Now What? Be the Change

Chris Brogan had an interesting post  titled “ What Human Businesses and the Social Web are all About” and it got me thinking, as usual.

Tom Friedman has talked about how the World is Flat and the boundaries that have long separated people are evaporating as we can communicate and do work 24 x 7 with the advent of broadband and web communication.  Hospitals send radiology reports to be interpreted overnight to India.  I do work with many people located around the Country; Google Analytics tells me people around the world read my blog and listen to my podcast; my social group extends beyond my town, my State and my Country.

As the borders and boundaries that separate people from one another dissolve, information flows freely.  Ideas flow freely.  Some take root and catch on, others don’t.  Information and education has fundamentally changed the way people see their situation, their company, their government, and more.  We can’t hide injustice and tragedy, because everyone can upload the raw data and information to the web, to let others interpret and decide for themselves.

Yet as much as this sharing, the lack of borders, the lack of walls lets us know more than ever before, the question then becomes, “Now What?”

-So you see devastation on the other side of the planet-the aftermath of natural disasters, poverty and more-  what are YOU going to do about it?

-You see that government or healthcare could be more efficient and it seems silly that it’s grown up in such a convoluted manner- what are YOU going to do about it?

All the information and data you could possibly want is pretty much out there and just waiting for you to take a hold of something, anything, and make one little part of the world better.  What are YOU going to do?  Because guess what?  It’s not just someone else’s problem- it’s all of ours.

It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and complain about the troubles of the day, to bemoan the fact that our government isn’t perfect, and those other people across the Globe aren’t perfect, either.  There may not be any one right answer.  There’s not one right way to approach a problem, but that doesn’t give us a pass for doing nothing in the interim.

In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath talk about the problem of third world hunger and soliciting money to help a charity address the problem got much better results when the problem wasn’t discussed in broad strokes, but was personalized, so that a person could help one other person, one child, and make their life better.  This is because when we look at the whole problem-”the whole forest”- it can be overwhelming, and the problem seems truly impossible to tackle and see any progress.  But when we look at a tiny problem -an individual tree- the problem becomes much easier to tackle.  We say “I can do that” and we pick up a shovel or our checkbook, or whatever and get to work.

I often joke “Talk is cheap until you starting talking to a lawyer.”  While great things always start with talking, with sharing ideas like we do on the Web, the real change comes from putting verbs into our sentences and actually doing things to make change happen.  It means getting our hands dirty.  It means just picking a spot and dig in.  Every small step takes you closer to your goal.  Failing to take any action leaves the project and change undone, left for someone else to do instead of you.

It can be tricky where the rubber meets the road.  There’s all sorts of friction, all sorts of problems, nothing is easy.  But without action, without that friction, you’ll never make any progress at all- all you’ll do is spin your tires, hoping some day, that there will be some “grab” and you can start progressing forward.

Pick something.  One thing.  Donate an hour of your time.  Make one small area of your community better.  Or go to Kiva and give someone a microloan so they can create traction for themselves.  Do something that’s not all about you.  Help someone else with a problem they have.  You’ll be surprised at the difference you can make for others, and for yourself at the same time.

Everyone can do something for someone else.  It doesn’t have to be big or grandiose.  It can be taking the time to help a friend.  It can be donating a can to a soup kitchen.  But knowing you are making an effort to help beyond yourself-  that’s where the real satisfaction in life lies.

If you hate the health care system, don’t just complain- learn why the system is the way it is, what challenges are faced, and think up ways to fix it, or make it better.  Can volunteering at the hospital teach you this while you do good for others?  Maybe.  If you hate the government and politicians, why not run for office yourself?  Figure it out- everyone who has that job had to figure out how to get there- you can, too.

Ask for help.  Read.  But for goodness sake,  put verbs in your sentences and become the change you want to see in the World.    It sounds trite, but it’s true.  It all begins with you.

Tags: be the change, chris brogan, kiva, making a difference, Tom Friedman, world is flat

In the Golden Age of Commerce…. Social and Financial Contracts

Over the weekend, I heard two politicians make comments that stuck with me.  Mike Castle, congressman from Delaware, reported that in recent talks with ING Bank, they are doing very well.  The mortgages that they have financed are doing fine, and there’s no problem with the default rate skyrocketing.  Then again, they service their own loans.  Yesterday, Mike Bloomberg said the City of New York also has a limited mortgage program, and their default rate is also extremely low.

This started to sound like a yearning for the time where the local banker made a personal decision on your credit worthiness, and whether he could trust you when deciding to make a loan.  Factors other than a naked credit score metric went into the decision.  The social context was everything.

Now, compare these banks who are surviving the financial melt-down on Wall Street with Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi banker, developed the idea of microlending  with the Grameen Bank and won a Nobel Prize in Economics because of it.   You start to see that the closer the lender and borrower are, the stronger their relationship, the more likely it is that the loan will be repaid.  Not everyone may have stellar credit, but even loan sharks know that people will repay a loan when properly motivated.  Loan sharks may use force and threats, but often maintaining a reputation and  the ability to continue doing business in a community is enough to make sure loans get repaid.  This works for small loans, partially because a small boost up is often all a person needs to find their way towards success.  Marry that factor with the fact that the loans should be readily repayable- they are not large enough to be risky individually- and you have an easy money out, money in, recycle to another in need system that has helped many people become more self-sufficient.

Look at sites like Kiva.org and even ChipIn, and you can see that money, social causes and concerns can lead to positive outcomes for everyone concerned.

Dr.  Dan Ariely from MIT in his book, Predictably Irrational,  talks about how messy things can get when you mix business contracts and social contracts.  Sometimes, you just want businesss to be business and personal to be personal.  You don’t offer to pay your Mom for Christmas dinner after the meal, because that would be rude. When I buy something at the drug store, I don’t expect the cashier to be forever grateful.  But yet…. When you do mix some level of personal social contract with the business contract, you can get some remarkable results.  Often messy, but clearly what makes these relationships different from the day to day.

Take my favorite local coffee shop.  I love this place because it is like the old sitcom “Cheers”, where everyone knows your name.  My favorite barrista, Shane, even draws little Latte Art pictures in the foam for customers, making this a special experience, beyond the day to day.  But now Shane is leaving, and moving on to another coffee shop and bar in town, a bit more of a drive away.  Will my relationshp with the coffee house stay the same even though the person who makes my day special isn’t there?  I don’t know yet.  I still love the coffee, but this person- the face of the business to me- was part of what made this a destination more frequently than not.  My business relationship- exchanging money for coffee- was enhanced by the social contract and customer service provided by this particular barrista.  That made it special and outstanding.  Maybe I can “bond” with another barrista, but it will probably take time.

Likewise, we have a private banker at a local bank.  If I ever have any issues, I can sit down and talk to them about money issues, investment issues, and they make sure we have our needs taken care of.  I feel like a valued customer- the added service and personal relationship makes this more than a fiscal relationship.  Additionally, when we were buying our house, our real estate agent became a close friend- (Thank You Mary!) the personal relationship we have extended the business relationship, and made the transaction all that more satisfying.

The point I am trying to make here is this-  when financial and business transactions are devoid of all sense of personal attachment and social contract, they are easier are more liable to break and go astray.  When business relationships and future business depends on maintaining a social contract as well, both parties are more likely to be morally obligated to perform all the duties under the contract.  The secret sauce is the social contract that binds the financial contract.

Much of what has gone astray in the financial sector has been the systematic break down of the social contract.  People feel little moral compunction about screwing a big nameless, faceless company, but they feel differently about disappointing their neighbors.  This may seem like a quaint idea, but I think the closer the lender and lendee are, the more personal the relationship, the greater the likelihood the transaction will be successful.  The more distant the relationship, the less likely the relationship will be successful.

So the next time you are in McDonald’s, ask yourself- do I feel a sense of place here?  Or is this a widget, and the people in it as well?  Are you more or less likely to correct someone if they give you the wrong change or an extra order of fries?  And would you do the same at your local diner/restaurant/coffee shop, where you know the owner?  Why or why not?  Is it really the principal of the thing, or does it matter more on the social relationship/contract you feel with friends and neighbors?

What do you think?  Is this right, or am I totally off base here?  Becaue I think the way to solve much of the financial problems these days may be about making things more, not less, personal.  And while this is much harder to run efficiently by the widget standard of commerce, it is certainly the way to keep all of us whole, fiscally and emotionally, no matter how inefficient.

Tags: chipin, dan ariely, kiva, lending, michael bloomberg, mike castle, predictably irrational, social contract