Microsoft Hohm: Home Sweet Home

Microsoft Hohm just posted another blog I wrote about greening a home. I find this especially difficult in the face of so much conflicting information out there, and discoveries of harmful chemicals in common products.

And the pendulum swings

Over some homemade peach pie, my father and I were recently discussing 'what's wrong with America.' (Light topics over the holidays at my house.) My father is concerned with the cultural gaps, and lack of common culture for younger Americans. See this NPR story, which explains the side effects of mass media. If there is SO much media available from so many sources, all the time, how can any generation share common knowledge and references? The grim reality of these implications is hammered home in this short video by Kansas State students, showing the massive differences in communication and education between 'the millennials' and older generations.

I think this is certainly a cause for concern, especially as it applies to professional communication standards. Inter-generational differences are acceptable in most forums, but in business settings, the same standards apply to all people, regardless of age. Check your email. Read the whole thing. Reply carefully, in a timely and professional manner. Multi-tasking shows lack of interest. Arrive on time, and concentrate on the task at hand. As long as everyone is held to the same business standards, I believe that outside of work, cultural differences can have minimal consequences.

To counter my father's opinion, my greatest concern is the two-party, donation based political structure in the United States. I think we should abolish party donations, and make politicians work for something besides donor dollars. This would completely change the game for interest representation, lobbyists, and general inefficiencies.

Once political donations are outlawed, there would be a fighting chance for another political party in the United States. I detest the stronghold and constant bickering of the two-party, Us vs. Them. It causes severe clashes between the two parties, and creates this pendulum effect after each election. (See today's EPA smog standards update) Little new legislation can be created, because we're working so hard to change back everything that predecessors just changed two or four years ago. If just one other party existed, with substantial share in the system, suddenly NO party would have over 50% majority. For every single bill and policy, parties would constantly be forced to work together on their initiatives, instead of bullying their way to passing bills. As parties are forced to work together instead of constantly fighting, they will discover the large amounts of commonalities they share. They can use these commonalities, which are also present in the general population, to create substantial and meaningful legislation that would not simply be altered into obsoleteness in four years. Now, I do vote for one of the two major parties currently, but I'm anxiously awaiting a time when I have a third (or even fourth!) viable alternative.

What an effective use of a slice of peach pie.

And into the future

According to my childhood diary, at 2010, I officially enter 'The Future.' Here I am, Future! Bring on that flying car and inter-space travel. Although we might not have reached the sci-fi future visualized by some, we have made surprising progress in some unexpected directions.

In just the past ten years, as we've moved from a new millennium to this new decade, we've made considerable strides. Instead of paranoia about Y2K, we just live in fear of strangers sneezing virus strands on the subway. No, but seriously, in 2000, how many of you out there might have guessed we would ring in this year with a minority President? How many thought we would be talking about climate change in every single living room (no matter what is actually said about climate change), and factoring it into many major business decisions? I certainly never would have guessed the various bends my own life has taken, much less the market shift back to organic foods - a new name to a very old concept. We've shifted from globalization back to localization. The internet has become fast and accessible in almost any corner of the world, and drastically changed our culture. Unfortunately, we've also seen the rise of terrorism and natural disasters in the last ten years. In many ways, we have more challenges now than ever before. But this is why I keep reading. And I keep listening, and thinking. We need constructive steps and methods to solve the financial crisis BY solving the environmental crisis.

It was 2000 that I first went to work in Yosemite National Park, which steered me down a new course in life altogether. I'm so pleased with where I am in life at the start of 2010 - fresh MBA in hand, and the rest of my life ahead of me. I'm also encouraged with the difference I see in our thoughts and conversations in the last ten years, and I can't wait to reflect on the accomplishments we will make between 2010 and 2020. While I don't normally get too excited for New Years Eve - it is just another night, after all - I have enjoyed thinking back on the important moments to me in the last ten years. Whether it's your team's Superbowl victory or new people in your life, it's fun to think about how far we've all come.

So on the eve of the Future, although I am not exactly hurdling through space on my work commute, I do think we have laid the groundwork towards a paradigm shift. And that gives me reason for hope as I prepare to begin again.

My career is calling

My last week of graduate school, we were asked to write a paper on 'our calling.' This calling should culminate our personal goals with career ambitions and the lasting legacy we want to leave on the world. After three years of introspection and growth in my MBA program, I was happy to put a stake in the ground, and announce my calling.

My calling is to continue to develop my entrepreneurial ideas with a strong emphasis on social equity, economic prosperity and environmental sensitivity. At this point, my entrepreneurial ideas are not directly related except for these underlying principles of 'a new way to do business'. While I am currently searching for a long-term job or consulting role, my 10 year plan does include launching my own venture.

I have relished the opportunity to use my cumulative knowledge from graduate school, and apply these principles to a business plan. Most importantly, I now have the skills to turn these ideals into quantifiable metrics and lucrative opportunities, based on sound economics. Prior to grad school I was biased to consider environmental benefits before social implications. My time at Presidio has shown me the interwoven elements of these pursuits, and I realize now that a business cannot have one without the other.

When I began school, I had a direction for my career, but I also stated that I was excited to change my plans as I developed and learned. Reflecting now, I realize I decided against that original career path within my first semester. I was deeply influenced by Presidio, and I changed my life to be able to embrace school’s opportunities more whole-heartedly. Presidio has given me some truly key pieces of knowledge which inform my decisions, relationships and career:

• Social Impact. A speech by Van Jones was very effective at driving home the importance of including the bottom-of-the-pyramid domestically. I have been concerned with international issues for years, but Van’s speech really highlighted the impact that needs to happen here in the United States as well.
• Commitments. Throughout my time in Presidio, I have learned how to properly commit myself. I only pursue endeavors to which I can dedicate myself, and complete to the best of my ability.
• Collaboration in favor of competition. My past training embraced cutthroat competition. I spent two years adjusting to, and learning to reap the benefits of collaborative work.
• Statements are most effective with passion, not emotion. Plenty of times in the past, I have been guilty of reacting out of emotion, and not making deliberate and grounded statements. I have learned the effectiveness of using passion to make an argument that is well grounded in reality.
• SROI (social return on investment). One of the best classroom learning components was the ability to apply financial metrics to the fuzzy, environmental and social returns to society of a particular venture.
• Development, not growth. We, as people, as a society, and as business leaders, need to develop, but we do not need to grow. We're big enough, but are we good enough?
  
• I have enough. I felt this most acutely at my summer internship in Nicaragua. Don’t spend too long yearning for things out of reach. I have enough already. Cherish it.

I’ve learned the hard way that most things in life, at least, the important things, cannot be planned. Networks, strategies and backup plans can all be integral to success and one’s ability to rebound from unplanned failures. However, ultimately, life is about being in the right place at the right time. So as much as I stack my own deck, make my plans and try to follow my calling, I still try to lead my life with another guiding plan. I plan to be surprised.

Books that Shape an Effective Leader

Well, it's my last week of graduate school. I hope you'll forgive my short post, in favor of developing a great final venture plan, presentation and paper.

Before my graduation, I am already feeling nostalgic for the perks of being a full-time student. The biggest thing I will miss is my constant exposure to cutting-edge books and information. The best books I have read in the last three years have helped shape my opinions, widened my world-view and contributed to my professional development. Some of my favorite additions to my bookshelf during grad school, whether school related or pleasure reading, are as follows:

• Ecological Economics - Herman Daly
• Just Good Business - Kellie McElhaney
• Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Leoncini
• Leading Change Toward Sustainability - Bob Doppelt
• Dreams from my Father - Barack Obama
• Three Cups of Tea - David Oliver Relin
• Green Collar Economy - Van Jones
• Cradle to Cradle - Bill McDonough
• Speed of Trust - Stephen MR Covey
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver
• Crimes Against Nature - Robert Kennedy Jr.
• Total Leadership - Stewart Friedman
• Hot, Flat and Crowded - Thomas Friedman
• Cultural Intelligence - David Thomas
  
• This American Life – True, this is not a book. But it is a fascinating weekly program that can be downloaded to your iPod for your listening convenience on the go.

If you've read even one or two of these books, you can probably attest to the high quality and unique perspective of each author. I encourage you to clear room in your busy schedule to absorb these books, and let me know your thoughts. I would love to hear about influential books in your professional or personal life, as I am now building my post-grad reading list.

Launching a healthcare company

OK, fine. We’re all reaching the point of reader exhaustion on the issue, but one more blogger has decided to chime in on healthcare. Before you immediately click Next or remember to pay your dog’s vet bill online, let me promise to provide what I think is a slightly different conversation on the same subject.

Now, I’m an entrepreneurial spirited American, and for about two years, I have wanted to start a health insurance company. Not just any health insurance company, mind you. As an uninsured healthy young woman, I see the thousands of market opportunities our current healthcare misses.

Let’s start by de-coupling the relationship between healthcare and employers. After all, it was a series of unintentional laws that created the current employer-based insurance. Let’s just say we could insure people, whether they are employed or not, whether they switch jobs or move, and insure them for life. After all, keeping lifelong customers is much cheaper than constant turnover.

If an insurance company looks at its customers as lifetime partners, they suddenly have a new incentive to make sure this healthy young woman ages as gracefully, painlessly, and cheaply as possible. With this relationship, insurance companies might change their entire offerings to young and healthy people, encouraging them to invest time and energy into preventative healthcare. These people that prioritize and maintain their health will become healthier, and less costly older people.

As a young person, I am completely over-served by health insurance. I am expected to pay hundreds of dollars per month to have the exact same services that my parents have. Not surprisingly, at a young age, I don’t NEED all the services my parents have. I would be very happy to pay such a rate if I received value in return for my premium, in the form of a gym membership, a couple of annual checkups, emergency coverage, some yoga classes, a discount on my bicycle, and a Community Supported Agriculture box. But since I do not receive any of these benefits, and instead typically do not use my health insurance in an average year, I have chosen to save the money I would spend insurance, and pay expenses out of pocket. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this is a much cheaper option at this moment. There are millions of people like me out there. We need to cover our emergencies, and we need a company that helps us pay to stay healthy throughout our lives.

Why is this so hard? Why should a young entrepreneurial American have insurmountable obstacles to starting a solid business idea?

I know some of the answers to these questions- especially as these answers relate to insurance profit margins, hospital negotiations, healthcare cooperatives, and regulation. Even still, my mind swirls at the impossibility of executing such a vision. There are creative work-arounds to most of the problems health insurance faces; it simply requires a smaller and more nimble company.

I’m not exactly seeking venture financing quite yet, but this idea continues to stew in my mind. I’m secretly hoping that the healthcare reform might open up some opportunities to people like me. If ideas such as this are able to grow, we can slowly start to cover our healthcare gap, and promote a more healthy United States.

Microsoft Hohm post: Why buy green

I was published on Microsoft Hohm's blog today. The article discusses some of the reasons consumers choose to buy eco-products. Check it out! Link here