About this site

There’s a mantra in my family, which is notoriously good at losing stuff: when you’re searching for something that’s missing, Look Under Things.

So: I really want to start a social business. And it doesn’t seem so hard – just bring a great new idea to the table, network the hell out of it, be charismatic, and people will shower you with funding, partnerships, training and awards. But we seem to gloss over one tiny detail: coming up with the great new idea. This blog is an attempt to document my learning, pondering and whining as I search every nook and cranny - in my head and around the world - for a social venture to invest myself in.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

I promise I'm not angry ALL the time...

...just an endless pontificator.  Today's tirade: the radicalism vacuum.


The questions started when I signed up to be a straight ally coordinator for my b school's LGBT club, and have exploded since I became its co-president: why the gay rights movement, Joanne?  Why do you care so much?


I got it when I spoke up in the first term of school during an ethics case, too.  Taking a strong stand on the need for black and white ethics in the workplace, the obligation of employees to stand up to their bosses when they're doing something wrong?  You're living outside of reality, little girl.  Ah, it must be your 'social sector background' - let me teach you how the business world really works.


To be clear, I'm not trying to get all high and mighty here - I'm no saint.  I certainly haven't consistently stood up for things I believe in.  But these experiences are starting to get me thinking... a dangerous path to go down, to be sure.


At the risk of mass stereotyping, I'm coming to the conclusion that we, middle class Americans, live in this world where we don't think we have to stick up for anything anymore.  We glorify the people who rocked the boat, idolize them and quote them, but when push comes to shove we'd rather do exactly the opposite - sit back, go with the flow, maybe chime in on the whining about the burgeoise and the conservatives a little, and at the end of the day take the path of least resistance.  In fact, we're constantly encouraged NOT to rock the boat.  And those who do are brushed aside as radicals, ungrounded, argumentative, naive.  (Well, at least the ones who haven't made a name for themselves yet.)  What happened to visionary, strong-willed, relentless, and outspoken being good things?  When did those get bundled as 'contrarian', and conformatism get propped up as the path to success?


You say it isn't so, but look around you.  How often do you thank a picketer for standing up for her beliefs?  How often do you back up the outraged customer throwing a tantrum in the store?  How often do you correct a stranger when they say fag, or nigger, or chink, or slut? (Think about how sexist that word is - what's the equivalent for men?)  How often do you, yourself, call out your friend, family member, coworker or boss, tell them they're wrong, and defend why?  It's much easier, and more socially acceptable, to just roll your eyes and change the subject.


Why are we so rarely proud of the people around us who refuse to let these things go, and so often embarrassed by them?


Maybe the real revolutionaries would laugh at me and say 'duh, that's what being a leader means - we all had to push against the current and annoy our friends to get to where we are.'  Maybe it's just part of my learning process.  But then why does it feel so strange, that all the ideals we wax poetic about as a society never get implemented in our everyday lives and conversations?

Monday, July 4, 2011

On defending your beliefs vs defending your employer

As usual, Bill Easterly's got me thinking today.  It's the 10th anniversary of the FT article that got him fired from the World Bank:


 William Easterly 

Not to make grandiose comparisons between esteemed professors and myself, but this reminded me of the time I got in a bit of a pickle with my employer for writing a negative blog post.  Mine was a much less drastic scenario - the blog simply poked fun at the manner in which my organization was moving to a new office (rather than criticizing the organization's core operations), and got me nothing more than a slap on the wrist.  But that kind of experience gets you wondering - to what extent is an employee's responsibility to cheerlead for the organization, versus to point out the mistakes it is making, in a public manner if necessary, in an effort to make it better?

No one knows better than the employees how effective an organization is, so no one is better positioned to provide constructive criticism.  But at the same time, if the people who work for an organization can't even support it, what chance does it have to build a supportive constituency outside its walls?  Sure, it's more politically correct to share reservations and concerns with your managers internally than on a public forum. But what happens when you've banged your head against your bosses' office doors so many times that it seems the only way to get through to them is to name and shame?

Do employees have more responsibility to make their concerns public when they have a social cause, or are funded by public money?  What about when the issues are systemic and core to the organization, versus small but potentially personally problematic to the employees?  (Easterly's gripe was the wastage of billions of dollars of public funds and the lack of social outcomes to dire issues of livelihood... Mine was moving in to an incomplete office space where women were encouraged not to walk to work alone from the bus stop because of safety concerns.  You be the judge of what's more important... my money's on Easterly.)

Personally, I think an organization's willingness to accept public criticism, even from employees, is pretty key to making it better.  That said, I've never run an organization and experienced my employees ragging on me in a public forum.  And at the end of the day, I removed my blog post: better to work to change the organization from the inside than simply picket it from the outside, right?  Easterly disagreed and has no regrets... I wonder how I'll feel 10 years from now.