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It is graduation time in America – first college and then high school. In an age where it is all too common to tell grads that they can do whatever they set out to do, and other “sweet nothings”, Bill Gates recently tweeted some no-nonsense advice to new graduates (May, 15 on his Twitter page: …
Bill Gates’ advice to graduates: 3 fields and 3 important things Read More »
This week I received an update phone call from the Director of IBEC, Robert Bush. Among the various topics, he made reference to a conversation he had with a “friendly competitor”. I knew the individual and considered him certainly friendly, but I had not given the notion of competition much thought. As I reflected on …
Because of my penchant for hiking I was intrigued to read recently about the hiking couple who spent 47 days stranded in a canyon in the Himalayas. The 20-year old Taiwanese man was rescued, surviving on salt and water after his food ran out 5 weeks earlier; he had lost 66 pounds. However, his unfortunate …
Business as Mission (BAM) narratives oftentimes focus on the founder or the entrepreneur credited with the initial startup leadership; and rightly so; but sometimes the real reason for success may rest with the #2 or #3 person. Sometimes key success factors can be traced to the “second in command”. Since graduating with a business degree …
May 1 is considered Labor Day in most every country in the world. With its roots in the labor movement in the late 19th Century, the day commemorates the world’s workers with celebration and holiday. While it certainly is important to celebrate the historic gains made by the world’s workers as well as the more …
May 1: International Workers’ Day – or International Customers’ Day? Read More »
I just spent a week with several business owners and humanitarian workers who work in a high risk country. 1 I marveled at their commitment, perseverance, competence and productivity in their chosen calling. Many were business people while others university professors and medical professionals. 1. Pray and Trust. One veterinarian stated it this way. “We are …
5 tips for long term survival and success in high risk countries Read More »
The other day I was on my walk in Magnuson Park near our place in Seattle. The park has sizable wetlands and I have been enjoying seeing various kinds of ducks and geese in typical spring activities. There are ducks such as Buffleheads, Scaups, Grebes, Coots, Wigeons, Goldeneyes, and Mallards. And there is the Canada …
Patrick Lencioni’s 3 essential virtues of a team player Read More »
The National Retail Federation estimates that $17.3 Billion will be spent in the US on Easter this year and $2.3 Billion of that will be on candy, mostly chocolate. Overall chocolate sales increased 24% in the 5-year period 2009-2014. Yes, candy is big in America and chocolate is big. And chocolate reigns supreme at Easter …
Social enterprise, Cadbury chocolate Easter eggs and followers of Jesus Read More »
A disruptive innovation is an innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market leading firms, products and alliances. The term was defined and phenomenon analyzed by Clayton M. Christensen beginning in 1995.1 As a reminder, Business as Mission (BAM) at its core …
If you have been following our weekly blogs over the past month, you have seen an overview of our new IBEC Ventures website and learned about our Clients, our Team and our Approach. The last section we would like to draw your attention to is the BAM Videos Library featuring some of the leading Business …