good understanding I need in order to start my journey of learning and applying social innovation in my life. The first thing I'd like to point out is the short two minute video on, "What is social entrepreneurship." It helped me to not only understand that social entrepreneurship is connected in three ways: business, social engagement, and social service, but it also helped me to pin point and vocalize what I've been thinking about doing for the past couple years. Another thing that stood out to me this week is what is taught by Jeffery A. Thompson when he talked about heresy #2. He made strong reference to the gifts we are given here on earth and how we should use them in whatever career we go into. He said, "... it may be that your calling is to bring your unique spiritual gifts to whatever position the Lord blesses you with." The last thing I'll mention that stood out to me is the principle of losing yourself to find yourself. As I've applied that in my life I have come to realize that I learned more about myself and have come to know my strengths and weaknesses as I've served and focused on others. 
      I would like to answer the first question, "What is your calling in life? If you don't know yet, how will you find out?" I'm answering this question because it's the hardest one for me to answer, and yet the most important one I'd like to know. I'm not sure what my calling in life is yet, but I believe the way I'll find out is by two things: first, to act and not be acted upon, and the second, to have a vision. I believe that I can study all I want about entrepreneurship, video, social media, marketing, etc., but if I don't put these things into practice then it is all for not. I don't want to be acted upon in the sense of having money be my incentive of what jobs to take and which career path is right for me. I want to do something I love and am passionate about. I mention the second reason because I believe having a vision will enable me to see my strengths and weaknesses, those around me that can help me live to the full measure of my creation, and to also pursue something that I can almost see and feel. To act and have a vision I must need faith that all will turn out the way it should as I continue to work hard towards my vision. I believe that by doing these couple things I will be able to find and fulfill my calling in life.
     The next question I'd like to answer is question 4,  "What is the better question: how do you fit into the world of social innovation? Or, how do you want to fit into the world of social innovation? Why is this difference important?
In my opinion the second question is the better question. The key word is "want." I believe we can all fit into the world of social innovation. Personally, the better question is the second because I want to find out how I "want" to fit into the world of social innovation. We are all wired with different talents and abilities, and so it is important to understand that all of us can use those talents and abilities to make things right and make a difference in peoples lives. We just have to find out how we want to use our talents and abilities. It is essential to know the difference between those two questions because that simple word "want" allows you to see your personal strengths, talents, and gifts. It's more of an internal question that enables you to self evaluate and choose for yourself where you will go in the world of social innovation. The concept of choice brings power to the individual and by consequence, you're able to be where you want to be and be most useful because you chose to be there.