Sue Lebeck's Blog Posts Tagged 'people-values' (27)

InnovatingSMART has sent me on a journey. From high-performance materials and…

At this morning’s EPA webinar (part of a dynamite series by EPA's West Coast Climate and Materials Management Forum), Annie Leonard shared what she has learned on her journey…

My husband and I are active participants in the now-familiar data-informed “sharing economy”-- a collection of cloud-based networks matching temporarily available assets with the people who need them now.  Avid AirBnB hosts, my former home office frequently holds vacationers and future San Franciscans as they discover The City.  ZipCar members now too, we let go of our rarely needed second car (a sexy 300ZX) with…

Upcycling is a creative business practice with the power to literally transform our material world.  Adam Wegener and Scott Hamlin are the creators of two young businesses which are applying upcycling principles to innovate the very way they approach product innovation. Adam is out to inspire a generation of future upcyclers, while Scott is out to change the way the apparel supply chain is materially sourced. The “waste” materials they are…

Sustainability is, at last, becoming deeply embedded into business decision-making and practice.   "Mo'Data" is my translation of the mantra I heard from business leaders last month, as they described what is needed most to get this job done. From KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to EPDs (Environmental Product Declarations) to LCAs (Life Cycle Assessments), "Mo'Data" is the focus of…

As GreenBiz unveils its State of Green Biz 2013 report this week, risk and resilience emerge as new touch-words for sustainability.  The implications for business will be further explored at the …

"It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!"  Such was my personal soundtrack during a road-trip move across the country with my family in 1989.  And such is an appropriate soundtrack as we begin this next cycle of the Mayan long-count calendar.

New worlds and new times invite -- nay, demand -- change.  We've often offered…

As the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I am grateful for the technology ingenuity that is busy at work, helping us break down the man-made walls separating us from our own smarter future. 

One great way to thank our technology innovators is to join them on their “Hero’s Journey”. This is the raison d'être of the Clean Tech Open, the world-class mentorship program for the clean tech…

Ah, summertime!  A vacation to Tuscany, a visit from my daughter, a publishing break – such are the spaces that allow creativity to thrive.   And yet, we close our summer breaks fittingly with a celebration of Labor and the generative fruits of our work – which often have their genesis in the creative spaces of summer.  We highlight two such initiatives today.

The first creative initiative comes from the always-generative…

Trust is at the core of what I care about.

Trust is the sustainable-design-quality behind the "T" in "SMART" innovation.  Trust is also at the center of our work at StarNet, where we create conditions for leaders across an industry to come together to lift their shared…

Whether we feel we are experiencing too much change or not yet enough, change IS the massively multiplayer adventure game on the table these days. And the game is much more fun if we are prepared!

 

Admired colleagues are serving up some great preparations for change-makers this month, and you will want to get your share. Marianna Grossman’s Sustainable Silicon Valley WEST - Climate Change and Resiliency…

Last year at one of the many sustainability-focused conversations I joined, a wise woman in the audience expressed well the conundrum we are living.   Despite our talk and activity around sustainable practice, our current cultural narratives of consumption and narrow measures of success are working against us.  We have no narrative for creating a world with regenerativity and sustainability at its core.  Without a new story, we are well-intended players trapped in an out-of-date…

What a difference a year makes.  While last year’s SuperBowl ads optimistically touted the latest in “green” cars, this year’s most-talked-about SuperBowl ad called the alarm on our current social crisis.  Yes, Clint Eastwood’s “It’s Half-time in America” pep-talk…

In the after-glow of holiday magic, we are reminded of our power - and responsibility - to create magic in the world.  Suspending disbelief, we stretch our imaginations and, at least for a time, expand our view of what is possible. 

Recently, my colleagues and I answered an invitation to consider how to expand our collective view of what is possible in the field of commercial space.  In responding to DARPA’s One…

As many of you know, my mid-life crisis came early.  After fifteen years in the networking industry commercializing and connecting people to the Internet,  I stepped back in the mid-90’s to look at the people we were connecting and, well, people in general.  For several years, I directed my creative energy to parenting, studying psychology and seeking the meaning of life (or at least the meaning of mine).  I did not find the meaning of life, but I did learn how we create meaning for life. …

Today's perspective comes from guest blogger Alyson Greenlee, a newly-minted twenty-something MBA who immediately impressed me.   I enjoy Alyson's thinking, so I asked her if I could share one of her thoughtful and provocative questions here.  Enjoy! -- Sue

A story in today’s New York Times caused quite a stir.  The headline: “A Blow to PinStripe Aspirations”, a.k.a. "Wall Street Layoffs Take Heavy Toll on Younger Workers".   Have a quick read, and then check out the passionate reaction it elicited.   The word “schadenfreude” was used several times to describe what was unfolding.  (Schadenfreud is not a word in my vocabulary,…

Our readers know that Alvin Toffler invented the word, but I might be the first person to "verb" it.  From our friends at Wikipedia:

The term [Prosumer] has ... taken on multiple meanings in business and economics: the business sector sees the prosumer (professional–consumer) as a market segment, whereas economists see the prosumer…

News from our friends at B-Lab -- Woohoo!

Check out also our new Video addition to the B-Labs innovation story!…

Like many, I have become discouraged, even angry, in the wake of Silicon Valley solar manufacturer Solyndra's filing for bankruptcy. 



Unlike many others in the blogosphere, I am not angry with the government loan guarantee program for backing Solyndra.  I am not even angry with…