Student Leaders in Community Development

This has been a stellar year for student's in my course truly setting their ideas in motion. In today's edition of Lider Magazine, the story of one such group of young entrepreneurial thinkers appeared which linked both social and financial missions under the title of entrepreneurship. The movement toward sustainable enterprises from all sectors: public, private and non-profit is beginning to build momentum. The story of more than just a chair, Više od Stolice, is being retold via word of mouth and now also being picked in the media. I know that small relatable projects like these which conquer wider social problems, like the lack of access to proper educational environment for children with extra needs, can be solved with incremental but profound steps like those being taken by Martina, Diana, Marko and Mislav-Jure. These students represent the next wave of leaders in our communities and from ZSEM who can and will choose to build sustainable practices into their management strategies. They know how to more effectively catalyze resources and rise to look at existing problems with fresh eyes of opportunity. I also thank many of their peers who support their initiative and join them in the challenge to tackle the relevant issues of today's Croatia with their business acumen, social network and persistence. Cheers to the next generation!

When a Chair is more than just a chair

I have recently sat through 45 pitch presentations from my current group of students at ZSEM. Its been incredibly rewarding as a higher percentage than ever are realistic and with a vision to next generation ideas concering double and triple bottom line. I feel like I am living my dream which feels great. One of the remarkable projects, high on top my list of all time greats is destined to be "when a chair is more than just a chair". The process of getting to this idea was exciting and frustrating and now joyous. The students involved in the project have actually launched their blog and have over 700 visitors in just 24 hours, I believe that qualifies as "an idea worth spreading".

Here is the idea in a nutshell, kids with cerebal palsy do not have affordable chairs suited to their educational needs. My students Diana Mušić, Martina Kristić, Marko Prka and Mislav-Jure Sulić combined their interests, backgrounds and criteria for their social enterprise project resulting in the development of a turnkey plan for a local non profit to raise awareness and funds one chair at a time. The specially designed chairs usually cost around 1,000 Euros and within 2 weeks the students not only identified the need but sourced the solution. They reinvisioned the chair, mocked up a design, found a willing and capable manufacturer and set up a system for the non-profit to transparently collect the funds and dedicate the money for a needed learning aid, the chair. Visitors to their blog will be regularly updated on how much was raised and who will receive a chair and when. With over 9,000 children in Croatia being affected by this motor condition, my students are enabling lives. I thank them and all the other students striving to make change for themselves and others. To learn more about their project visit Više od stolice.

David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization | Video on TED.com

David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization Video on TED.com This video was recommended by Franjo Buntić as part of his take home exam. Its worth the 20 minutes to watch it and see Mr. McCandless's vision of the world. It's very interesting to here his take on the power of visualizing data and liberating ideas by putting them into images in which can capture the imagination and attention of the majority. Along the way he opens himself up to enabling his own creativity and changing the audience perspective for looking at and examining the world around them through a different, full spectrum perspective. See for yourself

Model Students

On Friday, November 19th, an international group of volunteers were coordinated to help out a newly minted female entrepreneur in Zagreb. Located in the downtown area, right off of the center, Ilica 14 to be exact, is a new men's clothing store "Shiptza" owned and operated by Lea Dido (pronounced Geedo). She has launched this business with the right background (fashion u. graduate) and experience (daughter of an entrepreneur) to succeed and is taking the steps to keep things lean and strategically think before spending. She had an opening event with friends and family which I was lucky to be invited to on November 13th. While I was there, I admired the decor and clothing assortment. Immediately, I imagined my students wearing those clothes.

Moving into connector mode, I asked Lea if she would be interested in setting up a photo shoot and exhibiting the results as an elegant (point of purchase/art exhibit). Yes! was her answer and I went into production mode. Student models, check. Amateur photo enthusiasts, check. Willing entrepreneur, check. From 9am to 2pm, 9 models from Croatia, Mexico, Pakistan were captured in over 1,000 images by photographers from Israel, France, Poland and America. If that isn't a celebration fit for Global Entrepreneurship week, I don't know what is. We will narrow down the images to 10 to use in store and more will be used on the stores website. Most of the clothes worn were Fred Perry and the weather from a overcast (great diffused light) morning to a bright, sunny afternoon really combined for something special. Many thanks to everyone, especially Orli, Nicole and Joanna (photogs) and Bruna, Noora, Martina, Jelena, Matko, Edin, Diego, Ali and Munir

Global Entrepreneurship week.

It's Global Entrepreneurship Week and my students are ready to celebrate;) Take a look at some of their research here and more will be posted later, so check back.

What did you think of the Social Network?

Playing in a theater near you is probably "The Social Network". Its definitely a popular choice in Zagreb these days. I saw it and found alot of content useful and relatable to our course in Entrepreneurship. If you watched it, how can you connect it to anyone or a combination of the recurring themes we are discussing around background, idea generation, marketing, operations, finance and results/personal insights? Leave your comments below and lets deconstruct it for educational purposes.

RealitE: The Doodle Dude, NJ, USA

I hope to make this a recurring theme, RealitE. With the flood of reality based programming online and on the tv, I thought it would be fitting to offer my version with a focus on "E" for Entrepreneurship. In this first, highlight... on Art Kaney from central shore in the State of New Jersey, has a great lifestyle business combining his talent for doodling with education and entertainment into an online and offline enterprise. He shares his skill with his family and a growing network of doodle dude alumni who have experienced his fun how-to's about drawing and capturing lifes little pleasures through classes and parties. His website is interactive and really invites visitors to play. Check it out: www.doodledude.com. What do you doodle? The lesson: live your passion, spread your talent.

Croatia-France-USA-Argentina-Croatia

The way in which ideas spread is fascinating. Today, I received an email from two former students from Croatia now studying in France. They just had a case study about Toms Shoes and said it reminded them of me. Thanks Ivona and Domagoj;). The concept behind Toms Shoes is simply when you buy a pair for yourself, you automatically buy a second pair for someone in the world in need. The gift is included in the purchase price. Here is the rundown of this entrepreneurial story....An Amercian traveller (lifestyle)+visited Argentina in 2006 (trigger) and was shocked to find many children who needed but did not have footwear + then the he took his (desire) passion to remedy this situation and his (possibility) opportunity based on his access to resources and Blake Mycoskie formed his new venture, Toms Shoes. The big idea: One for One, will have over a million shoes sold and a million given to a needy child in just four years from 2006 to 2010. Don't you want to buy a pair? OR atleast read more about social business creation? Check out Toms Shoes sustainable business model here.

Creativity Techniques

The Creativity sessions are some of my favorites to explore with my students. The picture, right, is from my 2008 sessions which I carefully documented from my courses at ZSEM.

This week in class we examined creativity as part of the entrepreneurial process. Incorporated into lessons are a variety of tools that one can use to curiously explore hidden potential. We used an Ebay song parody by Weird Al Yankovic to further inspect the transformation of "junk" - useless objects to "treasure" - renewed value as seen in the eyes of the customer. Students were encouraged to try out techniques of random input, word association, forced relationships, brainstorming, reverse brainstorming, mindmapping, Gordan's method and storyboarding.

Through the class session, students worked on each method and discovered which ones worked for them. If you are interested in more creativity exercises, check out some of my favorite links below and/or leave some of your favorite ones for the rest of us to explore in your comments.

Creativity for the lifelong learner starts at MindTools.com.


Mentalrobics exercises for Creativity


Psychology Today article with creativity exercises as part of Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project


Creativity Portal for endless creative prompts


Get the pulse on what's next from Springwise.com and their team of worldwide idea scouts


Creating space for innovation is explored in this BusinessWeek slideshow profile on Jump Associates


Discover what all the buzz is about Kickstarter.com which is making funding the arts as simple as a click, pay and perk.

The Innovators - Entrepreneur.com

The Innovators - Entrepreneur.com

Take a click through these 14 slides profiling innovators. Pick one that inspires you the most and leave
your comments below!

Referencing Complexity Science and Social Entrepreneurship

In 2008, I presented a collaborative paper on Social entrepreneurship in Croatia using the case of Zeljko Mavrovic with my writing partner, Paul Stubbs. The paper got included as a chapter in Complexity Science and Social Entrepreneurship. I am reviewing every page and all contributions from other chapter authors as part of my literature review for my doctoral dissertation on the same subject. The purpose of this is to spread interest in social entrepreneurship as a viable business model. I will share links and inspiration I am gaining through the process.

Here are some examples covered in the preface by Ron Schulz:

Grameen Bank

Homeless Court

Donors Choose

Quest Bridge

Greyston Bakery

KIVA

ZOPA

Ashoka

Skoll Foundation

Mahatma Gandhi
- "Whenever you are in doubt, apply the following test: recall the face of the poorest and weakest person you may have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to them."

The TED Challenge

Its often hard to truly get to know students sitting in a classroom. The teacher often has the opportunity to share stories and incorporate personal passions into their lectures. In an effort to encourage students to get real with their interests, I added a TED component to their exams.

So anyone who is not aware of the TED revolution going on "ideas worth spreading" is in for a delight as I plan to share on this blog great stories of young people doing just that. In France earlier this year, I had a TED assignment where students were to find a TED video that inspired them and make a summary presentation of the idea they thought worthy of spreading. It was a marathon day of presentations that had me and the students on the edge of our seats. I will share some of the results in future blog postings throughout the summer.

Since that went so well, I added a take home part of the exam for my summer school students with a similar challenge to find and describe a ted talk. An amazing array of diverse interests across the technology, entertainment and design platforms had inspired my students. I will also pass on their favorite ted talks in the near future.

Everyday I am personally inspired by social entrepreneurs and I try to identify and support them in my community. This summer school we are devoted to clients from across sectors who want to become sustainable by developing double and triple bottom line ideas. In the spirit of that we are redefining for ourselves through debate and discussion the service these entreprises are doing to spread awareness for certain social issues not currently being addressed fully. One such issue is the use (misuse, undercapacity) of people of different abilities. Toward those ends, I share with you, as I did with my students in class today, my favorite TED inspired talk by Aimee Mullins at a 2009 TED MED conference: The opportunity of adversity

ZSEM Summer School - Entrepreneurship

From June 29 through July 16, 2010, I am honored to be teaching students form Mexico, France, Russia, Australia and Croatia at my home insititutions' International Summer School in Zagreb. Since not all students, have access to our WebCT platform, I will use this blog to communicate course info, assignments, links and tools to better understand entrepreneurship in many hybrid forms it takes.

In the first week of class, students were introduced to key concepts of entrepreneurship such as the background, ideas, marketing, operations, finances and results sought and achieved through the entrepreneurial process. They were also given the tools to embrace their own creativity and contributions they could bring to a team. Additionally, they were introduced to potential clients who are ripe for some infusion of entrepreneurial opportunities.

To supplement the learning in the classroom this week and to prepare for the exam next week I encourage students to visit and revisit the following resources:

1. Creativity exercises can be found at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_CT.htm and watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlabrWv25qQ
2. Croatian Client web sites:
http://www.uriho.hr/, http://www.roda.hr/, http://centar-sraskaj-zg.skole.hr/, http://www.tedxzagreb.info/home/organizers.aspx
3. Marketing refreshers on different tools like the BCG Matrix can be found at:
http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessonstore.htm
4. Entrepreneurship resources can be found here:
http://www.guykawasaki.com/books/Artprop.pdf, http://ecorner.stanford.edu/, http://www.fastcompany.com/, http://www.entrepreneur.com/and watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6MhAwQ64c0
5. For the take home portion of your exam you are asked to find an "idea worth spreading" from a presentation posted on http://www.ted.com

If you have any comments or questions feel free to post them.

The Meaning of Teaching

In 1995, I was taking a course called Training the Trainer at Rochester Institute of Technology (http://www.rit.edu/) I did not keep much of my homework assignments but this one was definitely a keeper. I have ran across this piece of paper several times and recreated the somewhat poetic, idealized view I had of teaching. I guess sometimes there is something you can always learn from the younger (or older) you. I still aspire to this ideal and hope that it has been true atleast half of the time and will certainly strive to make it my reality again. Click on the image if you want to read it without glasses;).

For other takes on what makes a good teacher?:

UNICEF has collected opinions from around the world http://www.unicef.org/teachers/teacher/teacher.htm

Did you know that there is an official teacher appreciation day - May 4th and also entire week of May 3 through the 7th. A site dedicated to the theme even has a short history of the profession.
http://www.teacher-appreciation.info/Famous_Teachers/A_short_history.asp

CNN April 3, 2010 has posted a great discussion board with a list of top teacher inspired movies including some of my favorites like "To Sir with Love" (1967), "Mr. Holland's Opus" (1995), "Dangerous Minds" (1995), and left off some others like "Educating Rita" (1985), "The Miracle Worker"(1962). On the lighter side, there is "School of Rock" (2003).

With the whole homeschooling movement, there has been an overall emphasis on the role of parent as teacher. Whether or not one chooses to homeschool, parents who take an active interest in homework and re-learning alongside their children may find hidden rewards. I know I have with my own. There are a wealth of resources that can help make learning at home more fun in math (http://www.coolmath4kids.com/, http://www.mathplayground.com/, and http://www.mathcats.com/), in science(http://www.sciencewithme.com/, www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/wild and http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/) in the arts (http://www.apples4theteacher.com/, www.incredibleart.org and http://gardenofpraise.com/art).

"To learn and never be filled, is wisdom; to teach and never be weary, is love"

S(with a hat on top)-A-R-E-N Creative

Greetings Blogosphere:

Zagreb, Croatia

Been living in Croatia for 13 years and I thought the timing is right to start sharing more of my ideas. As a teacher, I am lucky enough to inspire and be inspired by the learning experiences around me and my students. I have found that the more I share the more I get back in return which I find is very satisfying. On this blog, I hope to post ideas in all forms - pictures, words, clips, recipes and more that turn into opportunities for my readers and myself. In Croatian, the word šaren (sounds like sharen/sharin') means prismatic or multi-colored. It was one of the few sticky words that from the first time I heard it the meaning stuck. So today I will play with that word.....

On www.eudict.com one can find Šaren as taken on a full spectrum of meanings: brindled, dapple, gay, motley, multicolored, party-colored, patchy, piebald, pied, printed, prismatic, skewbald, speckled, spotted and variegated.

The words in the this sequence sound poetic to me as I read them aloud. Then a google search (prism and poem) result in the discovery of Prism International, a contemporary writing journal based in Canada with eligible entries from around the world - http://prism.arts.ubc.ca

When I think of multi-colored canvases with vibrancy, life and motion I think of the brilliant artist and man I call friend, LeRoy Neiman - www.leroyneiman.com/core.htm

From art to science, try catching a rainbow at home all you need is a bowl, milk, food coloring and dish soap. Follow the directions at this link with your favorite child/children - www.kidzone.ws/science/rainbow.htm

For some music to put you in a the mood, why not try something by Simply Red, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, The White Stripes, Black Sabbath, Aqua, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Indigo Girls, Blondie or Maroon5. Or a playlist a songs like Lady in Red(Chris De Burgh), Orange Blossom Special (Johnny Cash), Yellow (Cold Play), Where the Green Grass Grows (Tim McGraw), Blue Suede Shoes (Elvis), Purple Rain (Prince) topped off with a little Gold Digger (Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx) and Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland).

How can you be more colorful?