2. Direct Partners Presents
the Goodified eBook
“Progressive ideas for doing good.”
What is Goodified?
Goodified is our take on Conscious Capitalism, the
idea that companies exist for a greater purpose than
to just make profits. Companies can be successful
while enhancing the quality of life. It works by building
honest and altruistic relationships with all of a business’s
stakeholders: its consumers, employees, investors,
vendors, environment and community. By harmonizing
the interests of all stakeholders, strong and authentic
relationships form.
A fundamental element of this is providing value in all
relationships. And that’s what we wanted to do. That is
why we have created the Goodified eBook.
During the holiday season, we reached out to some of the
brightest and most influential figures in a number of
different industries and disciplines, seeking progressive
ideas for doing good. We received a number of innovative
and exciting ideas in areas ranging from business and
marketing, to physics, philosophy and society as a whole.
We designed and compiled these inspirational ideas
into an eBook that we hope you enjoy and wish to share.
Thank you.
We want to thank all of the contributors, supporters and
the Goodified team.
We wish you the very best in 2011.

3. The promise of devices that would be able to perform multiple quantum physics and observer effects.
tasks like music, phone, video and apps has clearly been realized,
but there is another wave of convergence that is equally, if not Intention is a powerful force. It can provide the fuel for beginning a
more, exciting. project and seeing it through to the end. It can help you and your
organizations create programs that are able to be designed to
There is a (re)convergence of economics, philosophy and science. promote social welfare while also being sustainable (in terms of self-
If you read what used to be considered “new age” books and then funding or profitability). It’s related to the concept of free will and the
traditional business books and then books about particle physics, fact that we can choose.
there are some themes that emerge across them.
So use intent and intention in your actions this year. It’s a
The primary theme is one of intent. In new age philosophy, “intent” powerful force.
is the ability that we all have to put time and focus against an
outcome to assist in achieving the outcome. In business, “intent”
is expressed through “brand purpose” and a statement of what the
business and brand stand for, why they make the products they make Munir Haddad is the founder of Goodified a conscious
business movement. He is Senior Vice President of Strategy
and/or deliver the services that they deliver and what the customer & Planning at Direct Partners. You can find him on the Direct
should intend to get out of the mutual relationship. In science it is in Partners’ Goodified Blog and @Goodified on Twitter.

4. Interruption-free space is sacred. Yet, in the digital era, uncertainties and fears. We tune back into activity and data for
we are losing the few sacred spaces that remain untouched by reassurance.
email, the Internet, people and other distractions.
Self-esteem is largely a product of our interactions with others.
There’s been much discussion about the “creative pause” It is now possible to feel always loved and cared for, thanks to
— “the shift from being fully engaged in a creative activity “comment walls” on Facebook. Confidence and self-esteem
to being passively engaged or disengaged altogether.” It’s can be checked by the number of “followers” on Twitter.
the “aha!” moment we have in the shower when our minds
How do we reclaim our sacred spaces?
can wander. Despite the power and potential of these
sacred spaces, they are becoming extinct, depriving us of Planes, trains, subways, even showers will soon offer the
opportunities for disconnection. Our imaginations are suffering option of staying connected. We must be proactive in
the consequences. creating new “unplugged” spaces for ourselves. And when
we have an opportunity to be disconnected, we must use it
Why do we give up our sacred space so easily?
and protect it.
Space is scary. Without distractions, we return to our

5. Here are five mindsets and solutions for consideration: 4. Self-awareness and psychological investment.
1. Rituals for unplugging Our basic fears and desires are soothed by connectivity and
information. It’s important to recognize the power of our
The notion of a day reserved for reflection, like the Biblical
insecurities and acknowledge where they come from.
Sabbath, is important. It’s more than just refraining from work.
It’s unplugging. The recent Sabbath Manifesto movement has Researching my book, Making Ideas Happen, I was surprised
received accolades for this concept. how many creative leaders credited therapy as a part of
their success. If you’re willing to invest in it, take the plunge.
Whatever you learn will help you understand your fears and
2. Daily doses of deep thinking. the actions you take as a result.
Since unplugging is getting harder to do, we need to develop
discipline. Carve out a daily block of 1–2 hours just for
5. Protect the state of no-intent.
pondering the big picture. I can imagine a day when homes
will have a switch that shuts down wi-fi and data during dinner When you’re rushing to a solution, your mind jumps to the
or at night. most familiar path. Stare out the window for 10 minutes,
and your brain starts working creatively. It grasps ideas from
unexpected places. This kind of unconscious creativity leads
3. Meditation and naps to clear the mind. to great thinking.
There’s no better escape from our tech-charged world than
meditation. Steering your mind away from constant stimulation,
if only for 15 minutes, is downright liberating.
Scott Belsky is the CEO of Behance and author of the national
Or just try sleeping. Bestselling author Tony Schwartz takes a bestselling book Making Ideas Happen. You can follow him
20-minute nap every day — even if it’s a few hours before he @scottbelsky, and read his full blog post here.
presents to a packed audience.

6. Jonathan Fields
I’ve started my day on Twitter with this same tweet nearly
every day for more than a year.
to content promotion to relationships, marketing,
creativity advice, interviews, introductions and
Morning, Friends. Who Can I Help Today? beyond.
That single line has gotten a lot of reaction. People ask me the Some of the requests are downright fast and easy, some are for
following questions: favors that’d require serious work and some are just plain hysterical.
1. Do people really ever reply? 3. What have I done for people?
Yes, people respond with requests for my help all the time, pretty Answer, all the above. As long as:
much every day. • I have the ability to help, the ask resonates strongly with my
beliefs and preferences and I can honor it in a way that adds
value to all who would be impacted, and
2. What do they ask for?
• I have the time/resources.
They ask for everything from a latte to money to business advice

7. • I love lending a hand. But, even if I have the ability to help, I won’t My Challenge – What about YOU?
do things like promoting a business, website or content that I
Since I started asking this morning question, I’ve noticed something
either don’t agree with or wouldn’t add value to the experience
cool happening. Some of the people who follow me have begun
of the people I have the capacity to share it with.
asking their own variations of the question to start each day.
Want specifics of things I HAVE done?
And, it’s all got me thinking…
Nope.
I wonder what might happen if this became a movement?
Why not?
How cool would it be if a growing army of kindness-marauders
• One — Many of the asks come as DMs or emails and I’d poured onto Twitter and Facebook every morning to ask their own
never compromise the integrity or privacy those modes of special-sauce variation of “What can I do for you today?”
communication imply.
Then committed to helping at least a single person.
• Two — The most powerful gives come with the least connection
to credit or acknowledgment. I’m not doing it because I want
people to know what I’ve done. So, that’s my ask of you today.
Then why DO I do it? Or, put another way… Try it on for size. Commit to starting each day this way for just the
next week and see what unfolds.
4. What’s in it for me?
Jonathan Fields creates companies, books, blogs, paintings,
Everything. I do it because I can’t really think of a better way for me music, brands, experiences and the occasional human-
to set up my mindset and my karma for the day than by offering to powered vehicle to his credit. His last book, Career Renegade,
was published in 2009 and his next one is out in 2011.
help someone, often someone I don’t even know, in some random Fields blogs about everything from entrepreneurship, to
way. So, while I do it to help people, truth is I think the bump to my creativity, to marketing as well as about book marketing at
karma and my head-space benefits me more than anyone I help. TribalAuthor.com. Read the entire post here.

8. The Climate Energy Project is an example of how appealing When talking to consumers, the lesson seems to be to use whatever
to consumer concerns like personal thrift, the benefit to the combination of these works, plus throw in some values and religious
community of promoting green jobs, and a religious appeal to mores, if that fits the audience. A call to save mother earth for purely
“creation care” are far more effective at motivating people to environmental reasons might work well in Berkeley, but in Kansas
pursue the societal and economic benefits of going green than facts make the subtle shift to talk about creation care, or don’t go down
or reports. that road at all.
The project generated 5% decreases in town energy use, where 1.5% So even though I titled this piece a bit sarcastically, the Kansas
decreases had been considered the standard of “success.” They did program works so well because it IS based in — the savings you
so by drawing their messaging away from climate change data and can yield, the jobs you can attract to your town, and the connection
towards these consumer concerns. to religious values you can feel are all real. It’s just not the reality of
climate change. The end result is the same — people are saving
In this age of misinformation, facts can be endlessly disputed by money and energy and starting to build a new economy. And if we
political interests. For the individual consumer, however, the logic of move down the path to a cleaner world, who really cares how?
decoupling our country, our businesses, our communities, and even
our homes from carbon, and from oil in particular, remains incredibly
strong. At the macro level it’s about national competitiveness,
national security, and not relying on declining, ever-more-expensive
resources. For employees, the best motivators are proven cost
Andrew Winston advises some of the world’s leading
savings, good data, and competition. These are the types of non- companies on how to profit from environmental thinking. His
political motivating forces that will promote widespread good in is the co-author of the bestseller Green to Gold and author of
modern society. Green Recovery.

9. The term “citizen consumer” is more than a moniker. A movement is afoot, with consumers recognizing that their purchases
Consumers are now recognizing their power to effect positive social can improve their communities and their world. Businesses that
change through their consumption — in essence, enfranchising organize their enterprises around the blind pursuit of profit without
themselves and their communities with their pocketbooks as much considering the equally important motive of purpose may find
as with their civic participation. The lines between business and cause themselves alienating a previously stable customer base.
are beginning to intersect, and integration of cause and business is
now being seen not just as a trend, but as a foundational pillar of
good business in the 21st century.
The Edelman survey found that:
• 87 percent of U.S. consumers now expect companies to balance
societal interest with their own business interests.
Auren Kaplan is Manager of Cause Integration, a Causecast
• 63 percent of Americans expect brands to support good blog focusing on the intersection of cause and business.
causes. He serves as Director of Social Media for The HUB LA, a
social enterprise and collaborative workspace for social
• Nearly 8 in 10 consumers in Brazil, India, Mexico, and China entrepreneurs that fosters collaboration and inspires world-
changing action. He sits on the board of StartingBloc LA, an
now expect brands to support a good cause. Institute for Social Innovation that empowers and galvanizes
young adults towards intentional action in the social
• 84 percent of global consumers would be willing to change enterprise space. He is also the founder of Championic LA,
their consumption habits in order to make the world a better a Los Angeles online publication providing hyperlocal
place to live. content to Los Angelenos of all stripes.

10. People all over the world are demanding a sense of beach cleanups. It’s a lifestyle not just a product choice. “Wurld
community and value from relationships and business transactions… water offers consumers the chance to switch to a bottled water
people are desperate to find the true value in every product and brand where the destination of profits is life changing.”
service, right to the core. So how can we deliver?
It’s all about the doing, and it doesn’t have to be in your spare time
Well, Jared and I created wurld water because we wanted to use the either. It can be as simple as making the right ethical choices of what
business skills we have to directly impact the world we live in, and to brand of milk to buy, what coffee to buy, and in our case what water
engage with people’s social conscience. It was our way of having a brand to buy! Creating wurld water is definitely the hardest work we
“little less conversation, a little more action” approach to life, and it have ever done, and sometimes we feel like giving up, but we know
enables us to live out the values that we want to teach our son. it’s not always about the feelings, it’s about the truth, and the truth
is, it’s the best work we have ever done, and it’s helping create real
“Currently 1 in 6 people in the world do not have access change in peoples lives.
to clean water. We want to change that!”
We are a charitable bottled water brand that gives 100% of our
profits to water projects in the developing world, our first in Samoa.
And at wurld water it’s not just about the product or the global Ruth and Jared Honore launched wurld in 2009. Both come
from a corporate, financial background, but after being
problem of lack of water — it’s about building a relationship in our impacted by poverty seen while traveling and seeing brands
local community. Wurld water and its supporters have met up and doing great things, they decided to do something similar in
planted trees together in local community parks and organized their home of New Zealand.

11. Look at any group of people who effortlessly work well is, by its very nature, fraught with uncertainty and complexity. It is
together. Odds are the individuals share a lot in common with each obviously a high-difficulty task. Although homogeneous teams are
other. They might have similar backgrounds, expertise, interests, more efficient, it is the uniformity of thinking on these types of teams
or personalities. This is natural. Contrary to conventional wisdom, that limits breakthrough ideas and reduces innovation. Ensuring a
opposites do not attract. We find it easier to work with people who range of innovation styles should be the goal in constructing such
are like us. As a result, teams that lack diversity are the norm. groups in order to maximize team performance.
In fact, there is plenty of scientific research suggesting that Unfortunately, diverse teams, left to their own devices, are rarely
homogeneous teams do indeed perform better than more efficient. Differences of opinion, creative tension, and infighting
heterogeneous ones for “low difficulty” tasks – those with lower will naturally emerge. Individuals who think differently do not naturally
levels of ambiguity, uncertainty and complexity. However, research communicate well with each other. Therefore, it is important that
also shows that in situations involving “high difficulty” tasks, innovation teams be given the tools to “play well together.”
heterogeneous groups consistently perform the best. Innovation

12. Putting this together, we end up with three simple principles. And them to divvy up the work based on which style is most effective at
these are the three key principles of Personality Poker: a given task. You can’t have everyone generating ideas, or focusing
on planning.
1. People in your organization must “play to their strong suit.”
That is, make sure that everyone understands how they contribute Innovation is the life-blood of your organization. It is crucial for
to and detract from the innovation process. This includes ensuring long-term growth. Without it, your business will almost certainly
that you have the right people with the right leadership styles in your become irrelevant and commoditized. Unfortunately, although it
organization. is important, it is not always easy. However, applying these three
simple principles can help you create high-performing innovation
2. As an organization, you need to “play with a full deck.” Embrace teams that consistently “beat the house.”
a wide range of innovation styles. Instead of hiring on competency
and chemistry, also hire for a diversity of innovation styles. Every step
of the innovation process must be addressed with people with the
right innovation styles. Stephen Shapiro is the author of 24/7 Innovation, The
Little Book of BIG Innovation Ideas, Goal-Free Living, and
Personality Poker. In addition to being an advisor, speaker,
3. “Deal out the work.” That is, you must divide and conquer. You and author on innovation, he serves as the Chief Innovation
can’t have everyone in your organization do everything. Instead, get Evangelist for InnoCentive. Read the full post here.

13. I’m encouraged, excited even, about where business is Companies are reinventing themselves.
headed. Largely as a result of these innovations, companies
will continue to find themselves crossing sectoral lines
Green innovation is booming. There’s a revolution taking place and entering new lines of business. Old-line companies like chemical
that even many of its participants can’t yet see. It involves the manufacturers, auto makers, IT companies, and food processors have
confluence of energy, information, building and vehicle technologies, now found themselves in the energy business. So, too, with green
and the promise of new goods and services. Some of these will be building: a new wave of old-line companies (think Firestone and
seen this decade in the emergence of the so-called smart grid, in Sanyo) are now in that sector, too. Meanwhile, early-stage companies
which everything from appliances to automobiles are connected via are getting out of the lab and off the ground, invigorated by capital
two-way, always-on connections. These things may not be overtly flows that, while recently slowed, are beginning to rebound.
marketed as “green,” but much like the iPod and iTunes, they stand
to transform how we live, work, drive and play, while vastly reducing Sustainability is becoming about more than just the
materials and energy needs. All of this will help to transform how environment. One of the more frustrating trends of the past decade
companies think about what they do, leading to, among other was the conflation of “green” and “sustainability.” The latter, of
things, closed-loop systems of commerce. course, means much more than environmental responsibility, though

14. you wouldn’t know that listening to most corporate marketers and help or hinder the shift to greener business: the vagaries of world
PR firms, which treated the two terms as one and the same. But economics, rapid technological developments, dramatic political
that’s changing. The social side of sustainability — including working shifts, fast-emerging impacts of climate change, roller-coaster oil
conditions, community impacts, human rights, product safety, access prices, natural disasters and populist movements.
to education and health care — is beginning to be considered by
some large companies. It is showing up in corporate “responsibility” One thing is certain about the green decade before us: It will be at
reports, of course, but also in the design and delivery of products least as interesting as the one just passed. Whether that’s a good
and services for the poor, both in developed and developing thing or not remains to be seen.
countries. It is showing up in corporate concerns over obesity,
product safety and access to clean water. Some of the companies
involved were dragged to these issues by activists, but that’s how
many of today’s environmental leaders were born — companies like
Nike, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Home Depot, and others. To be sure,
the social side of sustainability remains early-stage, but the trends
are encouraging. Joel Makower is chairman and executive editor of GreenBiz
Group, producer of GreenBiz.com and other websites, events,
and business information services. He is author of more than
At the end of the day — and the decade — how does all of this stack a dozen books, including Strategies for the Green Economy.
up? I won’t venture to say. There are too many unknowns that could Read his full blog here.

15. Life can be ridiculously complicated, if you let it. I suggest less junk, more real food
we simplify. Thich Nhat Hanh’s quote, which I’ve stolen as this
less busywork, more impact
site’s subtitle, is the shortest guide to life you’ll ever need: “Smile,
breathe, and go slowly.” less driving, more walking
If you live your life by those five words, you’ll do pretty well. For less noise, more solitude
those who need a little more guidance, I’ve distilled the lessons I’ve less focus on the future, more on the present
learned (so far) into a few guidelines, or reminders, really.
less work, more play
And as always, these rules are meant to be broken. Life wouldn’t be less worry, more smiles
any fun if they weren’t.
less TV, more reading breathe.
less shopping, more outdoors
less clutter, more space
Leo Babauta is an author and simplicity blogger at
less rush, more slowness zenhabits.net & mnmlist.com. You can follow Leo on Twitter.
less consuming, more creating

16. Seth Kushner shoots portraits of celebrity-types for such
publications The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek,
Vogue and others. Seth’s first book, The Brooklynites, was
published by powerHouse Books in 2007. His next book,
Leaping Tall Buildings will be released in 2012. Currently,
he co-edits GRAPHIC NYC and is working on CulturePOP, his
photocomix series on ACT-I-VATE.com

17. Leadership is a much-used (perhaps overused) word. But for decouple the creation of value from the consumption of resources
these unusually volatile times, business leadership is exactly what by experimenting with closed-loop manufacturing, shifting from
we need to develop radically new solutions for the world’s complex products to services, and creating incentives for consumers who
challenges. buy less. Companies like these understand that if they can inspire
customers to select different products and use them wisely,
Leaders question assumptions. Recently, I have been pleased to see consumers and businesses alike will benefit, and often save money.
more businesses wrestle with the topic of sustainable consumption, The most creative companies are taking risks by suggesting that
an issue whose solution requires challenging a belief that has consumers buy less or shift from a disposability culture, banking on
defined business for the past half-century or more. Widely accepted the idea that they can create more value this way.
statistics make clear that simply extending Western economic habits
to everyone will exhaust the Earth’s resources long before prosperity I get asked all the time: Which companies are leading the way on
spreads to all corners of the world, where it is desperately needed. sustainability? I understand why people want to know, but I think
This can be viewed either as a massive problem, or the essential it’s the wrong question. The right question is: What are the most
business challenge and opportunity of our time. But taking this on important characteristics of leadership? Look for the companies that
requires business to question traditional economic models: How can are taking risks by questioning assumptions and shaping the debate
we reorient the economy away from consumption-driven growth? over economic priorities, while also delivering the goods every day.
Too often, sustainable consumption has been at the margins of the
Aron Cramer is president and CEO of BSR and co-author of
sustainability debate, the veritable green elephant in the room. This the best-selling book Sustainable Excellence: The Future of
is beginning to change. Companies such as Nike, Best Buy, Marks Business in a Fast-Changing World. Read the entire blog
& Spencer, eBay, and Unilever are taking risks by exploring ways to here. Follow Aron on Twitter

18. Magic happens in the interstitial space between silos, behavior and even clearer rules if we dare to dip our toes into the
disciplines, organizations and sectors. The word interstitial comes space outside of well-marked boundaries. Incentives, performance
from the Latin interstitium, which is derived from inter (between) and reviews and job ladders all reinforce insularity. While technology
sistere (to stand). Learning, innovation, problem solving, and value screams permeability, organization infrastructure and operating
creation happens when we “stand between.” norms lean against it. Standing in between anything is often
considered a career-limiting move.
We must get more comfortable and better at standing between.
Only by celebrating the interstitial space between us will we invent Most organizations aren’t 21st century ready. Industrial era
new disciplines and system approaches that will transform our structures with hierarchical relationships designed around functions
important social systems, including education, health care, energy will inevitably give way to networked operating models fluidly
and entrepreneurship. connecting capabilities both within and outside the organization.
Standing between disciplines will become the norm rather than the
And yet we spend most of our time in silos. It is comfortable there. exception.
We know the language spoken. There are clear rules dictating our

19. The enabling technology is already here. We don’t need to out with the usual suspects. Most of the conferences and meetings
invent anything new. It isn’t technology that is getting in our way. we go to are teeming with people who love to get together to
It is humans and the organizations we live in that are stubbornly admire the problem. Solution discussions are narrow and tend to
resistant to change and hesitant to fully explore interstitial spaces. shop around old solutions that have been discussed forever. If you
Organizations will either transform themselves to capitalize on the want new ideas, approaches and solutions, make it a personal goal
value in interstitial spaces or they will be disrupted in the market to attend gatherings where you don’t know the people or subject
by others that do. And for those leaders who think they can wait matter. Or better yet, go to gatherings that are designed to bring
it out: You can’t, the transition has already started and its pace is unusual suspects together and to enable random collisions.
quickening. Just ask the youngest in your organization.
If you want to get better faster, hang out in interstitial spaces. Don’t
It is easy to see the potential of enabling random collisions of just dip your toes but jump in with all the passion you can ignite.
unusual suspects. Check out any social media platform. Social Magic happens in the spaces between us.
media is a hotspot for random collisions. You don’t need to hang
out in these virtual places long to know they are populated with
very unusual suspects. Magic happens every day in these interstitial Saul Kaplan is the Founder and Chief Catalyst of the Business
spaces. We can bring this magic into our organizations, meetings Innovation Factory (BIF). Saul shares innovation musings on
and gatherings. We just have to resist the normal tendency to hang his blog at It’s Saul Connected and on Twitter.

20. One person can change the world—not by himself or herself,
of course. But by mustering the right arguments, and enlisting Marc Gunther is a veteran journalist, speaker, writer and
consultant whose focus is business and sustainability. He
the right allies, one person can change a company, an industry is both an author and co-author of four books, including
and eventually change the world. I’ve seen it happen, more Faith and Fortune: How Compassionate Capitalism Is
than once. Transforming American Business (Crown 2004).

21. 1. Take more risks — sooner: People regret too late in life that But relationships give us something much more than connections
they did not try certain things earlier in life. There’s truth in the cliché to facilitate business. They can actually be the biggest drivers of a
that “youth is wasted on the young.” Risks early in one’s career tend positive and healthy lifestyle. We know that we need to eat right
to have much more upside potential than downside risk. If one tries and exercise to stay in shape, but the probability of doing so is
something of greater risk and it does not work out, there’s time to go meaningfully increased with the right support and relationships. For
back to a safer and more conservative path. all the financial incentives, technology and science — the greatest
motivator of positive behavior change and, in my mind, happiness
2. Make experience-driven choices: The New York Times — may be the family and personal and professional peer group
recently ran a piece on how people who live their lives through surrounding you.
experiences are happier than those that live their lives through
transactions. The purchase of physical things, such as clothes, does 4. Stay curious, stay learning, and stay relevant. The mind
not seem to have the same staying power and return on happiness as should be treated as a muscle that needs to be exercised. Intellectual
the consumption of experiences, such as travel or dining occasions curiosity and a desire to stay relevant are hallmarks of happier people.
with friends and family. Experiments have shown that we associate In a recent blog on what makes certain people luckier, we observed
those experiences with a nostalgic happiness whether they were that those who have a greater level of curiosity and willingness to
truly happy moments or not. This reinforces the hypothesis I have welcome variety and new learning in their lives tend to be luckier
that happier employees are ones who have a certain baseline level people.
of salary and extrinsic rewards but who, beyond that, are motivated
more by the intrinsic rewards of a meaningful role, a fun and exciting
work environment, and potential for professional growth. Anthony Tjan is CEO, Managing Partner and Founder of
the venture capital firm Cue Ball. An entrepreneur, investor,
3. Nurture relationships: In our professional careers, we and senior advisor, Tjan has become a recognized business
think about relationships for their business “networking value.” builder. You can read the article in full on HBR’s brilliant blog.

22. “Successful people ask better questions, and get better relaxed and centered. He doesn’t cling to the past or the future
answers.” — Anthony Robbins but is happy to live in the now. In fact, he doesn’t seem to think much
at all.
Your mind likes answers. So it’s important to ask yourself the right
questions. Questions like: “What would X do?” X being whatever Now, this might seem like a sorta stupid bear. But it’s often better
inspiring figure you want it to be. It’s a great way to shift perspective to not think so much and let thoughts and actions naturally arise
and find a more useful frame of mind. For example, the non- within you.
conformist rebel might ask: “What would Tyler Durden do?” Me, I
like Winnie the Pooh. When I feel like a “not so good” version of myself, I often remember
that I can turn things around. Like everything else, it’s just temporary.
What would Winnie the Pooh do? So I ask myself: “What would Winnie the Pooh do?”
Let’s say I feel closed up, tense and whiny. It’s not a helpful frame of
mind. Now let’s think about Winnie the Pooh. He is warm and open, That focuses my mind on all the positive things I associate with

23. honey-loving bear. My mind comes up with more helpful answers. What would Eckhart Tolle do?
I remember the “better parts” of yourself, and I snap out of my Eckhart Tolle is one of my favorite personal development writers.
negative frame of mind. I find this question to be especially helpful He is very much about living in the present moment and having an
in social situations. accepting frame of mind. I have found the Eckhart Tolle question is
most helpful when I feel angry and frustrated, or when my mind gets
What would Jason Bourne do? stuck in past or future scenarios. Asking this question helps me to
No, the Bourne frame of mind isn’t about putting your car in reverse flip the perspective around to a more useful one a lot of the time.
and going off rooftops. It is about putting a stop to thinking and And when that doesn’t work, listening to one of Tolle’s audio books
allowing yourself to work with what you already know. Jason Bourne for 10 minutes usually does the trick.
does what he’s learned, letting his body and subconscious do most
of the doing. A lot of thinking would only hold him back.
Now, thinking has its place. But to be wrapped up in it all the time
often leads to inner doubts and little actually getting done. The
thing is, you know what to do most of the time already. Don’t put Henrik Edberg is the author of The Art of Relaxed Productivity
and The Power of Positivity. He writes about improving your
up obstacles in your own way. I have been using the Jason Bourne social life, health, happiness, productivity and general
question for years now. It’s a very good question to become focused awesomeness. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or become a
and to focus on the how rather than whys and doubts. fan on Facebook.

24. One of the popular misconceptions about honey bees is that returns to the cluster to announce her find by performing a waggle
their lives are ruled by a queen. But their colonies are remarkably dance. The dance indicates both the location and the quality of
complex. And every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of the site.
choosing a new home, honey bees stake everything on a process
that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus Other “follow-up” scouts observe and follow the directions to the
building. It is a democratic process that humans — especially office indicated locations. If the follow-up scout agrees that the site is
drones — might do well to emulate. desirable, she too performs a waggle dance when she returns to
the swarm. The better she judges the site, the longer she dances,
When a beehive becomes overpopulated, some two-thirds of the and the more effective she is in recruiting other scouts to make their
workers and the old queen, often up to 10,000 bees in total, leave own forays to the spot. Eventually, over a day or two, enough scouts
home in a swarm and gather on a nearby tree branch. From there, a agree on the best site and induce the rest of the swarm to fly there.
few hundred scout bees take off in all directions, searching for tree
cavities. Each scout that discovers a promising site inspects it and Even though an individual bee is not particularly intelligent,

25. the collective intelligence of the group produces impressive 4. Minimize the leader’s influence on the group’s thinking. Scout
results. Almost always the swarm chooses the best of the options it bees have no dominating leader and so can take a broad and deep
has found. look at their options.
What we can learn from the hive 5. Balance interdependence (information sharing) and independence
(absence of peer pressure) among the group’s members. Scout bees
1. Remind the group’s members of their shared interests and foster share freely the news of their finds, but each one makes her own,
mutual respect, so they work together productively. Scout bees independent decision of whether or not to support a site.
know instinctually that their interests are aligned toward choosing
the optimal home site, so they work together as a team. These methods in running my own groups can be remarkably effective
at building consensus and producing good decisions. Let the bees
2. Explore diverse solutions to the problem, to maximize the group’s show you that with the right organization, democratic groups can be
likelihood of uncovering an excellent option. Scout bees search far remarkably intelligent, even smarter than the smartest individuals
and wide to discover a broad assortment of possible living quarters. in them.
3. Aggregate the group’s knowledge through a frank debate. Scout
Thomas Seeley is a professor in the Department of
bees rely on a turbulent debate among groups supporting different Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University,
options to identify a winner. Whichever group first attracts sufficient Ithaca, NY. This excerpted material is drawn from
supporters wins the debate. Democracy,
his book Honeybee Democracy published in 2010
by Princeton University Press.

26. Sloane Berrent
Sloane Berrent is a nationally recognized speaker on
community building and “cause-filled living” and writes on
her blog, The Causemopolitan. She is the founder of Answer
With Action and was named a top influencer at the 2010
Clinton Global Initiative by Waggener Edstrom and named a
“top woman to follow” on Twitter by Forbes.

27. I had just finished a speech. One of the audience members The secrets to being “real” are common sense. It takes some
came up to talk to me. He said that his group has been fortunate to effort. Care about what you do. Be respectful to others. Make
get to hear a lot of speakers, but seldom does he get to meet the yourself approachable and available. Always be on time, even early.
speaker. He ended our conversation by saying, “Because I met you Be enthusiastic about who you are and what you do. Create positive
and shook your hand I’ll always remember your speech. It was real.” impressions that are memorable and that garner respect, admiration
and build confidence.
He said it was real. What did that mean? Now, this wasn’t about me
being some type of celebrity. I’m just a business speaker. I presented Most of all, recognize that every interaction you have is an opportunity
the speech well and had relevant material, but what happened after to make positive impact on others – an opportunity to be and make
the speech is what made it “real.” All I did was make myself available an experience “real.”
after the speech to answer questions and talk to anyone who wanted
to. Not a big deal, but it made impact. So, I’ve been thinking about
what it is to be “real.”
Shep Hyken is the Chief Amazement Officer (CAO) of Shepard
As I think about my friends and colleagues who are successful, I Presentations, LLC. As a speaker and author, Shep helps
see some commonalities about them. They are approachable and companies build loyal relationships with their customers
and employees by helping them deliver amazing levels of
available. They have a bond with their customers as well as the customer service. He is the author of the Wall Street Journal
people they work with. They create positive impact on others. They best-selling book The Cult of the Customer and the creator of
are “real.” The Customer Focus customer service training program.

28. The Commands are not commandments, meant as orders VI. IDENTITY
from God to a population, but rather ways of taking command of any Be Yourself
of the biases of digital media. The way to take command of digital
media’s asynchronous bias, for example, is not to be “always on.” VII. SOCIAL
Do Not Sell Your Friends
Here are the ten from the book.
VIII. FACT
I. TIME Tell the Truth
Do Not Be Always On
IX. OPENNESS
II. PLACE Share, Don’t Steal
Live in Person
X. PURPOSE
III. CHOICE Program or Be Programmed
You May Always Choose None of the Above
IV. COMPLEXITY
You Are Never Completely Right Douglas Rushkoff is a media theorist, writer, lecturer,
graphic novelist and documentarian. Learn more about
V. SCALE 10 Ten Commands for a Digital Age by reading his book
One Size Does Not Fit All Program or be Programmed.

29. I got to where I am able to give back by working and Is it not time that we rethink the archaic principles that keep
succeeding within the principles of capitalism and free-markets. Why non-profits working with less?
is it that now my hard-earned money goes into some other defined
economic set of principles that don’t mirror at all what I know works It is no surprise that for-profit social capital companies are on the
in the marketplace? rise and non-profits are on the decline.
If non-profits aren’t allowed to utilize the economic principles of If we really want to do the right thing, it’s time to level the
capitalism, then they forever will only be “charities”. playing field!
Why can’t we put the principles of capitalism to work against the
problems and opportunities of bettering our society with the same Rusty Rueff writes, speaks, advises, invests, and volunteers
force and vigor as those who move our society along industrially and at an intersection of technology, arts & entertainment, talent
economically? management, and faith.

30. The world needs your help...
A growing worldwide population has created unprecedented
demand for electricity, which in turn, has pushed coal consumption
to all-time highs. Coal is now responsible for over one-third of all
greenhouse gas emissions and is on an upward trend.
The current worldwide construction of coal-based plants ensures the
widely available fuel will remain a dominant energy source for many
decades to come.
The USA and China consume 60% of the world’s coal and
have the technology and business practices to dramatically
Albert Lin is the CEO of EmberClear, an investment company
improve the environmental impact of using coal. focused on clean energy technology, whose mission is to
accelerate the adoption of technologies enabling dramatic
Shouldn’t the largest users be the leaders? Let’s plan on giving coal improvements in the efficiency and cleanliness of fossil fuel
this Holiday, just a much better coal. consumption.

31. American science education standards are slipping at
a disturbing rate, while we are becoming ever more dependent
on analytical and critical thinking skills to solve many complex Dr. Armin Ellis is a mission architect at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory and has co-founded VentureKits Inc. as an
challenges of our time. To reverse this trend the excitement, education nonprofit. The mission of VentureKits is to inspire
relevance, and adventure of science need to be impressed upon students by the hands-on application of science, and to make
young minds within the framework of a rigorous curriculum. a positive and direct impact on U.S. education shortfalls.

32. I’ve been playing tennis for nearly five decades. I love the Ericsson, arguably the world’s leading researcher into high
game, but I’m far from the player I wish I were. performance. For more than two decades, Ericsson has made the
case that inherited talent is less important than how hard we’re
In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been playing every day. I’ve had willing to practice. Numerous researchers agree that 10,000 hours is
moments when I’ve played like the player I long to be. (And almost the minimum for achieving expertise in any complex domain.
certainly could be, even though I’m 58.) Until recently, I never
believed that was possible. I always accepted the myth that some If you want to be really good at something, it’s going to involve
people are born with special talents and gifts, and that the potential relentlessly pushing past your comfort zone, along with frustration,
to excel is determined by genetics. struggle, setbacks and failures. Here are the six keys to achieving
excellence I’ve found most effective:
During the past year, I’ve read no fewer than five books — and a raft
of scientific research — that challenge that assumption. I’ve found Pursue what you love. Passion is an incredible motivator. It fuels
it’s possible to build any given skill or capacity the same way we do focus, resilience and perseverance.
a muscle: push past your comfort zone, then rest.
Do the hardest work first. Most great performers, Ericsson and
Like everyone who studies performance, I’m indebted to Anders others have found, delay gratification and practice in the morning.

33. That’s when most of us have the highest energy and the fewest Ritualize practice. Will and discipline are wildly overrated. As the
distractions. researcher Roy Baumeister has found, none of us have very much of
it. The best way to take on difficult tasks is to ritualize them — build
Practice intensely without interruption for periods of no specific, inviolable times at which you do them.
longer than 90 minutes and then take a break. The evidence
is equally strong that great performers practice no more than 4½ I have practiced tennis deliberately over the years, but never enough
hours a day. to achieve a truly high level of excellence. I’ve got too many other
higher priorities to give tennis that attention right now. But I find it
Seek expert feedback, in intermittent doses. The simpler and exciting to know that I’m still capable of getting far better at tennis
more precise the feedback, the more equipped you are to make — or at anything else — and so are you.
adjustments. Too much feedback, too continuously, can create
cognitive overload, increase anxiety, and interfere with learning.
Take regular renewal breaks. Relaxing after intense effort not
Tony Schwartz is the president and CEO of The Energy Project
only provides an opportunity to rejuvenate, metabolize and embed and the author of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working.
learning. It’s also during rest that the right hemisphere becomes Become a fan of The Energy Project on Facebook and
more dominant, which can lead to creative breakthroughs. connect with Tony and the Energy Project on Twitter.

34. Consumers are becoming increasingly cynical of big 3. Align the cause with your product or brand.
business and compassionate toward social causes. Consumers are
Make it clear how buying from your brand addresses a social need.
looking for companies who wear their hearts on their packaging and
in their marketing. When faced with similar brands, they will choose
the brand that is linked to a personally meaningful cause. In fact, 4. Look for partners who share your passion.
four out of five American adults make purchases of products that are Are there other entrepreneurs with whom you could partner to
linked to school fundraising products every year – even when they strengthen your impact? Are there existing nonprofit organizations
didn’t feel they needed the product! that you could support through your business’s social endeavor? You
don’t have to navigate this path alone. There are plenty of worthy
It’s the perfect time for entrepreneurs to embrace social innovation organizations that would love to work with your company.
to accelerate business results. Here are five steps to inspire you to
put a little emotion into your business: 5. Track your progress and share with your customers.
1. Identify those needs that are most important to you Let your customers know their collective impact increases goodwill.
and your customers.
There has never been a better time to invest in social innovation.
Make a list of the social issues that you care about. Ask your customers Make a difference while driving your bottom line.
where their interests lie.
Tania Mulry is a concerned mother of three young boys
2. Think local and personal.
turned social entrepreneur. In her role as President of
Writing one big check to a national charity will not inspire a customer EdRover, Inc., a California Public Benefit Corporation,
she aims to connect businesses and families in support of
as much as a check to her son’s classroom project. U.S. schools. Its signature mobile application, edRover,
drives Consumers to visit participating businesses in order to
collect donations for educational programs.

35. Goodified would like to thank all of our contributors!
Goodified Director
Munir Haddad Sustainability Leadership in the Face of Adversity
Ashley Borg
Producer Interstitial Innovation Magic
Melanie Moser Eric Wegerbauer
The Power of One
Art Direction
Ashley Borg
Ashley Borg & Shaun Forouzandeh
Entrepreneur
Production/Quality Control James Ellis
Lisa Naso Hunter
What Would Winnie the Pooh (and Others) Do?
Vu Dang
Article Designers The Five Habits of Highly Effective Hives
Ashley Borg
Convergence of Intention
Munir Haddad The Most Dangerous Word in the English Language
Munir Haddad
Whatever Happened to Downtime?
Ashley Borg On Being “Real”
Ashley Borg
Morning Friends, Who Can I Help Today?
10 Commands for a Digital Age
Shaun Forouzandeh
James Ellis
Reality is Overrated as a Motivator
Profiting Society
Mike Lee
Vu Dang
Citizen Consumer
Clean Coal Revolution
Andrew Rubey
Ashley Borg
Wurld Water
Inspiration Can Lead to Education
Cory Naso
James Ellis
Is Your Organization Playing With a Full Deck?
Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything
Vu Dang
Vu Dang
The Green Business Decade in Review
Connect with What Matters
Ashley Borg
James Ellis
A Brief Guide to Life
Cory Naso This book is powered by Direct Partners