Reading around today on the Cradle to Cradle blog over at MBDC, noticed a (older) post after Bill had been to the Greenbuild show in Chicago, where he mentions some of the up and coming companies working on Cradle to Cradle certification (including Construction Specialties!)

Here’s what he says:

“I just got back from the Greenbuild conference in Chicago. It was good to wander round the Expo and see who is doing (and claiming) what environmentally speaking. On the one hand it was exciting to see how far we have come but on the other hand, seeing how “thin” some manufacturers green claims actually are inspires us to go further looking for more opportunities for cradle to cradle products and certifications. 

This observation made me especially proud of the Cradle to Cradle community of exhibitors there including: American Polysteel, BASF, Cabot, Centria, Haworth, Herman Miller, Hycrete, Icestone, Mechoshade, Shaw, Solutia, Steelcase, and Timbersil who all achieved and been instrumental in launching the cradle to cradle certification program with us. Kudos also to Allsteel, Construction Specialties Group, Sloan and others who are in process with their certifications.”

A great talk from Sean Moffitt, behind Toronto’s Agent Wildfire, on “Wikibrands”, presented to Nokia. 

This past week I had the opportunity of speaking at the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards in Orangeville. Since I attended in 2005, I always appreciate any opportunity to return and give back to an experience that has had so much impact on the work I do today, and will continue to do in the future. 

The great part about speaking to young people out there is their sense of optimism, flexibility and, personally, a chance to get back to where I was a few years ago. Sitting in a room, where I once sat looking up at a speaker, I remember being SO inspired by what was going on. Being there again, although in a different capacity, was a great experience. I meet a lot of interesting people, but it’s always the young guys & girls I meet who are so eager to take on the world that inspire me the most. 

The last few weeks have been filled with some signs of returning to the work I’ve always loved: leadership development, young people, technology and personal development. 

Working on big construction projects is exciting, challenging and straight up cool (but tough!). It’s great to get back, though, through a couple of projects, to my ‘roots’.  I think this is something important for everyone. 

This week I’ll spend my week split between a social entrepreneurship conference and the AIA show in Boston, and I’ve got some ideas on meshing the two.

I hope to get some more blogging done, too. I’m seeing some INCREDIBLY cool people, companies, technologies and projects lately, and need to start sharing more.

-K

To go along with the last post on corporations embracing youth and technology, Mathew Ingram pointed out an excellent article from the NY Times describing the transition from generation to generation as youth redefine the way news and information is transfered from source to end-user (and arguably from end-user to end-user). Mathew sums up perfectly my thoughts on the benefits of integrating technology-abled youth into the everyday workings of the corporate world:“In other words, social networking of all kinds including Twitter, IM, Facebook and so on — has become a dominant means of news delivery for young people in a way that I’m not sure old geezers like myself quite grasp, no matter how often people describe it.”While there are exceptions to every rule, the new ways of communicating, gathering information, making decisions, and getting things done is not something that can easily be learned or taught; but it can be embraced.    

“Proclaiming the web “just as important as TV” for kids, Disney CEO Robert Iger urged fellow executives on Wednesday to join the digital revolution–or hire people who can.

“Hire new people,” Iger declared to nervous laughter during a morning keynote at the McGraw-Hill Media Summit in New York.

Iger also impelled media companies and marketers to shed their protectionist stances on new and emerging technologies. “Most classic brand managers look at technology with a deep-rooted aversion,” Iger said.

“Technology is good,” he said, explaining how it allows brands to distribute more broadly, and to be more relevant in the marketplace. “You have to keep the consumer in mind and use technology to do that.”

Beyond corporate strategy, Iger took time on Wednesday to regale the audience of new- and old-media types with his personal adventures in online media.

He admitted to having a Facebook page, but only two friends in the hot social network.

“It’s important for executives to experience all of this,” Iger said, referring to the myriad new platforms available to media companies, marketers, and consumers, from video-sharing sites and mobile services to social networks and virtual worlds.”

Via MediaPost,  Marc Andreessen

Barack Obama continues to see the Web and mass collaboration play in his favour: Via TechCrunch and Moveon.org:  

Moveon.org just launched a contest to see who can create the best TV ad for Barack Obama. These should be along the line of MoveOn.org’s BushIn30Seconds ad contest in 2004 (except these are supposed to be positive). Anyone can upload a video, and the best one submitted toObamaIn30Seconds by April 1 will aired nationally. The winner will also receive $20,000 worth of video equipment. The judges include Matt Damon, Steve Buscemi, Jesse Jackson, Lawrence Lessig, and Moby.

See more at ObamaIn30Seconds. 

Recent online surveys suggest that respondents believe that the cost of building green carries a significant premium when compared to non-green buildings, says Greensource. “In spite of persistent claims to the contrary from green advocates, 86 percent of respondents believe that it costs more to build a green building—and not just by a little. Most of those said at least six percent more, and a large group said over 15 percent more. For comparison, data reported by groups such as California’s Sustainable Building Task Force suggests that an experienced team can deliver a green building for less than a two percent premium. Nevertheless, the number of respondents who predicted that green building activity in their firm would increase in the next two to three years grew significantly.”  

For more information:

Green Buildings Research White Paper, October 2007
Available at www.bdcnetwork.com (registration required)

The 2007 Autodesk/AIA Green Index, November 2007
Available at www.autodesk.com/green

The 2007 Green Survey:
Existing Buildings

Available at www.globest.com/images/greensurveyresults07.pdf 

This from Treehugger:

Dutch Town of Venlo Goes Cradle to Cradle

by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona on 03. 4.08

BUSINESS & POLITICS (news)   We heard a rumour that an entire town in the Netherlands had adopted McDonough and Braungart’s concept of Cradle to Cradle. Not really knowing what to expect we visited the Dutch town called Venlo in the province of Limburg.What we experienced was awe-inspiring. Cradle to Cradle was everywhere, or rather, in everybody’s mouth since it is a little too early to see the practical results of this endorsement. From businessmen to young designers and even the bar keeper- everybody in Venlo knows about Cradle to Cradle and people are very enthusiastic about the new approach to making things. It feels like Michael Braungart, who is now a regular visitor in Venlo, infected the town with Cradle to Cradle thinking and faith. And why not? As the Venlonians say, it’s a great tool for innovation that also makes sense economically, while saving out planet and the future generations. We spoke to Harry Loozen, Director of the Chamber of Commerce, whose enthusiasm was very inspiring. He told us that the whole project started when a Dutch TV channel broadcasted about Cradle to Cradle in 2006. Since then, the small Dutch town has turned itself into a pioneering ground for ‘rethinking the way we make things’.

One of the reasons I love the competitive nature of business in general is the raw creativity and tenacity it takes to get things done and blow the competition out of the water. And while you’d think this is an attitude shared by every company and at every level, you’d be surprised. Often times with larger, established businesses, people become ‘comfortable’. Orders come in, the cash seems to be there, and it seems like things will keep moving along smoothly forever.

Of course, this is not a reality. However, the attitudes of complacency and feeling comfortable are a reality in corporations everywhere. The scary part is that this type of mentality can spread through a company’s culture faster than you can realize there’s even a problem.

This is a big part of why startups and early-stage companies contribute significantly to an industry’s progress when compared to their larger, more mature counterparts; they are simply more innovative. There are always exceptions, but for the most part, they rely on passionate people who are emotionally connected with the philosophies of the company, they conduct business using far less resources, and they are ignorant to industry rules and standards.

For as long as I’ve been working (right from a teenager cutting grass at a golf course), I can remember managers and business owners attempting to restore a culture of entrepreneurship and a sense of ownership in the company. It’s tough to do, though, especially once those oh-so magical feelings of being a ’startup’ have dissipated into the everyday headaches that (can) come with growth.

I’ve always considered myself ‘entrepreneurial’, but I’ve never truly managed a company of my own. I’ve worked for companies on everything from tackling culture issues, to creating ‘green’ marketing strategies, to conducting competitive intelligence research, and the most successful projects were those where the people I worked with, including myself, felt a complete sense of ownership and were compelled to reach for lofty and ambitious goals. In other words, we worked like a startup.

In doing so, I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about young companies, and the best resource, by far, has been Jessica Livingston’s book “Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days”. The book is a collection of interviews with startup founders from around North America, from Apple to Hotmail to Research In Motion. I was hooked at the opening:

“The earliest phase is usually the most productive. That’s when they have the really big ideas. Imagine what Apple was like when 100% of its employees were either Steve Jobs or Steve Wozniak.”

While you’ve absolutely got to read this book for yourself to understand the value in it, here are the top two lessons I picked up on and have fought hard to put into action in every project I’ve been involved with since reading. I challenge you to do the same, whether startup or Fortune 500!

The Little Things Matter

When Arthur van Hoff of Marimba wanted to buy an espresso machine to boost employee morale, he was told it was out of the question. He eventually went ahead and bought a $15,000 machine and had it installed. “The CFO almost had a baby” he says. He goes on to explain it was the very best thing the company ever did, and people would crowd around it every morning. A month later, the CFO came and said ‘I’m sorry, we should have done this years ago.’ “

People, people, people

“The difference in almost any position between someone who does a good job and someone who does a great job might be 20% more in salary, but it’s 100% or 200% more in throughput. If you can have enough people in the company that work twice as efficiently as the person sitting next to them, because they just know what to do, what not to spend time on…It’s just, hey, you give this engineer a task, and it’s just done right in half the time as the next person.” - Stephen Kaufer, cofounder TripAdvisor

So much plastic!