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- Alan Siegel on Simplifying Legal Jargon
- Co-working Creatively — With A Social Conscience
- The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less
| Alan Siegel on Simplifying Legal Jargon Posted: 23 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT If all legal jargon were simplified, how would your business — and your customers — benefit? Alan Siegel spoke at TED in 2010 about the impact of legal complexity on our lives; regular people who face blizzards of paperwork in order to achieve common goals like starting small businesses, interacting with (or as) business entities, receiving government benefits, etc. Alan comes from a background in advertising and design. He defines simplicity as a means to achieving clarity, transparency and empathy — communication for humans. I already know that many of us have wished for simpler legal communication in our businesses. Many new business owners, especially those focused on human and compassionate business, find themselves averse to paperwork and cowed by legal documents. Many business owners don’t take care of all the administrative tasks necessary to keep their business running smoothly and legally safe because of this aversion. If legal language overall were simpler, would that change? I think it might. Alan believes that clarity, transparency and empathy should be a national priority. He believes that we should not do business with business entities whose terms are unintelligible to the average consumer, that we should set a new standard and raise the bar. As an American citizen who has become frustrated in the (often unsuccessful) attempt to completely understand her own mobile phone contract — the one I signed in order to have a smartphone to help me run my day-to-day business — I would tend to agree with him. |
| Co-working Creatively — With A Social Conscience Posted: 23 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT
Beahive is a co-working space — the only one of its kind in the Hudson Valley of New York. On a basic level, it provides a shared, creative work environment for entrepreneurs, the creative class, microbusinesses, and consultants — not all that different from all other co-working spaces. But Beahive has an important facet most others don't: It promotes a philosophical inspiration to do things that are not only good for local business and its members, but that are also good for the community and society as a whole, says founder Scott Tillitt. Co-working spaces are definitely not a new concept. Deskmag—an online magazine about coworking, its people, and spaces—reports that there are more than 1,300 dedicated co-working spaces. That number has doubled each year since 2006. Tillitt's venture in Beacon (and now with another location in Albany) is different because of its efforts to make a social impact. "We don't filter members on the basis of social impact. We can't do that," Tillitt says, adding that there are only a couple of places in the world with populations large enough to be so selective and still survive, such as Toronto. Instead, his philosophy is to recruit members with diverse skills and work to inspire these entrepreneurs to get involved with socially conscious efforts. Tillitt himself has had a highly successful career of being socially responsible. A communicator, social entrepreneur, and community catalyst, he worked in public relations for a number of agencies before making the switch to promoting progressive social issues. Tillitt has handled media relations for the Dalai Lama's visits to the United States and in 2004 founded Antidote Collective. The collective is a loose virtual collaborative of socially conscious communicators who approach communications and PR holistically to help shape a more sustainable, healthy, and just world. When he set out to create Beahive, Tillitt had reasons beyond the initial selfish desire to work with other creative individuals. "I wanted to be a part of the community in a bigger way, by having some kind of impact that was meaningful. Beahive could have an impact in a more tangible way," he says. In some ways, Tillitt aims for Beahive to be the physical manifestation of the Antidote Collective's virtual presence. As a Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi quote notes on Beahive's website "… an idea or product that deserves the label ‘creative’ arises from the synergy of many sources and not only from the mind of a single person." Tillitt says that creative collaboration happens organically among the members of the Beacon and Albany workspaces. (Beahive had a Kingston location for more than two years, but Tillitt recently closed it for managerial reasons.) "Collaboration happens just by the energy that's present," he says. Now, he is starting an initiative that will give Beahive members plenty of opportunities to partner and do good for the community. Tillitt is building a "local living economy" by starting a BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) network in Beacon. The alliance focuses on building communities that are vibrant, sustainable, and locally rooted. They are already building an association of local independent businesses that will make the community stronger, Tillitt says. Image credit: Erin Giunta / BEAHIVE |
| The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less Posted: 23 Jun 2012 02:00 AM PDT
"The universe is wonky." – Richard Koch Most of the time when I recommend a book, it’s because I agree with the book entirely — and think it’s a book that can help others on their path to success. I am recommending the 80/20 Principle not because I necessarily believe in it, but because it made me ask questions and think deeply about whether or not this principle applies to my work life. I still have questions, but I feel that the pondering has helped me look at my work differently. For that reason I can recommend this book, even though many do not agree with its premise. The 80/20 principle states that 80% of the reward comes from 20% of the work. This means that 80% of the profit comes from 20% of the products sold (or clients served). This principle can be applied to divorce rates, child discipline in schools and lots of other ideas. In other words, the universe is wonky. It is non-linear. Things are rarely 50/50. I had heard of this principle before, but I learned that my original interpretation of it was wrong. Calling it the 80/20 principle is catchy, but leads to two misconceptions:
In this book, Richard Koch tries to apply this economic concept to many aspects of life and work. I don’t know yet if it’s a good fit for me personally, but if I hadn’t read the book, I wouldn’t be asking myself these questions. If you are looking for a new concept that questions the way you work, I can recommend The 80/20 principle. One thing it does splendidly is generate questions, and when you ultimately discover the answers to those questions, you’ll have something you didn’t have before. If you’re curious about the 80/20 principle and want to learn more, you can also check out Richard Koch’s website. |
When Scott Tillitt found himself living in Beacon, New York, little did he know it would lead to a whole new collaborative, creative venture: Beahive.
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