Children are born powerless

In the journey from infant to adult the brain of a child is transformed by experiences. Some are accidental, some intentional. Parents are the original teachers; siblings and environment too. But schools play a critical role. 

The interplay of formal curriculum and the development of a child’s sense of self is the subject of research at Harvard’s Agency by Design Project. Agency is a measure of how ‘in control’ of their lives youth feel. I believe it is related to hope (what will happen in the future) and power (what can I do about it now.)

I’ve thought a lot about what motivates human behavior and concluded that one of the principal motivators is power. The accumulation and exercise of power, whether by children, adults, leaders or countries, is unarguably a factor in personal and social evolution.

Children are born powerless. From birth they set upon a course to accumulate it. How do they do that? I believe evolution has bestowed on some the advantages of strength, intelligence, beauty and health. Their families confer others like sustenance, safety, love and legacy. And the aim of society is to distribute power through education. The degree to which society succeeds or fails at this aim is the subject of great debate.

One measure of power is agency, otherwise known as self-efficacy. Unfortunately, I see lots of kids that lack this fundamental capacity. It exhibits as low self-esteem, incuriousness, low persistence and hopelessness.

Think about the consequences of powerlessness: kids who don’t think they are good enough, that tomorrow won't be better than today, that the world is a scary place and they are vulnerable. Or worse: acting out, dropping out, drugging out.

I think schools that focus on the attainment of a standard (and more easily measurable) set of skills (too often clinging to those that were relevant a hundred years ago) fail to develop the uniquely human skills of curiosity, creativity and a love of learning. We need our education metrics to prioritize ‘robot proof’ talents like these. 

The ‘Carnegie units’ employed in the dispensation of learning is a perpetuation of an industrial model of school responding to the needs of an industrial revolution. It is no longer effective – or equitable – for a future where 65% of today’s students will be employed in jobs that don’t exist yet.

Today, we sort kids by their capacity to acquire knowledge based more on the rate of absorption than the rate of digestion. We measure their attainment by their memory skills more than what they understand. The system rewards ‘quickness’ and moves classes along like herds of cattle driven on a trail headed to market. Learners who can’t keep up or who would rather indulge their curiosity are branded as slow. (The analogy is apt.)

The pace of coverage and selection of subjects are rarely the choice of students. Current brain science shows that it is literally neurologically impossible to learn deeply about something you don’t care about. Ask kids if they care about what they are learning – not just what they learned about it. (Ask teachers if they are exhibiting enthusiasm for the curriculum in today’s test-focused classroom. Enthusiasm may be more important than competence in a subject to get kids to learn deeply.)

Which leads me to kids and power. Schools insist that learning will be rewarded in life after school. Will it? Calvin Coolidge famously said:

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Kids know this. They are stuck in school, being taught crap they don’t care about, at great effort and expense, for little or no perceived benefit. They are powerless. They see the smart kids earn extrinsic rewards for memorizing while their curiosity is being ignored. They conclude they are not-smart, disengage from the process and simply wait for it to end.

What if the goal of school was to indulge a student’s curiosity? What if the pace of learning was tuned to their interest? What if the rewards were intrinsic? That is what making things does effectively.

Making = Persistence + Problem Solving + Pride = Power

Making = Power

Power, and its proxy: Agency, are not given like school grades are given. They are the result of investment of effort over time, struggle, coping with frustration and failure, concluded finally with the experience of success. It is an intrinsic reward for proving something to oneself. Failure is simply feedback in this process. The desire for power overcomes the fear of failure and other hurdles which need to be overcome.

I believe that making something is almost always engaging and meaningful. It rarely happens on the timeline or under the conditions set by someone else. Along the way a teacher can facilitate learning, but the learning is a byproduct of making something not the objective. Adults may learn for some abstract benefit, but kids just focus on the thing they are making and learn despite the fun they are having. All learning should be fun.

We need to reintroduce making into the curriculum for all children. (Children were almost always exposed to making outside school when the economy was more closely tied to manufacturing and farming.) Making can mean a physical product or creating a system as it oftentimes does in project based learning. Students should be able to connect what they are learning in the classroom to relevance outside the classroom.

Making something yields authentic/intrinsic/personal rewards that give kids power over their lives. Kids need more of that, and for the sake of our society, we need more powerful kids.

My Last Rotary Invocation of the Year

Today at our Indianapolis Rotary Club weekly luncheon we had an election wrap-up. Republican and Democrat political consultants presented their opinions about what happened and why.

My invocation brought attention to the divisive climate of the election and challenged future candidates to observe the Rotary 4 Way Test.

United We Stand 

In the recent election, Americans demonstrated, in undeniable terms, just how polarized we have become as a society. We seem to be getting the best elections money can buy – at least from the perspective of advertisers.

Benjamin Franklin said: “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”  He was worried about the threat of retaliation from the British for the acts of Independence of the Colonies. I am worried about the driver who sees a Trump or Bernie sticker and sees red on the highway.  I’m worried about my neighbor not helping me blow my leaves or shovel my snow because I put a Punam Gill sign in my yard.

Where will this end?

Ben Sasse, Republican Senator of Nebraska, wrote a book called ‘Them’ which attempts to explain how we got here and how to heal. He was attacked by members of his own party! The press have been called Enemies of the People! Where we get our news and what we believe depends more on party affiliation now than the facts. Opinions have been weaponized.

And for that matter – how do you explain fact and fake to a fifth grader?

I was talking with a friend about this over the Thanksgiving holiday – at least most of us can still share dinner. (But it’s probably a good idea to avoid talking about anything in the news.)  He blames it on Facebook. I blame it on cable news. Maybe it’s Citizens United or the Russians? What seems obvious to me is that we have retreated from the public square. Today you can gorge yourself on a 24/7 diet of news curated to flame the fears of your prior beliefs and biases – fine tuned to your zip code.

And like with food, lacking variety in consumption leads to malnourishment.

That’s what makes what we are doing here today so important. Rotary is an abundant source of community in America. Something as simple as turning off the outside to share lunch with people we respect, as we share our views and try to understand those of others. Where we agree that Service above Self is a motto we can all agree on regardless of our politics.

These ladies will give us their expert opinion on what happened in the past election. But we need to tell the politicians enough is enough! We want them talk about each other like we do here are Rotary – govern their campaigns by the Four Way Test and, maybe this is asking too much – talk to us about their vision for Indiana and America, not just about the character flaws of their opponent.

Is that too much to ask?

We need more entrepreneurs

I've been reading: The Coming Jobs War by Gallup CEO Jim Clifton. It describes a dystopian future where America can't match the job creation success which brought power and prosperity to our nation.

The answer according to Clifton is 'make more entrepreneurs!' Only entrepreneurs employ people and small businesses are where they make more of them than anywhere else.

So I looked a little deeper into Clifton's solution and found out about Gallup's Builder Initiative and their Builder Profile, an assessment which can identify those youth or adults that have what it takes to be a builder - an entrepreneur. I suggested to economic development leaders that we should give this assessment to every high school senior! What a difference it would make if we could find/develop and support more entrepreneurs in Indiana who can create businesses and hire Hoosiers!



Here is a series of videos describing the 10 Builder Traits. And here are the talents.

• Confidence: People with Confidence accurately know themselves and understand others.
• Delegator: Delegators recognize that they cannot do everything and are willing to contemplate a shift in style and control.
• Determination: People with Determination persevere through difficult and seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
• Disruptor: Disruptors exhibit creativity in taking an existing idea or product and turning it into something better.
• Independence: People with Independence do whatever needs to be done to build a successful venture.
• Knowledge: People with Knowledge constantly search for information that is relevant to growing their business.
• Profitability: People with Profitability make decisions based on observed or anticipated effect on profit.
• Relationship: People with Relationship possess high social awareness and an ability to build relationships that are beneficial to their organization's survival and growth.
• Risk: People with Risk instinctively know how to manage high-risk situations and make decisions easily in complex scenarios.
• Selling: People with Selling are the best spokesperson for their business.

We need to do more to harvest the talent we have to win the coming jobs war for America!

Motivation

My first start-up out of college was as a franchisee for Success Motivation Institute, founded by Paul Myers. To this day I believe that attitude is more important than aptitude.

I wasn't a very good salesman and I wasn't successful in that business, but I've always been a student of motivation. My grandfather, Herb Schafer (whom I called Pob,) inspired me - despite his suffering from agoraphobia.

Here is a wonderfully motivational speech from the 2014 commencement of the graduating class of the University of Texas by Navy Seal Admiral William H. McRaven. I recommend that you watch it every day . . . 

Failure is essential for learning

School gives the wrong idea about the role of failure in learning. It's easy to understand why. An end of unit or course assessment results in a grade. That grade is a measure of 'success' and for most kids result in a number less than 100%. Indeed, sometimes the deck is stacked to skew the scores to produce a curve where students' performance is forced into buckets to validate the teacher's assumption that a distribution of talent exists. (Sal Kahn had a great video on TED: Let's teach for mastery - not test scores.)

My favorite video about the importance failure to learning was recorded by Jeri Ellsworth: Secret to Learning Electronics - Fail and Fail Often. It's not just about learning electronics, it's about learning.

I try to convince kids that failure is just feedback. Education experts from Dewey to Harvard conclude the same thing.

But if you ask a student (or about anyone) if they feel good about failing the answer would certainly be no.

We need to change the messaging about how learning happens - especially in school.

Another Rotary Invocation - 6/19/18

Frank Egan had a schedule conflict and asked me to present the Rotary invocation a few days before the meeting on 6/19/18.

I really didn't have as much time as I usually do to prepare. The Mayor of Indianapolis: Joe Hogsett, was going to give his annual 'State of the City' address so I knew the audience would be above average.

On the morning it was due I sat staring at a blank screen and wondered what to say. Then I remembered the 'Moment of Reflection' I gave on Primary Day on 2016 and the emphasis I placed on 'shared hope.' Not much has changed in that regard - it may be worse with our current president's new tax policy driving a bigger wedge between the prosperity of rich and poor Americans.

Here is what I said:

Shared Hope for Indianapolis

About two years ago I gave the invocation on Primary Day. Elections should be hope-filled events I asserted.

The Gallup Organization polls more than just political fortunes. Every year they survey over 700,000 American students to measure their level of hope. You won’t be surprised that the results of their 2017 poll aren’t good.

As with the past three years, Gallup reported that fewer than half of students are hopeful about their future. How do hopeless children embrace the challenges of a new economy? They don’t.
Hopeful students are nearly three times as likely to say they get good grades. That means the rest are stuck with average or poor grades – and worse low self esteem. What impact will that have on our employment pipeline for jobs that increasingly demand lifelong learning? Not good.

Two years ago I spoke from this podium:

More than losing our status in the world, more than ‘losing,’ more than the other party winning the White House, we should fear the loss of shared hope.  Shared hope is the binding that once tied our country together, forged a powerful nation and was the source of our prosperity.

What gives kids hope? What turns a student into a stakeholder?

SKILLS!

Everyone is this room has assets that tens of thousands of youth in our community lack: the skills to add value to a company, a cause or a community. It is a bargain that society makes with the next generation: bring us your skills and we will reward you with a seat at the table, a piece of the action, the right to expect to make a decent living for yourself and your family.

Mayor Hogsett is helping bend the curve of low expectations for thousands of these ‘Opportunity’ youth in Indianapolis. As Rotarians, our Service Above Self motto demands that we help him.

If you run a company plug into Project Indy and share job experiences. If you have skills, share them with Job Ready Indy, the new badging program developed by EmployIndy and the Indy Chamber. Or you can support Indy Achieves which aims to help kids into and through college or start a career with a high value credential.

In 2016 I asked you to be an actor not an audience member. Hope is a source of strength that is multiplied when shared.

Help fulfill one tenant of the Rotary International mission: the alleviation of poverty, by sharing your hope in the future of Indianapolis and the prosperity of its citizens.

IEDA Workforce Pipeline Workshop

I was asked by the Indiana Economic Development Association to present to their group on May 17 at their Workforce Pipeline and Talent Recruitment Workshop. The Keynote speaker will be Blair Milo, Indiana's Secretary of Career Connections and Talent. As usual, the organizer asked me to summarize what I would talk about.  Sometimes these summaries cause me to think hard (again) about what we are doing and why it's important. It's a good exercise I should undertake more frequently :) Here is what I wrote:

Today’s students rarely make anything tangible. As a result, tens of thousands of high wage manufacturing jobs go unfilled and our economy suffers. The state’s K12 curriculum emphasizes standards that many kids find irrelevant – and so do employers. Employers are looking for kids with creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration and problem solving skills; schools are graduating test takers. A makerspace is for every kid, every age, every ability, every ambition and every background. The most important outcome of a makerspace is not what kids make – it’s the self esteem and pride kids feel when they discover what they can make with their own two hands.

Ikigai - The intersection of career motivations

Received this from Angela Carr-Kitzsch, CEO of EmployIndy, in a nice bar, over beers. It's no wonder that the founding documents of America were probably deliberated above a tavern. Talking with Angie is like drinking from a firehose!

I'll let the graphic speak for itself. We spent some time discussing the importance of this Ikigai supra venn diagram. Very though provoking.

What drives human behavior?

This is from an email I sent to a friend last week. It encapsulates an idea I've been thinking about for a long time . . .

As I believe I have mentioned before to Bruce, in a bar in Portland, in 2014, on a Leadership Exchange trip hosted by the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, and having just returned from China and still a bit jet-lagged, I found myself with three smart people: David Forsell, CEO of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Bill Taft, Leader of LISC Indianapolis and Sherry Siewart, CEO of Downtown Indy.

Somehow we got on the subject of what motivates human behavior. I blurted our Sex, Power and Tribe. For me it was like Einstein's Magic Year, except I'm not that smart and it didn't take a year - it took about 5 minutes.

It has become the lens through which I see all human drama that surrounds me.  It's like I'm living in an experiment and events are results producing data I collect and analyze. I have yet to observe contra-indicating samples. In fact, the sexual harassment eruptions and the partisan politics of the past few weeks have allowed me to infer, with increasing certitude, that there is a hierarchy of those motivations. And it is:

1. Tribe
2. Power
3. Sex

I'd love to talk with you guys about this at some time. What convinced me that the order was as shown is that power differentials are used to instigate sex. Thus, sex is subject to the influence of power.

The tribal behavior of politicians, abandoning one tribal affinity: patriotism, for another more important one: party, (but which could also be religion) shows me that these guys would rather get elected than get laid or saved. But there are lots of examples where devotion to country (membership in a tribe) accounts for the seemingly irrational choice to make the ultimate sacrifice. Too bad that military service is optional in America (unlike Israel) and the experience of battle or at least the kind of bonding that even occurs in peacetime deployment, isn't a cultural foundation that every citizen (even women) understand.

All for now.  Your comment about how the GOP is rotting got me thinking. How could a political party rot? If you subscribe to this human motivation taxonomy you can understand why so much dysfunction can be the consequence of blind allegiance to tribe. It doesn't make sense because it doesn't need to.

Further the affiant sayeth not :)

Interview with MCCOY on #GivingTuesday

Thanks to @MCCOYOUTH for giving me the chance to write down some thoughts on the subject of Entrepreneurship and Youth empowerment. The hour passed in a minute. Pardon the typos and awkward phrases.

Question asked by Jacie
What inspired you to start 1st MakerSpace?
Answered  8:58 AM
We made hundreds of 3D printers and placed many of them in schools...watching the kids go nuts with creativity and enthusiasm for learning was the trigger. I thought: we have got to do this for every kid in every school.

Question asked by J
I know youth who are interested in going into teaching/education. How can I support them?
Answered  8:59 AM
There are lots of avenues. We work with University of Indianapolis and Marian College. I just googled Teach for America. Visit a school and ask a teacher. Most of the teachers I've met are passionate about teaching and can help you take the next step.

Question asked by Anonymous
I saw the word "thinkering" on your website. What does that mean?
Answered  9:01 AM
It started as a malapropism during a speech I was making at Marian. I liked it and made a note. I've since learned it's a 'thing' - there's a book by the same title I bought. What I think it means is to tinker while you're thinking. That interaction with your hands and brain is critical. It's what kids want to do and it inspire creative solutions to problems.

Question asked by John
What is the most exciting thing about encouraging youth to be “Makers”?
Answered  9:03 AM
EVERY KID HAS POTENTIAL. Watching kids make stuff, solve problems is cool. But the best part is watching them gain confidence that they can. In education they call it agency. If you have it you believe you can learn anything! Isn't that what we want EVERY HOOSIER KID TO HAVE?

Question asked by Jace
What is a makerspace?
Answered  9:05 AM
The first makerspace is between your ears...it's the power you have to believe you can solve any problem by tinkering, adjusting, designing, building, breaking or just simply undertstanding the world. It's the place where we put tables and tools and supplies and a community of makers who share what they know to make stuff that is relevant to their lives. Sometimes it's art, sometimes machine, sometimes for sale, but it's always something they can be proud of. That pride leads to all sorts of positive outcomes for students.

Question asked by Doug Miltenberger
What can Indianapolis and Indiana do to grow it's tech community?
Answered  9:07 AM
WOW - that's a big question. Here's a simple answer: help more kids believe they can be a part of it. Make it OK to fail - failure is feedback. Change 'education' into 'learning.' There's never been a better time in the history of our planet where enthusiasm for learning is more important yet seldom enjoyed.

Question asked by Anonymous
Would you say this community is a good place for kids academically? I want to make sure my kids are challenged academically and creatively.
Answered  9:10 AM
Engaged parents are the key. Follow your kids' interests with encouragement. Create networks of mentors, experiences and resources. Make sure the teachers want your child to learn as bad as you do. Teaching is hard and it is changing fast. Let your kids explore. And help them understand that learning is a lifelong pursuit and grades are only a single dimension of attainment. My two questions on the final exam are: do you like yourself and do you love to learn. That's all that's really important.

Question asked by Jace
Are there other makerspaces in our community?
Answered  9:17 AM
We operate spaces at Arsenal Tech and Shortridge for IPS students. I know of several being built in township schools at Decatur, Pike, Lawrence, North Central. We visited a space at Cathedral and I know Gary Pritts at Chatard has one in his Physics lab. One of the best is in Beech Grove - they focus on Agri-Engineering. Avon is building a new one. You can join Club Cyberia on the east side for $35/mo and have access to all their tools and training. Herron School of Art has the Think it Make It Lab. We've proposed makerspaces for Fishers IoT Lab and the Hamilton E Library. We're building a makerspace at Mt Vernon Community Schools now in Hancock County and Ninestar - the Hancock County Utility wants to transform their tech center into a makerspace! And we're helping the new Newfields Museum (at the IMA) build one soon.

Question asked by Anonymous
Does 1st Maker Space have any summer or afterschool programs? What are they like? What age group do you usually work with?
Answered  9:19 AM
We turned over the job of producing summer programs to the Maker Youth Foundation last Spring so we could focus on designing/building and sustaining makerspaces in schools and libraries. Check with MakerYouth.org after the holidays to see what their schedule is. Bethany Thomas , their Exec Dir is a genius at programming STEM activities. She's served over 1000 kids since she's worked there and I have no doubt she'll be helping kids have a passion for learning next summer too.

Question asked by Anonymous
What is the worst business advice/guidance you ever received?
Answered  9:23 AM
OH WOW! I've probably moved on (suppressed the memory) :) I can only think of my own bad decisions (too many to count) and missed opportunities. I'm sitting hear scratching my head... Let me think about it...email me: kim@kimbrand.com if you want a follow up.

Question asked by John Brandon
What suggestions would you give to a budding entrepreneur about what to expect?
Answered  9:27 AM
OH WOW! As John Wechsler (@Wechsler) would say: STRAP ON! Entrepreneurship is not for sissies. If you are married, make sure your spouse is on board. It's not easy and they are along for the ride whether they want to be or not. Get a group of other entrepreneur friends you trust and meet with them regularly. Remember your business is not your child. Fail fast. Read. Keep whatever you are writing or saying very short. I update wiki.kimbrand.com from time to time with lots of info...

Question asked by Anonymous
How young were you when you decided to be an entrepreneur? I am not sure the kids I'm around know what that is, or that it's an option for them later in life!
Answered  9:32 AM
I started my first business right after I started working for my first employer after graduating from college. It was a motivation education franchise. I never did very well. Then I invented an electronic backgammon game that beat the world champion - but never made any money. Entrepreneurship is a big word. Just keep it simple: starting a business from scratch and making money and/or a difference. It's not for everybody. You need to be able to deal with rapid change, unpredictability, stress and problems you didn't know existed. You need to inspire a team and you are always SELLING.

Question asked by TMH
On the other hand, What is the best business advice/guidance you ever received?
Answered  9:35 AM
Too much good advice - and much of it I didn't follow. Keep a savings account - or marry someone who will. Pay attention to accounting - or pay someone who will. Cut all your income forecasts in half and stretch all your timelines by 3x. Here's one I can remember well: Cost of Sales will be much higher than you think...that was from Mark Hill of Baker Hill - an legendary Indianapolis entrepreneur.

Question asked by A
In case I missed it...What is 1st Maker Space, and how does it help students in the classroom?
Answered  9:39 AM
Kids want to make stuff. It's as much a part of their DNA as creativity. Neither of which are 'measured' by our current education system so it doesn't get taught. We want to change that. We think a makerspace belongs in every school. Like shop class 30 years ago but with modern tools like 3D printers and laser cutters . . . but just as importantly as hot glue guns, cardboard, straws and tape.) Once you see the engagement, focus, problem solving, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, inventing that kids are capable of you'd be amazed that more schools don't add making to their education toolbox (sorry for the pun :)

Question asked by Brandon
How do you "turn your brain off" so you are not always thinking about new and/or better ways to do things---or do you??
Answered  9:42 AM
I'm afraid that's not possible. I can try to redirect it - like figuring out why Christmas lights don't work :) But the maker mindset is a habit of thinking. You just look at the world through the lens of fixing/changing/adjusting/adapting. It comes from having that self-confidence that you CAN - SO YOU DO!

Question asked by John
What advice would you give to somebody who wants to be an entrepreneur and launch their idea?
Answered  9:45 AM
START NOW. Start small. Sell something (anything) to anyone. Listen to what they have to say about it. Take that feedback and improve what you are doing. Imaging growing that business. What will it take. How will it work. Who should be involved. How can you describe it better. Where are more customers. Ask them: WHY DID YOU BUY IT . . . or better yet: WHAT DID YOU BUY? Someone who buys insurance is buying peace of mind. A lady who buys eyelashes (I learned) is buying self confidence. Hang out with entrepreneurs. Expand your network. If you don't move or die you'll be growing your network every day. Do it on purpose. It will be the most valuable asset you have.

Question asked by Anonymous
If you could change one thing about the way we prepare youth for the world of work, what would it be?
Answered  9:48 AM
Breed self confidence into their education. If you have it you believe you can do anything. Without it you are worried you can't do anything. Lots of bad things happen when kids grow up hopeless and helpless. If kids graduate school thinking they are a C student - that 20%-30% of the other kids are smarter than they are that's the WRONG RESULT! We should put signs on schools that announce: WE'LL FIND OUT WHAT YOUR GOOD AT - not by testing you to death, but by helping you discovery what makes you happy. THEN - we can match them up with a career that meets their emotional needs as much as their financial ones.

Question asked by Jacie
Thanks for chatting with us today! Is there anything you'd like to add before the end of your chat?
Answered  9:51 AM
WOW! I feel like I've worked a whole day thinking so hard! If anyone wants to reach out after this I'd be happy to carry on off-line. This was like hanging out in the commons at a university and talking with friends (which I never did but thought would be cool! :) kim@kimbrand.com Thanks for helping McCoy do what they do! Money for them is an investment that pays better dividends than most of the businesses I've ever started! A SURE BET!

Success in the New Economy

I was invited to a community brainstorming session focused on MSD of Decatur Township's plans to build an Innovation Hub.  This session was centered on Computer Science.  Decatur Township has been one of our most energetic partners in our efforts to bring maker centered learning to schools everywhere.

During the presentation, Dr. Chris Duzenbery screened this video titled Success in the New Economy. It's about how colleges have been oversold and the opportunity for schools to ‘re-frame’ education for careers is overdue.

In a rare moment of insight I suggested that rather than inviting business owners and employees of companies that offer job opportunities and examples of careers to students - schools should 'flip' career days and invite parents to learn about the changing landscape of college and careers.  The group seemed to agree with me.  This video explains it well.  The 'freshness' date of college for everyone has expired.

America's First Female Millionaire

America's first female millionaire was a African-American, lived in Indianapolis, and should be better known than she is.

The good news is that she is getting some overdue credit for her accomplishments.  A 2014 story in TIME Magazine was recently mentioned on Reddit (which is where I found it mentioned.)

The difficulties she faced: sexism and racism among them, make the trivial setbacks and challenges I have faced in my entrepreneurial journey seem insignificant. 

Madame C. J. Walker was born on December 23, 1867 to parents who were former slaves.  She made her fortune in the hair care products business. The building where she operated in Indianapolis is still there as a testament to her success.  I've visited it often as a volunteer with Business Ownership Initiative to help other entrepreneurs succeed.

She developed a sales agent program, leveraged the power of black media (in 1890!) and developed a multi-level marketing system BEFORE AMWAY!

A black mom, widowed at 20, she was making $1.50/day as a washerwoman when she came up with the idea for a hair tonic that helped her stop losing her hair.

Her brilliant marketing strategy was founded on sharing her success with her sales agents. Not only generous, but motivating. She created a source of philanthropy that has lasted for over 125 years!

Tesla as an inventor

Odd that I came across this quote from Tesla's autobiography by scanning tech news (on Reddit) and stumbling upon the National Governor's Association video of the governor of Nevada's introduction of Elon Musk.  Despite having written a lengthy introduction (he said) he simply quoted Nikola Tesla's Autobiography.

"The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain. Its ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing of the forces of nature to human needs. This is the difficult task of the inventor who is often misunderstood and unrewarded. But he finds ample compensation in the pleasing exercises of his powers and in the knowledge of being one of that exceptionally privileged class without whom the race would have long ago perished in the bitter struggle against pitiless elements. . . ."

Those words so succinctly describe the life of the inventor.  "Unrewarded genius" (in the words of Calvin Coolidge, except that the rewards are the kind of joy one receives from discovery.  Such is the construction of man that shear discovery is ample reward for years of toil.

There is a great cautionary tale included Musk's remarks about Artificial Intelligence.  Worth watching just for that.  Start about here.

What the brain is good for

I've been thinking about the brain and what a marvelous machine it is.  How did humans evolve such a powerful brain?  We don't have the largest brains in the animal word.  Even as a proportion of our body size, the human brain doesn't exceed that of some birds (where you will find a fascinating article debunking human brain myths.)

Brain size doesn't seem to matter for intelligence.  My wife is much smarter than I am despite the fact that women have, on average, smaller brains.

My recent fascination with brain function was due to an insight I made about what the brain does best: pattern recognition. This skill is at the forefront of computer science progress and is responsible for speech and facial recognition, the dominance of computers over humans in games like chess and go, medical diagnosis, technological unemployment, matchmaking, learning and music composition.

My thesis is that brains evolved to optimize pattern recognition - and they did so spectacularly.  I believe it was accidental in the way that all evolution is accidental.  It may have begun by detecting light and dark and eyes were born.  The ability to detect and ultimately discern smells, touch, sounds and taste gave us an evolutionary edge.  Then we developed motor skills to impact our environment. At one point, I believe, the pattern recognition became responsible for memory and ultimately consciousness.

All this is pure speculation and I wish I had time to research the subject more completely.  Perhaps a train ride to the West will afford the opportunity. 

Rotary invocation, October 25, 2016

Rotary Invocation

October 25, 2016

Good Will & Better Friendships

Every week we recite the Rotary 4 Way Test.  #3 is “Do the things we think say or do build good will and better friendships?”

Wow!  This election season has put a real strain on thinking about good will and better friendships between large numbers of us hasn’t it?  How can we fix that?

Sharing Rotary service projects, like Indy Do Day, bring people together.  Coming to our club meetings, where we hear from community leaders like our speaker Matt Gutwein and the good work he does at Health & Hospital Corp, when we share a common purpose and contribute to helping people, we are also sharing how we understand the world.  When you open yourself up to other people they see you on their side, not the other side, working towards a common goal.

  

The foundation of understanding is listening.  We need to listen more and talk less.  Look where talking heads have gotten us.  Challenge yourself to listen to a diversity of opinions.  Listening only to people who agree with you may validate your beliefs and make you feel smarter, but rarely uncovers the truth.

We are not so different.

1.2 million Rotarians all want to eliminate polio, doesn’t the whole world want to eliminate diseases and suffering? I believe we share many common goals: We want our children, our neighborhoods, and our planet to be healthy.  We want to keep the promises we made to the last generation and we make to the next.  We want our communities to prosper and every student to be above average.

When this election season ends – and it can’t end soon enough in my view – we Americans can hopefully begin working together again, listening to each other rather than the talking heads, and focusing on common goals and solving the problems we all care about.  Hopefully, we can be more mindful of our Rotary pledge to make all the things we think say or do build good will and better friendships.

Maker Spaces getting attention Inside INdiana Business!

I was interviewed by Gerry Dick on his television program: Inside INdiana Business.  We talked about how our 1st Maker Space business aims to put shop class back in schools!  Lots of fun as you can tell.

My calendar

Having too many meetings and appointments is a byproduct of curiosity, connections and commercial intent.  I like the buzz and the beer.  But my days are packed and they don't give me much time to reflect or think.  I understand it's a trade-off.

Sometimes I share the analogy with friends that my calendar is like a well played, but losing game of Tetris.  'Well played' because there is very little unfilled space.  'Losing' because the column is filled to the top and the game is over.

Here are the images that reflect both.

Get the picture?

Could Women Be Trusted With Their Own Pregnancy Tests?

I loved this story which appeared in the NYT today about the woman who invented the home pregnancy test.  Unrecognized, uncompensated and disrespected for decades...she finally got the credit she was due.

Margaret Crane, 1965.

Why did society make laws to prevent women from performing such tests?  What was the logic - other than exercising some power over an entire gender?  Much the same as slavery but 'gentler.'

Rotary Invocation

May 2, 2016

Shared Hope

Kim Brand

I can’t believe I’m giving the invocation on Primary Day 2016 during what will be remembered as one of the most notorious campaign seasons of the 21^st Century!  At least, I hope it stands out – because I never want it to happen again!

Here’s what I think is worth talking about in an invocation on a day like today: shared hope – or what politicians would call the ‘hope gap.’

We may have entered a time in our nation’s history when nothing is shared less than hope.  You hear about income inequality.  You hear about immigration.  You hear about terrorism.  You hear about resurgent racism, international tensions, exploding debt, and economic uncertainty.  We witness unprecedented dysfunction in Washington.  What is the link between these maladies?

I believe we are suffering from the lack of shared hope and too many of us have lost confidence in the belief that for them tomorrow will be better.

Have we forgotten that to be hopeful is uniquely human?  Do we not all hope for peace? For the success of our children? To be treated with respect? For health and prosperity? Can’t we at least share those hopes?

More than losing our status in the world, more than ‘losing,’ more than the other party winning the Whitehouse, we should fear the loss of shared hope.  Shared hope is the binding that once tied our country together, forged a powerful nation and was the source of our prosperity.

Being an American endows us with a special kind of hopefulness.  The ability to work together, to overcome problems, to look beyond differences and to see a brighter future.  The measure of America’s greatness will not be in a budget or trade surplus, or military power – it will be in the ability of all Americans to hope again.

How do we do that?  Turn off the TV.  Surround yourself with optimists and push back on negative talk when you hear it.  Be prepared with positive facts - look for positive news and you’ll find it.  Allow inspiration into your life – from wherever you can find it; whether it’s a purposeful walk in the woods or a raucous service on Sunday morning.  

Be an actor not an audience member.  Practice Service above self – Rotary is a great way to share hopefulness.  Hope is a source of strength that is multiplied when shared.  Share your hope with someone when you have it – share theirs when you don’t.

The hope gap may be a tool politicians use to sell fear and mistrust.  Don’t buy it.  Find someone to share your hopes and dreams with today.

Anyone can have a life changing idea

This video should be presented at every art, business, engineering and medical school.  It should be posted to every entrepreneur blog. For anyone who thinks that they are not 'good' or 'smart' enough to have the next great/transformative idea.  This brief talk pushes back and says: YOU CAN.  DO IT NOW!