Michael B. Maine's Blog

Round Two of Network BGI Was a Success!

Michael B. Maine — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:39:37 +0000

Round two of Network BGI was another success. Opened by Gifford Pinchot III himself and flawlessly emceed by current student Kyle Capizzi, we again accomplished an event that people found both valuable and enjoyable. Last night we tried something new, using a modified version of The World Café model as a way to facilitate meaningful conversation. We had a solid representation from both hybrid and metro students as well as the general public. An extra special thanks goes out to our table topic leaders Jimmy Jia, Bob Gunn, Stanley Florek, and Hoby Douglass. Other distinguished guests in attendance included Fortunado Vega (Chair of Partnerships & Sponsors at MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest) and Maureen Takaoka (Business Development Events Manager for the Washington Clean Technology Alliance).

We’re always looking for ways to improve our events to add value to you. If you have any feedback, please send your ideas, issues, and proposed resolutions to rsvp@bgi.edu. Our next Network BGI Community Social will take place on April 26, 2012 and, in conjunction with the BGI alumni weekend, will include an alumni career panel. Register for free and check out photos of our last event.

Hispanic Drinks? Are You Serious?

Michael B. Maine — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:48:53 +0000

Image courtesy of Jill J.

Thank you, Jill, for sending me this photo you took at Walgreens. It never ceases to amaze me just how things like this get past so many layers of bureaucracy and checks and balances. But, alas, it still does. So sad.

Why Diversity Matters – How to Create The Creative Class

Michael B. Maine — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 06:38:20 +0000

It’s Sunday, February 19, 2012, and I’m writing this while taking the occasional pause to appreciate the beautiful view of the Pacific Northwest the window seat of Amtrak train number 506 is affording me. This Thursday I found myself in Portland, Oregon for the Green Proessionals Conference 2012. All in all, I’d say the event was fairly successful. Although it didn’t provide the recruiting opportunities we would have liked to see, we made connections that can grow into deep and meaningful relationships. The breakout sessions were solid, including such topics as integrating sustainability throughout the supply chain, social media tools driving sustainability, and others. However, my major critique of these types of events remains—almost every attendee looked the same. Again, the usual suspects, those who treat the increasing number of trade shows and conferences as a circuit they must complete made up the vast majority of those who showed up that day.

However, after about an hour of repeatedly delivering the same elevator speech a young black gentleman from Portland OIC (POIC) approached me. At his side was another black youth, probably around 16 years of age who was interested in just about any opportunity that would secure a positive future. He didn’t really have any questions about BGI, but rather questions about how often I used math in my professional career (he was struggling in math and was hoping that it wasn’t important after school—it is), where I was from, and what types of things he should be doing to make sure he would have a chance to one day go to graduate school.

That young adolescent immediately transported me to my youth. In him I saw a lot of myself: a young man desperately fighting to gain access to the institutions the system is designed to deny him. We interviewed each other for about an hour as we talked about everything from math to life choices and work experiences. At lunch I learned more about POIC when their executive director explaind the program follwed by a speech by one of the students. As forks clanked against the plates I looked around the room to see that, besides the students at POIC, I was the only black person in the room. Yes…really. Even in 2012…

I was planning on leaving Thursday night or Friday morning to head back to Seattle. I decided to stay. I needed to learn more about this program and how they worked. I spoke with the gentleman who originally approached me and found that he was Career Coach and Youth Advocate with them. He thought it was important for the group of kids to attend events like this and even more important for them to meet people with whom they can relate. We arranged a meeting for me to meet with their executive team. We decided the meeting would take place about thirty minutes prior to their first annual talent show so I could get a look the kids begin themseleves, without being an obvious observer. It was magical to see a group of young men and women, who everybody else has given up on, in a completely supportive environment, not to mention that they were truly talented. They were all either amazing singers, rappers, dancers, poets, etc. I remember thinking, “It’s amazing what you can do when you’re forced to be creative your entire life.”

How do we cultivate creativity? I think one of the best ways is by embracing diversity. I don’t just mean diversity with regards to race, but rather diversity of skill, backgrounds, interests, religion, class, etc. With contact with different types of people, we are free to explore things we would never be exposed to otherwise. Of course we need to build into our value structure an appreciation for the arts, play, etc., but for me, it’s been the exposure to other types of people and cultures that have brought me the largest gains in creativity.

Event: BGI and the Triple Bottom Line

Michael B. Maine — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:48:24 +0000

If you know anyone interested in hearing our president Gifford Pinchot III talk about BGI and the Triple Bottom Line have them sign up for this WSCPA (Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants) event next Tuesday morning. Non-member price is $35.00.

BGI and the Triple Bottom Line will cover:

The nature of triple bottom line business
Examples of triple bottom line success
How BGI expanded the traditional financial and managerial accounting topics to include economic, social and environmental impacts within the organization

Follow this link to sign up - https://www.wscpa.org/Public/Catalog/CourseDetails.aspx?courseID=12122072

Date: Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Time:	7:30am - 9:30am (sign in begins at 7:00am )
Location:	Seattle, WA
Facility:	Women’s University Club of Seattle, Seattle

The Future of Menrva Labs

Michael B. Maine — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:00:42 +0000

Last week, I met with some of the most inspirational and creative people I know in a creative session to talk about the future of Menrva Labs. We met using Google Hangouts in Google+ (You do have Menrva Labs in one of your circles in Google+ don’t you?) Anyway, I know I’ve been quiet about the project, but it’s because a few people are working hard to make sure this is something that will be able to change the way content is created and delivered.

After talking and brainstorming for about an hour, here are a few of our insights:
Menrva Labs is going to be very cool.
The idea that promoting social change by increasing social awareness is an idea that many people can grasp onto.
The word “Labs” is in the title for a reason. This is a place where experimentation is not only accepted, but welcomed and encouraged.
The events that we’re planning on lining up will be very interesting.

Please stay posted for upcoming news.

Pictures: Network BGI Inaugural Community Social

Michael B. Maine — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:54:15 +0000

Check out the photos from our inaugural community social. The idea is to truly build the BGI community to add value to all. The next one is coming up on February 23. If you’re interested, you can register on Eventbrite.

Values and Value Creation Blog Post #4

Michael B. Maine — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:42:19 +0000

The Power Of Creativity

Do you know what skill is desired most in today’s CEO? It’s probably not what you think. It’s not analytical skills. It’s not the ability to perform market research. It’s not having the foresight to think about risk management and contingency planning, or the ability to read numbers. It’s not even people skills. So what is this all-so-important skill? Believe it or not, it’s creativity. That’s right—creativity…the one thing typically not taught in business school.

It’s not wonder we have a population that lacks creativity—we spend most of our lives getting creativity beaten out of us. We’re taught the importance of reading, writing, math, science, and other “core” subjects, but are often taught that we must let go of our “hobbies” such as drawing, painting, playing an instrument, acting, etc. when it’s time to “get serious” about life. If we exhibit any deviant behavior we’re told to “act right” or “be like everybody else.” The problem with being like everybody else is that you become just, well, like everybody else.

I remember undergraduate school at Southwestern University, a small, liberal arts school in Georgetown, TX. I majored in business…minored in both sociology and communications studies. When I inquired about somebody’s major, they often hung their head in doubt as they stated, theater, performing arts, or art history.” Others would say with disgust, business, math or biology. I always wondered why so many people where ashamed in the things they loved and spent so much time studying things they loathe. But it makes sense. We live in a culture that celebrates conformity and formality. We use terms like band geeks and theater types to describe people who produce things we often value more than education while we hold doctors, lawyers, and businesspeople on pedestals.

I don’t know. I find it sad that so many of us lead an existence based in denying ourselves true happiness. We look up to the rebels—the Steve Jobs’ of the world—the ones that said “’f’ it, I’m doing what I want.”

If we are going to produce the business leaders with vision, compassion, and courage needed to tackle the increasingly complex problems we are facing, we have to cultivate creativity. Where is your passion really? If you’re not following it, now is the time to start. It’s never too late. Never too early.

Values and Value Creation Blog Post #3

Michael B. Maine — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:18:12 +0000

View more presentations from Michael Maine.

I love the History Channel. I don’t know how accurate everything, but it really makes me think about things in a completely different way. Growing up, I was never much into history. The way it was taught always made it seem very boring. One day, I read the book, “Lies my teacher taught me.” I loved that book. One of my favorite podcasts is “Things You Missed In History Class.” I often find myself now researching things that happened in the past. Now I pay much more attention to how things happened before and try my best to understand why. Understanding the past makes understanding the present so much easier—so much more fun.

That’s why I was fascinated with a recent show on the History Channel. They were talking about ancient Roman technology and methods for building roads, buildings, and transportation. They build many different models of chariots based on the needs of various market segments. Even back then, they understood the importance of building a product that worked for the end user. I’m drawing parallels with what I’m learning in school with everything around me. It feels good to have those connections being made.

Video: Gifford and Libba Pinchot on Conversations

Michael B. Maine — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:22:29 +0000

I’m still often asked, “Why would you take the risk to attend an MBA program nobody has heard of?” In case you were wondering, here’s why…

Values and Value Creation Blog Post #2

Michael B. Maine — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:16:16 +0000