ARE:A Renewal Enterprise

Who Is Giving Thanks For You Today?

What - and who - are you thankful for today? None of us got where we are on our own steam. If you're anything like us, you've been influenced, inspired, mentored, challenged, educated, and given a shot to try something new by countless people throughout your life.

3 Maligned Mice

The way business is done hasn't changed much since about 1850. In way too many of our organizations - nonprofit and for-profit alike - there is still the equivalent of the cigar-chomping, corner-office-dwelling, big guy with the biggest salary who gets to have the biggest voice. The guy might not actually be a guy today, although most still are. But you get the picture.  

Encouraging Innovation In "Enterprise Zones"

Across every sector of this economy, people are dreaming new dreams about how to create organizations and movements that are vital, sustainable, purposeful and reproducing. Here's a voice from within the mainline church who argues for "enterprise zones" where new ideas could turn into experimental projects and processes for the sake of figuring out how to be and do church in this new century. The author references one of our favorite bloggers, Seth Godin, as he writes about the value of creating space where "pilot projects" can take place:

So, What's Next?

One member of our team routinely stops at Subway for lunch when traveling. The food is consistent, fresh, good quality and healthier than a lot of food that is available on the road. And no matter what sandwich is ordered the routine at the cash register goes something like this: “Chips and a drink with that?” followed by “Would you like a cookie?” If the answer to the cookie question is “yes” they follow up again, “Just one? They are three for only $1.49.” 

Why is this notable? 

For-Profit Charities?

Nearly all of us are familiar with Google and many of us use it often to do our web searches. But the faces behind Google are doing more than run search engines and selling ads to make a living. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the two guys who founded Google, started Google.org even before they went public with their IPO of Google stocks. And although Google.org is a charitable business, it has not filed for non-profit status but chosen to stay in the “for profit” sector to do its work. But it still has it purpose clearly defined to make the world a better place.

The Power of a Good Fight

Many of us will spend time visiting family over the holiday season. For some of us that will also mean worrying about and working to avoid conflict! But conflict isn't something we should avoid in the organizations we love. In fact, a "good" fight is just what many of our organizations need.

A Dangling Participle

What do you get when you put an anthropologist, economist, entrepreneur, psychologist, social scientist, and military-logistics expert in the same room together? A typical design team at Participle, a self described "social business" whose members are part of a "new wave of design evangelists who are trying to change the world for the better." This remarkable company is featured in the latest issue of Fast Company.

Getting Social

More and more small businesses and other organizations are discovering the benefits of online social networking. Facebook and My Space remain highly popular, of course. But there are other sites that give you the ability to offer people stricter privacy controls and access to more focused experiences. At A Renewal Enterprise, for example, we use Ning sites to gather people around particular issues and projects.

In The News: Another Leadership Lesson

“Teary-eyed jubilation is giving way to harsh realities…” 

That’s more or less what the front page of my Sunday newspaper read this past weekend. In fact, it’s what most of the pundits are talking about these days: “Is President Obama going to be able to do all of the things candidate Obama promised?” Whether or not you voted for this guy or the other one, if you’ve ever taken on a leadership role in a tough situation, you’ve got to feel for him. Most leaders benefit from some sort of “honeymoon” at the beginning of their term. His may be the shortest in history. 

5 Teambuilding Lessons From This New President

No matter who you pulled the lever for on Tuesday, this election season has been like a high holiday for anybody interested in leadership issues. Today the news is full of speculation about who will serve on the new president’s team. It might be hard for those who supported the other side in this election to even think about learning anything from the president-elect. But we think this moment gives us all a pretty good opportunity to think together about what makes a good team in any movement or organization.