I was recently invited to participate in the inaugural Intersection Event: Where Innovation Meets Social Change this coming January at Pixar’s headquarters where a cast of leading business innovators and social change agents will discuss ways in which they can work together to positively affect their businesses and the world around them. The invitation got me thinking about some of my favorite social enterprises, particularly at this time of year when our attention turns to giving back and the products that encourage us to do so. I have compiled a collection of some of my favorite social enterprises for you here and look forward to hearing about a few of your favorites below:

• Global Cycle Solutions: Leveraging a worldwide market of over 1 billion bicycles as a driver of innovation and affordable energy, Global Cycle Solutions hopes to enable micro-entrepreneurs to bring the service of pedal-powered devices to their communities to meet an extensive range of needs from agricultural food processing, to home appliances, to battery charging.

• FEED Projects: FEED Projects employs the sale of reusable bags to fight hunger and eliminate malnutrition throughout the world. To date, FEED has been able to raise enough money through the sale of products to provide over 60 million school meals to children around the world through the United Nations World Food Program.

• The Paradigm Project: The Paradigm Project is a social enterprise working to create sustainable social, economic, and environmental value within developing world communities. Their current project is a clean-fuel cookstove project in Kenya, and they are currently in the process of expanding into South America and East Africa.

• Made for Good: Made for Good is a consortium of like-minded brands assembled into one global community, sharing common goals, purpose, and passion. Each Made for Good brand aligns with a non-profit partner and uses embedded generosity to raise money through the sale of its products.

• Mission Measurement: Mission Measurement is a social impact consulting firm that works with leading corporations, non-profits, and government agencies to measure and improve the results of their social initiatives.

• The Glue Network: The Glue Network connects people and their favorite brands together to fund life-changing non-profit projects around the world.

• AlterNetRides: AlterNetRides is a website that encourages all forms of alternative transportation: carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking, public transportation, and more.

• Treasure & Bond: The New York City-based concept store from Nordstrom has developed a retail model where 100% of all their after-cost profits go directly to programs that benefit people in need.

• Source 44: Source 44 discovers the origins of their clients’ products—their Sustainability DNA (sDNA™)—and transforms the findings into innovative supply chain savings. They also partner with their clients to help prioritize their energy, water, carbon, and waste reduction initiatives, helping to ensure they meet sustainability targets while eliminating unnecessary costs and identifying new revenue-generating opportunities.

• Plant With Purpose: By reversing deforestation, Plant With Purpose helps the poor restore productivity to their land to create economic opportunity through environmental restoration efforts.

• PatientSafe Solutions: PatientSafe Solutions is a healthcare information technology company delivering real-time mobile clinical solutions to hospitals to improve patient safety, quality, and satisfaction while decreasing costs at the point of care.

• The Honest Kitchen: The Honest Kitchen makes dehydrated, human-grade, all natural whole foods for dogs and cats. Their recipes are made in a human food facility (not in a pet food plant) for the highest possible quality standards. They adamantly protest puppy mills and give back to a range of animal-focused charities through their pawlanthropy program.

What are some other social enterprises you would add to this list?

Cause marketing has been proven to boost sales, engagement, and customer loyalty, but are the new models of embedded generosity a passing fad or are they new fundamental standard? One new company is banking on the latter.

Made for Good is a new consortium of like-minded brands that are assembled into one global community, sharing common goals, purpose, and passion. Each Made for Good brand aligns with a non-profit partner and uses embedded generosity to raise money through the sale of its products. A true blurring of commerce and charity, Made for Good leverages the power of retail to make a positive difference through a recurring model of giving. All Made for Good products, which currently include Jedidiah, MusiCares apparel, Beautiful Feet, United Artist Network, and Rain Tees, will carry the Made for Good authenticity badge, which is an official indication the brand has a genuine, integrated give-back component.

A recent study showed that the best way to rack up re-tweets on Twitter was to ignite powerful emotions within your followers. Made for Good is investing in the notion that this concept can be transferred to purchases in stores and online as well. One needs only to read through Jedidiah’s look book, browse the Beautiful Feet website, or watch this MusiCares video to be met with punch-you-in-the-heart inspiration—the type of emotion that breeds loyal and passionate followers.

Tugging on heartstrings and inspiring followers to support you with wreckless abandon doesn’t happen without three key ingredients: time, relationships, and a deeper passion for philanthropy than profits. Like many modern-day innovations, this company and concept was the result of a decade of development. Kevin Murray, one-half of the team behind Made for Good, is the founder of KJM Enterprises, a screen-printing company that works with many well-known national and international brands. Inspired by his brother who had created a network of auto body mechanics that were using their sales to support needs in less fortunate places, Kevin transformed Jedidiah—a surf-inspired men’s and women’s apparel company—into his first embedded generosity brand years ago. With the knowledge that can only come from time and experience under his belt, he teamed up with Krista Treide—whose professional resume touts experiences working with such brands as Nike, UGG Australia, Tommy Bahama, Reebok, Speedo, and Michael Stars—with the goal of leveraging the power of the retail industry to make a positive difference in the world.

There are no shortage of brands who have infused models of embedded generosity into their companies to increase both sales and support for their related causes. The “One for One™” model has been introduced into companies who sell everything from shoes (TOMS) to bed mattresses (IntoBedWeGo) to reading glasses (Warby Parker) and there is a long history of brands like Patagonia who have seen success in embedded generosity models. We’re even seeing major corporations pick up on the trend, such as L’Oreal Paris, who has raised millions to fight ovarian cancer through sales of their Color of Hope cosmetics collection, and SONY, Verizon, Kodak, and other companies who are employing the service of the Glue Network.

Armed with the awareness that the more they grow, the more they give, this is just only beginning for the Made for Good collective. And, I believe, the embedded generosity model will become a fundamental building block of companies. Made for Good is currently looking for more brands that are motivated by their philanthrocapitalistic platform to infuse their model of embedded generosity into as many corporations as possible.

Entrepreneurs come from all over the world, but most share an innate passion for questioning the constraints of ideology and discipline, and identifying practical solutions to problems by combining ingenuity, resourcefulness, and dogged determination.

YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE A GOOD IDEA IS GOING TO COME FROM
I’m fascinated by the different types of people I meet in the world and the way their personalities show in what they do. People with passion, energy, ideas and an unquenchable thirst for life inspire me the most. I’m fueled by their energy, fascinated by their ideas and inspired by the way they live life to its fullest.

While working with Starbucks, I had the lifelong pleasure of meeting a man with more energy and verve for life than an army of optimists. Richard Tait is filled with passion to constantly push boundaries, explore new frontiers and voraciously bring new ideas to life. Richard Tait, creator/founder of Cranium, and more recently the sports hydration drink Golazo, is an amazing example of an entrepreneur at heart. I recently spent time kicking a ball around in Seattle with Richard where he shared his entrepreneurial story of chasing the American dream and pursuing what makes him tick.

START YOUNG AND DREAM BIG
Richard has been a self-described entrepreneur since he was 4, selling fish door-to-door in his native Scotland. Richard’s humor and industrious attitude gave him the perfect entrepreneurial foundation. After coming to the US and studying Business at Dartmouth University, the lights on his American dream began to look a bit dim. He had dreamt of working with Apple, but after being denied several positions on multiple occasions, he settled for working for Microsoft as a Project Manager—this was in 1988, long before the PC or takeover of the Internet. Being at Microsoft for the next ten years led Tait on an amazing adventure one could never have anticipated. And after an astounding ten year journey, Tait knew he was ready for his next big thing, he just wasn’t sure what that was.

RAINY DAYS AND PASSIONATE SERENDIPITY LEAD TO BIG IDEAS
It was a rainy Seattle day, the perfect reason for a few buddies to challenge their board game skills. After being thrashed in a game of Scrabble, followed by a glorious comeback in Pictionary, Tait sat back and contemplated the whole experience. He was amazed that both games were overwhelmingly dictated by the players whose skills aligned with the game. After realizing that very few board games offered a challenge for a variety of skill sets, he saw an opportunity. He knew that there must be adults and children alike wanting to partake in friendly competition with a variety of skills, where everyone has a chance to shine. From that simple insight, Richard began to sketch out the blueprint for the revolutionary board game, Cranium.

At that time the game market was full of negativity and Tait wanted to create something radically different, an entertainment company full of pizzaz and positivity. He and his partner began building prototypes at night at their local Kinko’s, conducting focus groups in peoples’ living rooms, and in short order, Cranium was created.

After manufacturing 27,00 games and creating an out-of-the-box distribution relationship, the board games were sold in unusual places such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Starbucks, and it worked. If you ask Tait how he got there, he’ll tell you it was by constant ducking, diving, determination, and the power of word-of-mouth. The key to his success is that he never forgot his customers were his sales force, and he approached every aspect of his business with them in mind.

BOREDOM CAN BE A GREAT MOTIVATOR
Entrepreneurs often find themselves unsatisfied, bored, or wanting more. Fast forward to 2008 after Cranium’s monumental success and sale, Tait found himself asking what next. As he sat in his office watching Mexico and China battling around the soccer ball at Quest Field, his next big aha moment struck. Inspired by the 60,000 people and the roar of the crowd and drums, he decided to create a passion brand for soccer. Tait started to think about a brand that was all about engaging with the people who embraced soccer the most.

By talking with soccer players and coaches and watching them during and after games, Tait found that players want a product that energizes them while offering hydration benefits. He also found that they don’t like putting unnatural products in their bodies. After watching players at a soccer game mix Red Bull and Gatorade to get their hydration and energy fix, he saw an opportunity—and that’s the genesis for Golazo, an all natural sports energy drink. Golazo, which means “big goal” in Spanish, contains 10 natural ingredients and gives athletes the hydration they need while offering an extra boost of energy they often crave. Tait has big aspirations for Golazo and is on a mission to win the hearts and minds of soccer players everywhere.

PASSION AND RISK ARE A POWERFUL COMBINATION FOR SUCCESS
Tait has a profound passion to share his entrepreneurial spirit, hoping others will adopt the courage and determination needed that pushes them to take risks others aren’t willing to. Tait encourages anyone with the unique opportunity to intersect their personal passion with a professional pursuit, to go for it. Not surprisingly, Tait derives a great deal of inspiration from Steve Jobs. “Why would you be in the Navy when you can be a pirate?” is a philosophy Tait adopted from Jobs and lives throughout every bone in his body. He has been a pirate his whole life; he would rather rebel, pioneer, and try something new. He lives in a community of breaking rules, rather than conforming to them as most entrepreneurs do.

It is with this spirit, a healthy impatience, and a dogged determination that pushes Tait, and other entrepreneurs alike, to take risks that others cannot fathom. Like Tait, we encourage you to take a risk, push boundaries, and make your dreams come true. Pursue your passion with your professional path, and if you get knocked down, get right back up. Be a pirate, not a sailor.

CULTURE IS THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH STRATEGY THRIVES OR DIES.

Debate and difference of opinion, lightly salted with an appropriate amount of passion and tenacity can, help lead to significant breakthroughs. In the world of corporate correctness we are all living in, this should be highly encouraged. I really appreciated Bob Frisch’s response to my recent article on the importance of culture. Though I think he missed the point, the overwhelming number of people who embraced the notion that culture is imperative for sustained success is an indication of the importance of this issue and the opportunity culture offers for positive change.

People matter. More than machinery, products, and real estate. People invent and build. People support and serve customers. Your people either create or undermine value, cultivate or kill relationships, drive or reduce success. A well-conceived strategy living in the hands of unhappy, misdirected, misinformed people is a sure way to a slow and painful death. There is no comparison to being in the hearts and hands of energized, informed, and motivated people.

Companies are not linear, inert systems. They are ever-changing, organic communities that are dependent on the engagement, talent, and energy of their people to operate successfully. Ignore the mental well-being of your people and culture at your own peril. Step inside of any company, no matter the size, stage of development or level of success, and the culture is either driving the strategy or undermining it. To exist in the first place, a company must have a clear purpose, a deliberate intent, and a directive or set of ideas that it uses to pursue a clear goal, but it’s the people who have to execute it.

There is abundant evidence in every industry that the best-laid plans (or strategies) are derailed, suffocated, or eaten by cultures that either don’t understand or straight-out reject the intent. And this, in turn, slows, sucks the life out of, or sabotages the implementation or execution of the company’s strategy.

For the sake of debate, let’s assume there are two kinds of companies in the world. Those driven by strategy, where culture is not a priority, and those guided by a clear strategy where culture is highly valued and universally understood. To help clarify what’s important, let’s look at the relationship between culture and strategy.

Every company needs a clear strategy……. really?
You don’t need to be told that a company must have a clear reason for being and a plan of action. But, you might be surprised by how many companies lack strategic clarity, and whose only purpose is to make a profit. To be clear, making money is absolutely imperative, but it is just one of the outcomes of a successful company.

Competitive differentiation and optimal financial performance do not come from strategy alone. To ignore the potential of a fully engaged and mobilized culture that understands, embraces, encourages, executes and enhances strategy is negligent and a missed opportunity. It is imperative that today’s leaders not only understand and focus on the interdependence of strategy and culture, but also step back and examine their own role—it is one of the most important areas of their personal responsibility. The mental and physical health of the company in their care must be paramount for sustainable success.

Strategy is rational and culture is emotional
Strategy, at its core, is rational, logical, clear and simple. It should be easy to comprehend and to talk about. Without a clear strategy, a company is lost. Culture, on the other hand, means different things to different people. It is emotional, ever-changing and complex. Culture is human, vulnerable, and as moody as the people who define it. It can be intimidating and frustrating, often leaving leaders dodging it, neglecting it or discounting it. Because so many large companies are run by people whose expertise is heavily skewed to the rational, financial, and legal side of the equation, culture is often subordinated, misunderstood, or underappreciated.

Every company has a culture, but not every culture is healthy
Culture is the environment in which the intent of your company is nurtured, fueled, restricted, or suffocated. Every company has a culture and its health should be monitored and cared for. Cultures reach their full potential when the people in the trenches doing the day-to-day hard work understand the game and are fully-informed and engaged. Healthy and vibrant cultures are directed, purposeful, vibrant, optimistic, and highly-successful because they are fueled by the company’s larger purpose and supported by the capability to follow through. A company with a healthy culture is able to operate at its fullest potential while one with an unhealthy culture operates far from its best.

Every culture needs a visionary leader
Like a great coach, a leader’s job is to clearly set the intent for the journey, model the correct behaviors, lead with an understood set of values, communicate clearly and with sincerity and set clear expectations and guardrails for the culture to thrive within. It’s the team’s job to bring their best game every day and to execute the game plan to the very best of their ability. Like any great sports team, a culture is built by motivation, communication, training, encouragement, and celebrating both small and significant successes.

Culture is the field on which the strategy plays. A vibrant and functional culture is like a blanket that embraces, protects, and nurtures the strategy. A company without a strategy lacks direction. A strategy without a culture that understands or embraces it is like a sports team without spirit.

Understanding the relationship between culture and strategy
1. Strategy drives focus and direction while culture is the emotional, organic habitat in which a company’s strategy lives or dies.

2. Strategy is the headline of the story and culture needs a clearly understood common language to embrace and tell the story that includes mission, vision, values, and clear expectations.

3. Strategy is about intent and ingenuity and culture determines and measures desire, engagement, and execution.

4. Strategy lays down the rules for playing the game and culture fuels the spirit for how the game will be played.

5. Strategy is imperative for differentiation but a vibrant culture delivers the strategic advantage.

6. Culture is built or eroded every day. How you climb the hill and whether it’s painful, fun, positive, or negative defines the journey.

7. When culture embraces strategy, execution is scalable, repeatable, and sustainable.

8. Culture is a clear competitive advantage.

9. Culture must be monitored to understand the health and engagement of your organization.

10. Strategy and culture both require the clarity and power of brand to bring them seamlessly together.

CONVICTION, COMMITMENT, CREATIVITY, AND COURAGE MATTER.

I met three incredible young men named Jason Russell, Laren Poole, and Bobby Bailey almost seven years ago. Just out of college, they had decided to use their newly acquired filmmaking talents to go to the Sudan and document the atrocities of a distant war. What they weren’t expecting was to get there, find the war to be over, and end up uncovering child abuse, abduction, murder, rape and torture in Uganda.

When they returned, Jason was incensed, frustrated and angry, and told me about their plans to use storytelling to save the lives of children who are suffering at the hands of a man known as Joseph Kony. Nearly a decade later, Jason’s dedication, passion, creativity, drive and intentions haven’t wavered. The motives and focus of Invisible Children are exactly the same as they were in 2006: to end the abduction and abuse of children in Uganda. He and his movement of passionate and engaged followers have created what CBS News is calling “the most successful viral campaign ever” through their Kony 2012 campaign.

I have been absolutely amazed by their consistent commitment, conviction and creativity to craft and use the power of a compelling story. How they’ve told the story, and where, has changed thousands of lives in both the U.S. and Uganda. High school and college students have been engaged in social justice. Invisible Children has elevated the power of storytelling and program engagement. They created a movement of people who didn’t just give money they gave their time, they took a stand, camped out, and marched on Washington. Over time, they have changed the lives of the participants in their stories and their campaigns, and also changed the way many other not-for-profits tell their stories.

This week something even bigger happened. The storytellers at Invisible Children inspired the country to have a connected conversation about something of real substance. For the past week, the focus transitioned from the latest “Sh*t People Say” videos, Kim Kardashian’s newest relationship, and Lindsay Lohan’s latest comeback stunt to these children in Uganda. It’s got people everywhere thinking about communities, and people on the other side of the world they have never met. This story has got kids,  teachers, parents and peers talking to each other about an issue with substance and groups mobilizing to join the story and change the lives of the abused children in Uganda. The lesson here is not in social media, but in the power of the story and the hope that lies in human good. These three young men decided they needed to do something about a problem, and, almost 10 years later, the world at large is finally hearing the story loud and clear. This week, Invisible Children gave our country something compelling to watch and a call to action.

Imagine if this happened with other issues we have in this world? Imagine if we partnered with the people on the ground in Iran and told their story? Imagine if we told the Palestinian and Israeli story differently?

Countless college classrooms and business publications will undoubtedly analyze Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 video, breaking it down to be studied in its parts. The power of social media is undeniable, and while the real fascination here might be the speed, scale, and size of participation, I’d like to suggest this is really about the story and how it has been told. This three-act construct is clear; there’s a villain, a problem, and a hero. And as this well-told story continues to unfold, we are nearing the final chapter. Here are some valuable takeaways from this game-changing story I gathered through recent meetings with Jason, and a chat I had with Scot Chisholm, CEO of StayClassy, the online fundraising platform that powers Invisible Children’s fundraising campaigns:

1. With a compelling story, hearts and minds are moved.
Joseph Kony’s LRA had been waging war against the Ugandan government and raping and plundering the villages of Northern Uganda for many years before Invisible Children arrived, and, despite the UN being deeply involved, the world at large had no idea this war was being waged on these children. Jason, Laren, and Bobby became engaged in the tragedy because they could see themselves in the faces of these Ugandan children living in fear of their lives. As a result they made a personal commitment to the children of Gulu to tell their story.

Flash forward to this week and their promise has come true in the form of their video reaching more than 70 million computer screens and every broadcast media outlet in the country. Social media’s time is definitely now, but it was making the story relatable that drove this level of viral success. I wonder how many people put themselves in Jason’s place as he attempted to explain the story of Jacob and these atrocities to his own son, or how many thought of a friend in need as the story of Jason and Jacob’s friendship unfolded, or how many clicked the “donate” button as Jacob shed tears on their screen.

These creative activists have been on the forefront of developing and discovering what Jason calls 4D story-telling for the past five years. In their unfolding quest to end a war on children in Uganda, they’ve inspired, engaged, and empowered millions of people to become part of a movement of storytellers and social activists who have raised millions of dollars in the process.

2. Without conviction, nothing is ventured and nothing is gained.
Invisible Children’s conviction and commitment to this story and this issue has been unwavering for nearly a decade. This week, it’s landed them in conversations with Piers Morgan, The Today Show and Anderson Cooper. But it hasn’t been an easy ride. They’ve experienced a roller coaster of emotional ups and downs and have been told “no” more times than they’d probably like to remember. They’ve risked their lives in dangerous conditions abroad, sacrificed their personal time in pursuit of the greater good, and they’ve given up a large part of their own lives to save the lives of others.

Perhaps the greatest reward is witnessed by the growth of Jacob through his friendship with Jason. In their first video, Jacob cries as he tells Jason he would rather die than continue to live in the conditions he is currently forced to live under. Jason made a promise to Jacob that day that he has risked nearly everything to bring to fruition. That promise saved, and changed, a life. Today, Jacob is a happy 21-year-old studying law in Kampala, Uganda.

3. Purpose-driven passion is infectious.
The team at Invisible Children set out seven years ago to give a voice to thousands of children who didn’t have one. They released their first video and quickly began touring college campuses and launching unique guerilla campaigns that targeted the youth in this country. Each year, they have made a commitment to build upon the last, with storytelling always at their core.

They are on the front lines of social justice and they are creating new ways to raise awareness and affect change. Their focus on the issue and the way in which they have conducted themselves has created a powerful Millenial-lead movement. Their model of multi-dimensional storytelling allows people to engage in the issue through a connected campaign of digital media, social events, film, and a tiered approach to giving and advocacy that has inspired a tidal wave of engagement.

Scot Chisholm explained the impact this has had directly on their fundraising efforts: “We have found that people connect to a cause based on a combination of factors, and campaigns like Kony 2012 that effectively harness both the emotions stirred by the problem you’re addressing and your organization’s own passion to do the work have the greatest chance of success.”

4. There is no substitute for commitment and fortitude.
When the founding team from Invisible Children returned to the U.S. from their first trip to Uganda, they made a short documentary of their discovery and their commitment to end the war. Today the mission is the same as it was back then. For years, they’ve toured the country visiting hundreds of school campuses, packing gyms, sharing their story with anyone who would listen, inviting people of all ages to engage and connect with the plight of the children in Uganda through their story. They gave out their DVD, raised money and awareness, and invited the kids on campus to hold parties to share the documentary, becoming part of the story and the solution.

They have been committed to this movement for more than seven years. The Invisible Children team have rolled up their sleeves, shown commitment over time and changed lives both here and in Uganda. They have highlighted an area of the world and its atrocities so history will not look back and say, “Why was this ignored?” or “Why didn’t people get involved?”

“It may have appeared this way, but this campaign did not happen overnight. Invisible Children has been steadily building awareness around this cause for years. Without their prior efforts, and the following they’ve been able to build, it’s unlikely that they would have been able to produce such a dramatic viral effect with Kony 2012,” Scot shared.

5. Make it compelling and easy for others to get involved.
Invisible Children meticulously examined their audiences and thought through the different ways that those audiences would be compelled to get involved. Then, they made it easy on them to participate. Have $30 to spare? Buy a Kony 2012 kit. Have more? Pledge a monthly donation. Broke college student without a dollar to your name? Send a tweet to Angelina Jolie or offer your time to hang posters on April 20th.

“For campaigns that aim to empower supporters to take a direct action, it’s vital for the organization to gain an understanding of what motivates their target audience,” says Chisholm. “Each new campaign will shed new light on the behaviors of the organization’s audience; the successful organizations, like Invisible Children, learn from what they see, and continue to optimize their messaging for each subsequent campaign. Invisible Children is also good at creating clear calls-to-action so that their supporters understand what they can do next to help advance the mission. It is also critical to convey how a single person’s contribution, whether large or small, can help move the needle. The power in numbers concept is something that Invisible Children has practically written the book on.”

6. The road to good intentions is now full of people who are involved and active.
Far too often, great intentions are met with unfounded backlash and the truth diluted by false accusations. But whether you’re a foreign policy expert, a member of the media, a professor, or an average Joe trying to critique these guys, guess what? They changed the conversation this week. And they have also changed lives. They have impacted communities in Uganda and the U.S., as well as many new social justice-focused organizations and NGOs doing amazing work all over the world.

Today, you have to ask yourself which side of history you want to be on: for the kids, or not. And if you want to be a critic, have the courage to share your own positive contributions to a cause for good. Why don’t we put an end to negative hearsay, stop with the gossip, and focus on the facts: there are children’s lives at stake here.

By definition, “craft” is an art or occupation requiring special skill and, if my taste buds have any say in the matter, the craft beer industry exemplifies the word. Jim Koch was one of one of the pioneers of the craft beer movement, which has arguably swept the nation as of late. In April 1985, he debuted his Samuel Adams Boston Lager in about 25 bars and restaurants in Boston. While it didn’t have the trappings of a company that was about to change the industry, Samuel Adams had two key qualities in its favor: a full flavored quality beer, and an incredible passion.

Today, the company has a team of about 750 people with breweries in Boston, Cincinnati, and Pennsylvania. The family of beers has expanded to include over 30 different beer styles that are ever-changing. Samuel Adams beers are now available in all 50 states and more than 20 foreign countries.

So, naturally, when given the opportunity to interview Jim, I wanted to find out just what makes this passionate founder tick:

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Early on in the business, I made mistakes, like not keeping a close eye on accounts payable. But I also received advice and made choices that panned out, like the decision to pay extra for high-quality ingredients.

My uncle, Jim Kautz, was a terrific advisor to me. He called one morning in March of 1985, before we had even received our first shipment of beer, and asked what I was planning to do that day. I said that I was planning to go buy a computer, he asked why, and I told him it was to track sales. He pointed out that I didn’t have any sales and suggested that I spend my time making sales calls, so I’d have something to track. In an instant, I got it. It’s related to the reason I didn’t spend money on office space; I can’t sell beer from a desk.

When you start a business, you have to do everything and it’s important to focus on the activities that provide the best return on time invested. Yes, our bookkeeping was a mess in our first year, but I decided that if we failed, the IRS wouldn’t care about us, and if we succeeded, we would be able to afford lawyers and accountants to straighten things out.  So we focused on the things that did matter, making great beer and working hard to sell it.

Where does your love for beer stem from?
It’s in my blood and I am a sixth generation brewer. All the first sons in the Koch family, going back to the mid-1850s, have been brewers in the U.S. I actually found the recipe for Boston Lager on an old piece of paper in my father’s attic and took it as a sign to follow my dreams.

There is an entire generation of drinkers who are now too young to remember the beer world in the U.S. before Sam Adams, but in a word, it was a wasteland. Sam Adams was so drastically different from every other beer and it was amazing to see people’s faces when they tasted beer with flavor for the first time. I decided to go into the beer business with the passion for creating a better beer. Sam Adams was in my blood.

If you could share anything about Samuel Adams Beer to the world, what would it be?
I think it’s the best beer I’ve ever tasted. Of course, I’m biased, but it’s a beautiful beer that is well-balanced and complex. One of my favorite activities is taking people through an educational tasting of Samuel Adams and talking about the color, the clarity, the complexity, and the flavor. When I see someone appreciate the beauty of Samuel Adams the same way I do, it makes my day.

How is innovation managed at Samuel Adams?
Innovation and experimentation are key at our Boston Brewery. We’re an independent, American-owned craft brewer. We love what we do and believe in quality, creativity, and innovation.

We empower and challenge our brewers to find new beers, new ways to brew, and unique ingredients. I enjoy pushing boundaries with extreme beers, interesting ingredients, as well as the brewing and aging processes. It’s my life’s work, to elevate people’s thinking about beer and push the boundaries of traditional brewing to offer beer lovers an inspired drinking experience.

When I first brewed Triple Bock in 1993, it was the first “extreme beer” and the first beer to really stretch the definition of beer altogether. In 2002, I brewed the first batch of Utopias, which was definitely a beer in its structure, but its flavor profile resembled a fine port wine or Cognac. Since then, we’ve brewed several limited release batches of Utopias and with each batch we’ve continued to push for more complexity and strength, producing astonishing brews with alcohol levels reaching 27 percent alcohol by volume.

We experiment, we have fun, and often the outcome is a truly great beer.

Can you tell us what values you operate by as a company?
In the beginning, when local distributors declined to carry Sam Adams, I became my own distributor and carried chilled bottles of Boston Lager to bartenders around Boston. The beer was unlike any other they’d tasted.  They admired the fact that I brewed small batches and kept an obsessive eye on quality and flavor, rather than trying to compete with the larger brewers mass-producing mainstream beers.

And to this day, I taste a sample from every batch of Boston Lager and meet every Sam Adams employee.  You’ll never see me on “Undercover Boss,” because at some point during the year, I work directly with just about everyone in the company. From the people to the product, I am as involved in the company’s day-to-day operations as I was when Samuel Adams started.

Samuel Adams is now a public company, and the dedication to creating a high-quality, flavorful American beer is still the same—I make decisions based on the beer, not the bottom line. I have instilled operations and practices throughout every step of our business to ensure that Samuel Adams has stayed true to my philosophy of changing people’s perceptions of beer.

What influenced you to start the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream philanthropic program?
It really came out of my experience with starting Sam Adams and thinking about the areas that the small business owner trying to grow their business doesn’t have access to, mainly loans.

When I was starting The Boston Beer Company, I applied for numerous bank loans so I could build a brewery, but each bank turned me down. The bankers wanted me to demonstrate that people would buy the beer before they would give me the money to build a brewery. They were right, so I rented space in a great old brewery and launched my company.

I haven’t forgotten how hard it is for the “little guys” to get started.  Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream stems from this kind of innovative business spirit, and it is designed to give assistance and good advice to small business owners who want to pursue a similar passion and their American dream. I want to give them the means to succeed.

We launched in partnership with ACCION USA and provide loans ranging from $500 to $25,000, to be used for a variety of business purposes including expansion, equipment, and marketing. In addition to loans, the program offers valuable exposure to business counseling and networking opportunities. To date, we’ve provided coaching to nearly 2,000 current and aspiring small business owners and over $750,000 in loans to more than 90 small businesses in select markets across the country. The program has helped save or create approximately 800 jobs by supporting these small businesses.

We initially launched the program in 2008 to food, beverage, and hospitality small business owners in New England. This year, we’ve expanded regionally to New York, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and most recently, to Chicago.  This past spring, we also expanded the program to include craft brewers nationwide.

What is your end goal with the program?
My main goal is to help fellow entrepreneurs get a leg up. Our commitment to the community goes beyond the walls of our brewery. Brewing the American Dream is intended to support business owners by providing them with the ingredients to become financially independent and see their American dreams come true. Our goal with the craft brewing component is to support small business owners in our industry who are facing the same hurdles around starting or expanding their nano- or microbreweries that I faced when I started brewing Samuel Adams.

We know that small businesses are the primary driving force of job creation in our economy. But when you’re very small, there’s a funding gap. Banks don’t want to make small loans. They’re not setup to do that, they don’t want to administer them, they lose money giving small loans, and even the Small Business Administration doesn’t make loans below $25,000. So for a small business, there are really no sources of the kind of loans that they need to grow. But there are a lot of small businesses that can do a lot with a $5,000 or $10,000 loan, or even a $2,000 loan. We’re working to help in this area by providing the tools and support that small to mid-sized companies need for job creation. Businesses use the loaned money to grow and create jobs, and ultimately pay it back so we can lend that money again.

I wish I knew of this type of program when I started out, it would have made life a lot easier. Both, access to capital and access to coaching and counseling are invaluable to small businesses. They don’t just need capital, they also need expertise.

What impact has the program had on your business?
This program isn’t intended to impact our bottom line. I believe that it’s every company’s responsibility to give back. Brewing the American Dream is our way of giving back, but it’s also something that we believe in and have passion for.

One of the great things about Brewing the American Dream is how it draws in our employees. They love coming to the coaching sessions and mentoring businesses on topics ranging from procurement, to marketing, to finance, and brewing. We’re all invested in helping small businesses succeed. It’s a hands-on approach for us, more meaningful to our employees and to me than just writing a check.

How has the program impacted your life personally?
My job can be pretty absorbing, and it’s been really delightful to meet so many inspirational people who are eager to set out on a path of business ownership. It’s fun and rewarding, and if these are some of the people who are going to be the engine of small business in the future, it bodes well for the American economy.

What reaction and impact has the program received from communities?
Through our partnership with ACCION USA, we’ve been able to launch the program in multiple cities across the U.S. We’ve received a warm welcome from up-and-coming entrepreneurs in each of the communities in which we are active.

One entrepreneur that sticks out in my mind, and who is very close to home, is a woman named Linda. Linda works here in Boston and she’s the owner of the Boston Pretzel Bakery in Faneuil Hall. Recently, an ACCION loan officer named Elizabeth, shared the story of Linda taking the time to walk her around the Marketplace. While there, Linda introduced Elizabeth to other entrepreneurs and told them about Brewing the American Dream. Linda went up to each person saying, “You know how I told you about the loan I got from Samuel Adams and ACCION?  I think this is something that could help you.  This program is meant to help us little guys!” In retelling the story, it was clear that everyone there, and I mean EVERYONE, knew about Linda’s loan.

Our team is proud of how we are fostering a community of entrepreneurs and proud to be a part of a program that not only provides access to needed capital, but is also part of something special and unique.

What is the most meaningful story you’ve heard along the way?
Over the years we’ve helped coffee roasters, caterers, barbecue stands, pastry chefs, you name it. One story that stands out in particular is Lucy Valena, an extremely passionate coffee brewer who opened her own café in Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Lucy previously worked at a local café and before that as a barista in San Francisco. She saw a unique opportunity to amplify the “coffee culture” on the East Coast, as she felt that even the high-end coffee chains were failing to do two things: 1. Deliver really high quality coffee and 2. Create a community around the love of the bean.

Lucy launched a high-end coffee catering company with the idea of providing coffee for special events, dinner parties for coffee aficionados, and businesses that serve clientele who appreciate better coffee, like art galleries. Her loan from the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream program went to pay for equipment such as commercial coffee grinders, an espresso machine, etc.  Almost two years later, Lucy opened her own café.

Entrepreneurs are essentially artists of their craft. Lucy’s challenge was to stop thinking solely like an artist and start adding in the business mindset. Once she folded these two thoughts together she was able to expand and grow her business and still pursue her passion. In fact, since she’s been with the program she’s voiced to us that she believes the training and technical support we’ve offered were invaluable in changing the way she thinks when it comes to her business.

Has the program impacted Samuel Adams as a company, and if so, how?
This program allows us to speak directly to small business owners and passionate up-and-coming brewers in a direct way that is helpful and impactful to them. It’s a program we value as a company. We help other small businesses keeps our company in the mindset of a start-up and close to our entrepreneurial roots.

What would you say to other CEOs to encourage them to do the same in their business category?
I would say that writing a check is the easiest way to “give back,” but it’s a momentary act, sign the check and it’s over. I urge CEOs to find ways to do good on an ongoing basis and involve employees and others.

I remember when I started Sam Adams, it was very lonely. I wished I had known someone who had “been there and done that” and could give me basic advice. I would loved to have had skilled people give me guidance about things that I didn’t know about, like what the label should look like or how to do payroll, or even how to get the word out. Through Brewing the American Dream, the entire company is involved and invested. With our Speed Coaching sessions, we bring people in from all around the Boston Beer Co., from finance, to sales, to the person who buys our ingredients.

In addition to helping small businesses, the program has in turn helped us. Being able to give back makes the Boston Beer employees, or team, feel good. Having done a lot of these coaching sessions, I can tell you that the entrepreneurs are very energizing to be around. The program helps everyone at Boston Beer stay close to our entrepreneurial roots.

This program has been immensely successful, in that we’ve helped other small businesses in our community, and beyond, while also boosting our own team morale. I think that working within a similar program, or developing something new that works for your business, is a win-win for everyone involved. That would be my best philanthropic advice.

How effective do you think microfinance is for business in the U.S.?
Well first and foremost, I’m a brewer, not a finance expert, but I do know that I wish programs like this had been available to me when I launched Samuel Adams in the mid-‘80s. Microfinance empowers individuals, and through them, the communities in which they live and work.

That said, I also think that access to capital is not the only requirement for success. Micro-entrepreneurs often lack formal business training, access to experienced mentors, and the networking resources that help make their more advantaged counterparts succeed. That’s why we also look to methods like the Brewing the American Dream Speed Coaching sessions.

Where do you think we are heading with microfinance in this country?
To me, microfinance is most often recognized as a means for helping small business owners in developing countries move out of poverty. I’m happy to see that microloans have also become widely recognized as an important financial resource in the United States, and I think (and hope) that trend will continue.  I know we’ve seen great results firsthand through our program.

IS YOUR ENEMY ON THE INSIDE?

Get on a Southwest flight to anywhere, buy shoes from Zappos.com, pants from Nordstom, groceries from Whole Foods, anything from Costco, a Starbucks espresso, or a Double-Double from In N’ Out and you’ll get a taste of these brands’ alive and vibrant cultures.

Culture is a balanced blend of human psychology, attitudes, actions and beliefs that are blended together for either pleasure or pain, serious momentum or miserable stagnation. A strong culture flourishes with a clear set of values and norms that actively affect and guide the way a company operates. Employees are actively and passionately engaged in the business, operating from a sense of confidence and empowerment rather than navigating their days through miserably extensive procedures and mind-numbing bureaucracy. Performance-oriented cultures possess statistically better financial growth, with high employee involvement, strong internal communication and an acceptance of a healthy level of risk-taking in order to achieve new levels of innovation.

Misunderstood and mismanaged
Culture, like brand, is misunderstood and often discounted as a touchy-feely component of business that belongs to HR. It’s not intangible or fluffy, it’s not a vibe or the office décor. It’s one of the most important drivers that has to be set or adjusted to push long-term, sustainable success. It’s not good enough just to have an amazing product and a healthy bank balance. Long-term success is dependent on a culture that is nurtured and alive. Culture is the environment in which your strategy and your brand thrives or dies a slow death.

Think about it like a nurturing habitat for success. Culture cannot be manufactured. It has to be genuinely nurtured by everyone from the CEO, down. Ignoring the health of your culture is like letting aquarium water get dirty.

If there’s any doubt about the value of investing time in culture, there are significant benefits that come from a vibrant and alive culture:

• Focus: Aligns the entire company towards achieving its vision, mission, and goals.
• Motivation: Builds higher employee motivation and loyalty.
• Connection: Builds team cohesiveness among the company’s various departments and divisions.
• Cohesion: Builds consistency and encourages coordination and control within the company.
• Spirit: Shapes employee behavior at work, enabling the organization to be more efficient and alive.

Mission accomplished
Think about the Marines: the few, the proud. They have a connected community that is second to none, and it comes from the early indoctrination of every member of the Corps and the clear communication of their purpose and value system. It is completely clear that they are privileged to be joining an elite community who are committed to improvising, adapting and overcoming in the face of any adversity. The culture is so strong that it glues the community together and engenders a sense of pride that makes them unparalleled. The culture is what each Marine relies on in battle and in preparation. It is an amazing example of a living culture that drives pride and performance. It is important to step back and ask whether the purpose of your organization is clear and whether you have a compelling value system that is easy to understand. Mobilizing and energizing a culture is predicated on the organization clearly understanding the vision, mission, values and goals. It’s leadership’s responsibility to involve the entire organization, informing and inspiring them to live out the purpose the organization in the construct of the values.

Vibrant and healthy
Do you run into your culture every day? Does it inspire you or smack you in the face and get in your way, slowing and wearing you down? Is it overpowering or does it inspire you to overcome challenges? It’s important to understand what is driving your culture. Is it power and ego that people react to, and try to gain power, or a culture of encouragement and empowerment? Is it driven from top down directives, or cross-department collaboration? To get a taste of your culture, all you have to do is sit in an executive meeting, the cafe or the lunch room, listen to the conversations, look at the way decisions are made and the way departments cooperate. Take time out and get a good read on the health of your culture.

Culture fuels brand
A vibrant culture provides a cooperative and collaborative environment for a brand to thrive in. Your brand is the single most important asset to differentiate you consistently over time, and it needs to be nurtured, evolved and invigorated by the people entrusted to keep it true and alive. Without a functional and relevant culture, the money invested in research and development, product differentiation, marketing, and human resources is never maximized and often wasted because it’s not fueled by a sustaining and functional culture.

Look at Zappos, one of the fastest companies to reach $1 billion in recent years, fueled by an electric and eclectic culture, one that’s inclusionary, encouraging, and empowering. It’s well-documented, celebrated and shared willingly with anyone who wants to learn from it. Compare that to American Apparel, the controversial and prolific fashion retailer with a well-documented and highly dysfunctional culture. Zappos is thriving and on its way to $2 billion, while American Apparel is in bankruptcy and controversy. Both companies are living out their missions, one is to provide happiness and the other is self-centered perversity. Authenticity and values always win.

A CONVERSATION WITH CATHERINE GREENER

Successful entrepreneurs often question societal norms, push for innovative solutions and take risks that others wouldn’t dare. Using both their imagination and determination these people uncover new ideas and new solutions. There’s an ever-increasing number of entrepreneurs who are focused on helping to solve social problems and are motivated by a brighter, more sustainable future. I’m fascinated by their ingenuity and relentless passion for change. Catherine Greener, international sustainability consultant and change-agent fits into all of these categories. In a recent conversation with Catherine, she shared her motivation for her philanthropic efforts with me, and it struck me that you never know where your next motivation will come from.

Last week I had the chance to play on the beach of Miami during my layover between the Dominican Republic and Denver. Passionately removing my flip-flops as quickly as possible to make my way to the waves crashing ashore. Looking up at the sun, I felt something dancing around my foot, I smiled and assumed it was a small fish. Surprisingly it was no fish, it was a small plastic spoon. This moment motivated me to take action.

Our oceans are filling up with plastic—all kinds of it. I do my part as a sustainability consultant to remind people every day that every piece of plastic that ever was/ and is—that is unless it made it to a waste-to-energy incinerator—are turning our oceans into plastic soup. Our oceans have very large garbage patches floating in them, the largest is now greater than the size of Texas. High concentrations of all types of plastic fill the ocean—everyday items like shopping bags, water bottles, packaging, and even toys. If it’s made of plastic, it’s in our ocean.

Our actions have consequences. Over 44% of all seabirds eat some form of plastic, because they think it’s food. And why shouldn’t they? They have evolved thinking that the colorful floating material is a yummy sashimi snack, not a cigarette lighter, or a plastic spoon. Which means plastic is getting into our food chain, which means it is getting back into us.

Our consumption has consequences. Good and bad. We need to maximize the good and eliminate the bad. And I have incredible optimism and hope for human goodwill and the ability to change when we want to.

Our disposal culture must come to an end. I don’t know about you, but I want to collect seashells on the beach, not bottle caps. As our disposal culture comes to an end, it is inspiring new markets, new innovations, new sustainable consumer behavior, and inevitably a more sustainable future. The new sustainable consumption era can begin with a single spoon. Small, simple steps go a long way. When you are shopping look for biodegradable and/or more sustainable options. Ditch plastic water bottles and opt for a stainless steel or glass container. And when you, your family, or your friends are eating out, start a trend, be cool, and bring your own utensils.

I’m fascinated by the different types of people I meet in the business world and the way that their personalities show up in what they do. I’m drawn to people who have a quiet inner confidence that is expressed in their interactions and their output. I am comforted by their sense of self. They know who they are and they operate with a kindness of spirit that makes shared time and conversation pleasant. They exude confident energy to everyone they come into contact with.

Matthew Larson is the Chief of Product Design for Matuse, one of the surf industry’s most exciting new brands that designs incredible, high-end wetsuits. Matt is a soft-spoken, kind-spirited design thinker who is passionate about surfing and technology. Through the following ten ideas, you’ll learn how Matt has combined his love for surfing and design while building a company he loves.

1. PAY ATTENTION, YOUR NEXT MOVE MIGHT BE ON THE END OF YOUR NOSE
As the Chief of Product Design at Matuse, Matt Larson still works at the iconic surf shop, Mitch’s in La Jolla. Matuse was born, like many world-class brands, by observing and understanding consumer needs and circumstance. Over time, Matt noticed a trend. Customers wanted more from their products and wanted to be educated about what they were purchasing. The average surfer was becoming increasingly demanding about technology. When customers walked into the store for a new wetsuit, they were bombarded with fanciful neologisms that tried to create excitement for the product. What they didn’t get was the science behind the wetsuit—what’s on the inside, what’s keeping them warm, what exactly is that $450 dollar suit? This is where Matuse was born.

Working at Mitch’s is an invaluable asset for Matuse and for Matt as the line of products is sold at both Mitch’s locations. Working on the floor, Matt is the eyes and ears of Matuse and understands what the customers are saying, thinking and experiencing with his products. Being immersed in the retail environment is a free education if you take the time to observe and listen to what people want. All of the information to create solutions is right in front of him.

Matt’s personal inspiration for starting Matuse was to make a difference, to contribute and to leave a mark to improve the industry in which he was raised. He told me he wants people to get as excited as he does about the ocean and the science and passion that goes into Matuse’s products.

2. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH SMART PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT SKILLS
Matuse was founded by three partners – John Vincent Campbell, CEO, John’s father and Matuse Chairman, John B. Campbell, and Matthew, Chief of Product Design.

Matt met John at Mitch’s. John, who came from the advertising industry, was working on a textile project and had a material he was interested in selling to the surf industry. John was looking for anyone who might know something about wetsuits. That’s when they first met and the magic happened. Matuse’s genesis is special for Matt and he says that there are people in your life you meet for a reason.

3. TAKE TIME TO DESIGN YOUR BUSINESS
Matt and John met many times to talk about philosophy, art, design, culture and affinities they had for other great companies. Over this time they thoughtfully created the foundations for Matuse. They created a brand pyramid, which helped them to delve deeper into their concept of a company with human traits. They took time to think, create, plan and build a company that the surf industry had never seen before.

4. LET THE CHALLENGES OF BUSINESS BOND YOU
Matt loves what he does and believes that when you start a business you need to have that passion to get through all of the long hours and stress. At the end of the day, loving what you do is essential. His business partner is now one of his closest friends and he describes the people he works with at Matuse as family. They hustle and sweat the details together and, in doing so, have become incredibly close.

5. STICK WITH IT. THERE’S ALWAYS A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.
Matuse’s biggest challenge was starting a company focused on an unapologetically high-end market in a down economy. Matuse delivered its first products late summer of 2006—shortly after that the economy started its nosedive. That aside, the team at Matuse has worked intelligently and looked for the best retail partners to help deliver their message and be their ambassadors of “ichiban” (Japanese for “number one; the best”). They had to dig deep and stay focused, and are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Their product line, which started with three pieces, is now close to forty. I predict that Matuse will grow into one of surf’s most admired and successful brands in the years to come.

6. BEAT TO A DIFFERENT DRUM
Matuse has developed the crème de la crème of limestone rubber with the Yamamoto Corporation from Osaka, Japan. They call it “Geoprene”, a titanium-coated, limestone-based rubber that is not only functionally superior (it’s warmer, lighter, dries faster and lasts longer), but it’s also more sustainable and kinder to Mother Nature. Matuse’s limestone Geoprene is 98% water impermeable compared to that of petroleum-based rubber, which is only 65%.

Matt never refers to the company as “Matuse Wetsuits”. Instead, he’d prefer Matuse to be thought of as a way of thinking for people who want the best and are passionate about quality products. When people look at the Matuse logo, Matt wants them to think of something that has been well thought-out and designed with intention. Their visual imagery is distinct and original. They purposefully avoid the surf ad cliché of having a picture of a surfer riding a wave with a logo at the bottom. Instead, they feature their products in environments that evoke interest, with surroundings that are sophisticated and compelling. Some of the past photo shoots have taken place in a Russian bath house, a highrise office on Wall Street, and many other unexpected locations. When you look at a Matuse ad you need to spend time dissecting what’s happening in the story.

7. YOUR BRAND IS A PLEDGE
Matuse’s definition of brand is that it’s a “pledge” of sorts; an undertaking by the company to produce an expectation. Everyone is innately conscious or unconscious of branding. Large brands elicit certain emotions, thoughts and memories from the consumer, and this drives their decision to purchase or not purchase. While brand identity and advertising campaigns are visually important (especially in an industry like surfing which is built off of imagery and emotion), they’re only effective if the brand can reinforce the original pledge. The pledge is a company’s expectation for something to perform the way it should, to look a particular way, and to deliver on the trust a consumer invests. Matt believes companies don’t become brands overnight, it takes years of delivering on the pledge.

8. POWERFULLY EXPRESS YOUR VALUES
While some companies have mission statements or values and beliefs in a book, it didn’t surprise me to learn that Matuse’s values are summed up in the Matuse poem:

Confident but humble
Savvy yet spiritual
Matuse represents an ongoing path to achieving the synergy of art + function
Nature and industry
Passion with method
The mission is to deliver Premium (the ichiban) game that’s focused on the next level.
Leader of innovation.
Follower of compassion
Our logo is an ancient Taoist symbol;

It signifies “Heaven and Earth”
Three solid lines for Heaven
Three broken lines for Earth.
Creativity connecting
Art and function
Concept to completion

We are Matuse.

9. USE EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER BEEN TAUGHT
Matt believes every job you have as you grow through life goes with you to the next project, whether it’s school, work, or creating art. Matt’s prior experiences have helped him develop better interpersonal skills, organizational tools and also improved his multi-tasking abilities. Matt will tell you all his skills are in constant growth mode and he’s an expert of none of them. He knows that to grow as a designer, he needs to avoid getting trapped by the idea that he knows anything in its entirety.

10. STAY CURIOUS AND YOU’LL STAY YOUNG FOREVER
At a young age, Matt’s grandmother told him, “If you stay curious, you will stay young forever.” Grandma Aparico had amazing energy and fought cancer for more than 20 years with a smile on her face. When Matt found himself bored, she told him, “We perceive things not as they are, but as we are.”  To Matt this meant there’s plenty to do and that he was the one who needed to get it done. Matt listened, and today he’s constantly investigating the world around him, looking for inspiration from Mother Nature and other stimuli found outside his front door.

Kids have an insatiable appetite for knowledge and an unapologetic curiosity for all things new and misunderstood. When they don’t know the answer they actively seek the truth. They have a natural humility without posturing, pretense, or ego wrapped up in their questions; they fill up their knowledge bank by being open. Whenever I’m in the car with my 6 year-old daughter, she bombards me with, “Why this Daddy, why that Daddy?” and if she doesn’t understand how or why something works, from the simple to the complex, she has no hesitation asking. It’s amazing how the power of asking “Why?” and the conversation that follows always leads to a deeper discussion around the subject.

Don’t be a know-it-all

Young children are like sponges, full of optimistic curiosity that fuels their confidence to be creative. But as they get older, they lose that magical openness, and for many, the door to creativity closes very early. It starts in elementary school when the need to fit in comes from peers and parents, to get the grades and tick the boxes. Taking risks and asking why becomes less important than knowing the answer and conforming. In a world where ticking boxes is rewarded, we’re not encouraging people to come to work with that passionate childlike curiosity because it’s not encouraged in our education system.

Many corporate cultures program their employees to think that they have to have all of the answers. This leads to breeding know-it-alls who must have all the answers, and through position or posture create confusion, and waste time and valuable resources because they don’t really know what they’re talking about.

Wake up stupid

Many come to work ready to compete for attention and credit rather than to learn and be inspired by those who are more experienced. But kids wake up every morning with an open mind, living like a sponge for knowledge, approaching every project, every challenge or interaction with an “I know-nothing-teach-me” attitude. We can learn a lot from how kids operate. Go to work with an open mind and childlike curiosity that helps you see things that you’d otherwise be closed to. Embrace being the dumb one in the room; it opens the mind and leads to great conversations and fresh new ideas.

Why is a powerful learning tool 

Approach every situation and every business challenge with a learning mindset. Put “why” to work by challenging convention and existing solutions with questions that help you gain knowledge and understanding. Use the power of “why” in all aspects of your work (and in relationships for that matter) for clarity on the objectives, reason for a project, and observational learning around consumer behavior. If you don’t know or you don’t understand why your team or the company is going down a certain path, don’t sit there as an uninformed passenger, ask “why?”! Here are some things you might consider questioning this week:

1. Why not?
2. Why did you ask me to do this?
3. Why are we doing it like this?
4. Why are we talking about this?
5. Why don’t we think of a better way?
6. Why don’t we step back and ask for input?
7. Why didn’t I get the promotion?
8. Why do people love this?
9. Why should I care?
10. Why is no one listening to us?

ANOTHER PERSONS HUMANITY SHOULD NEVER BE DENIED 

I felt instantly compelled to share this graphic and disturbing story from an 19 year-old American college student, who is spending three months in the West Bank to study Arabic. This won’t be on CNN or in the New York Times.

On Friday morning, December 9th, my friend and I set out to experience a West Bank protest. It was a first for both of us, seeing as I have Arabic class every Friday, and he lives in Tel Aviv. As protest virgins, we had no idea what to expect. What did a confrontation look like? How do people protest? How would the soldiers react? I’d heard tales of people dodging tear gas canisters and running from bullets.

We ended up attending the protest in Nabi Saleh, coincidently on its two year anniversary date of weekly protests. The source of the conflict was the confiscation of much of the town’s land and its only water well due to the construction of the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Halamish. Furthermore, the IDF under the mandate to protect Israeli citizens (the occupants of the illegal settlements), makes frequent night raids, surprise home invasions where children are dragged from their beds for interrogation, documentation, and sometimes detention.

Every Friday the townspeople and activists gather and attempt to march to the stolen water well, but as I was to experience, rarely make it out of their village.

After noontime prayers the protest began. We walked down the main road and towards the highway leading to the well. We didn’t get far. Shortly after rounding a bend, we found the IDF waiting for us. I was a little surprised to see the soldiers so early in our march, still within the town precinct and still quite a distance from the well. Obviously intent on stopping our forward progress, the army commenced a volley of tear gas canisters and rubber bullets. In response, some of the local kids and youth began returning the military crowd retardants with stones along the road.

The inequality of their fight struck me. It was David vs. Goliath, inaccurate slingshots vs. scoped rifles firing lead-cored rubber bullets, taunts and jeering vs. concussion grenades and tear gas, and teens in t-shirts vs. soldiers in body armor. My image of myself as fearless faded as I watched little girls lightly skip out of the way of concussion grenades, and boys compete over who threw the tear gas canisters up wind. To me, this was the next world war. For them, this was a regular day off from school.

What seemed like a game, became deadly serious when a young man at the protest, Mustafa Tamimi, was shot in the face by a high velocity tear gas canister from very close range (approx. 8-10 meters). The ambulance that had been at the ready for the protest earlier was already in use. Fellow protesters lifted Mustafa’s limp body into a passenger van.

Like our protest march, the van holding Mustafa didn’t make it very far. For some reason, the soldiers felt it appropriate to detain the vehicle at the edge of town. I watched and waited with tears in my eyes for the van to whisk Mustafa to a place that could attend to his grievous wounds. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. 15 minutes. I watched as his family and women in the village ran wailing and screaming towards the soldiers begging them to let him go. More time passed. Finally, an Israeli ambulance shuttled Mustafa Tamimi to the hospital.

A Palestinian aid giver on her way back from having been with Mustafa, walked straight up to the soldiers and began to vent.

“You killed an innocent man today! Do you even care? You’re animals, that’s all you are! You don’t have souls! You’re just doing what Hitler did to you, you Nazis!” There was more said, but I can’t remember their exact words.

I felt her anger. As she spoke my sadness only deepened. Like the aid worker, I too wanted more than anything to see the soldiers show a sign of remorse—to feel the gravity of their actions, acknowledge the pain they were responsible for. However, in the face of screamed accusations, I realized that their chance for understanding was going the way of their diminished humanity.

Yesterday I learned that Mustafa Tamimi died in the hospital. Seeing that the Israeli media spin has commenced with a vengeance, it is questionable whether there will be justice for what I experienced. This doesn’t change the facts:

Men shouldn’t die while walking to their own water well

Children shouldn’t become accustomed to tear gas and rubber bullets in their backyards

Soldiers shouldn’t be ordered to protect stolen property

Another’s humanity should never be denied

Refuse to be enemies

—Andrew Haas