A Bigger Voice - The Conversation

Comment by Herb Morreale on "Wisdom Entrepreneurs in the Field"

Herb Morreale — 2009-11-09T11:03:02-07:00

Yes, I truly believe fear and self-doubt are what hold people back more than anything when it comes to trying to make a big impact. I would encourage anyone who is thinking "some day I should" to ask themselves "what am I afraid of, and is that worth the delay in me not doing xyz to make the world a better place."

Comment by Carol Ross on "Wisdom Entrepreneurs in the Field"

Carol Ross — 2009-11-09T10:29:02-07:00

Hi Herb,

Thanks for your recollections about getting started. Like how you've brought up the need to act on your instincts and how that outweighs the fear of external judgments from others.

I think in the last two years, you've helped and inspired more than "a couple of people." It's been a delight to see Topplers evolve and get its footing. Your journey is one that has inspired me. Can't wait to see what comes out of the Topplers community as you continue to nurture and build it.

Comment by Herb Morreale on "Wisdom Entrepreneurs in the Field"

Herb Morreale — 2009-11-09T09:42:10-07:00

Carol,

Thanks for the nice shout out! I hope it inspires others to have the courage to try bring their ideas to life.

For me "getting started" was sitting down just about two years ago and writing a blog post about my ideas around Domino Theory. I wasn't sure if people would think I lost my mind, but I knew I was tired of worrying about it. Now two years later I know I've helped a few people, and inspired a couple others. As an entrepreneur I truly believe this is just the start of something much bigger.

Again, thanks for mentioning Topplers. I hope your readers will become a fan of our page on Facebook and follow along as we build a community of people working together to set big things in motion.

Comment by Daniel Padilla on "Traps That Wisdom Entrepreneurs Can Fall Into"

Daniel Padilla — 2009-08-04T19:48:39-06:00

Great Post! I can relate to many of these traps. "Skimping on Dream Time" and maintaining my "essense" while doing are the biggest challenges for me these days. Keeping a balance among dreaming/building a new career future, keeping up with responsibilities of the career present, being present for my young family is a constant challenge. This post was a good reminder on how to prioritize.

Thanks

Dan Padilla
Violnist, Teacher, and Writer
http://www.examiner.com/x-7007-Honolulu-Music-Examiner

Comment by Carol Ross on "Being Scrappy and Running a Marathon"

Carol Ross — 2009-08-01T13:15:51-06:00

Thanks, Lisa. Happy to know that the suggestions are useful. Have found through the years that whatever I'm learning on my journey probably has some relevance for others on the same path.

Comment by Lisa Dworkin on "Being Scrappy and Running a Marathon"

Lisa Dworkin — 2009-07-11T11:04:58-06:00

I love this blog. All of your suggestions are relevant and usable. Thanks Carol.

Comment by Carol Ross on "Iran and Social Media"

Carol Ross — 2009-06-27T18:32:13-06:00

Thanks, Herb, for pushing me to think deeper about the relationship between the core message and the medium. It's part of the reason why the first phase of creating A Bigger Voice is Crystallizing. Without that unique and compelling voice (which often comes from our story), the chances that the voice will "take off" and create a community are virtually nil. It's the equivalent of motherhood and apple pie. Unique? No. Compelling? No. But easy to voice, by anyone and everyone. I go back to the idea that if the message is unique AND compelling, it is rooted in your own human experience.

You mention voices that are "dull" and still take off. Those voices are ones that ride a wave and die out before a community can form. Viral does not mean you have the basis for a sustainable conversation/movement. You just have a lot of people talking about whatever for 15 minutes.

Comment by Herb Morreale on "Iran and Social Media"

Herb Morreale — 2009-06-26T07:58:38-06:00

Carol,

I think you should expand on the thought about the voice at the core vs. the tool. There's so much hype out there about this story (Iran and Twitter) that taking an unique and thought provoking angle is important. We can say the voice needed first, and then the tool helps expand it. But with social media, sometimes the "voice" seems pretty dull and yet it takes off. The play between the core message and the medium requires more thought from people like you... Let me say it another way, if you (Carol) have a voice on the topic the more compelling unique it is the better. Hope this feedback helps.

Comment by Carol Ross on "Iran and Social Media"

Carol Ross — 2009-06-21T16:51:56-06:00

Thanks, Dave, for your thoughtful comments. While Noonan is an adroit commentator on human behavior and political motivations, she is not a social media expert. If you take a look at her Twitter feed, you'll see that she has only cursory knowledge about how to use Twitter.

It's hard to say how history would have been different if past revolutions had occurred with Twitter and other forms of social media in the mix. However, one thing that we know from how social media impacts us today is that it provides greater transparency in all processes. That means that covert, politically-driven actions are less likely to stay covert.

This goes back to top-down vs. bottom-up approaches. With bottom-up approaches becoming more feasible and quicker to implement, top-down approaches that are incongruent with the bottom-up voices have less power. That's a biggie in today's world. What's happening in Iran is a great example of that.

Comment by Dave Murphy on "Iran and Social Media"

Dave Murphy — 2009-06-21T08:31:43-06:00

Very good post, Carol.

Peggy Noonan's article had one disturbing cliche about Americans always being "lovers of political freedom." She obviously doesn't know or conveniently forgets that the U.S. & Great Britain overthrew the first democratically elected government in the Middle East after WW II to illegitimately install the Shah of Iran to promote western interests ("All the Shah's Men" by Stephen Kinzer details our nation's role in the roots of Islamic extremism). Noonan references the Shah in her opening paragraph about how often the U.S. has gotten Iran wrong, including how we missed the revolution of 1979. Boy...have we ever gotten Iran wrong! Our nation and others have contributed to the mess in the Middle East for well over half a century by tampering.

The great hope is that social media may at last truly give people a voice and role in these issues - not just when it conveniently matches American interests of the moment. Perhaps cheap oil in the short term was a benefit to Americans & the UK, but the unintended consequences have done far more damage to countless lives in the ensuing years.

When Noonan made her historical references to the French Revolution - that such rebellions would have worked with or without social media, & social media might just encourage what's there - I challenge her point. Yes, successful revolutions may not have turned out differently, but what if Twitter & YouTube existed nearly 50 years ago & the hijacking of Iran's fledgling democracy had never happened?

America & Iran are paying the price for past illicit actions. Let's hope that these new social media tools do even more than assist today's Iran with its quest for democracy...but also protect ALL PEOPLE from tampering by ANYONE. And clearly Americans need their own reminders through tools like these of our culpability in past & present tragedies.

There's a lot of layers to what's going on here & the real solution is indeed about A Bigger Voice for all!

Comment by Carol Ross on "The Stunning Result of 10+ Years of Work"

Carol Ross — 2009-06-08T07:55:03-06:00

Thanks, Simon, for your insight. Yes, only in our place of being human can we really understand this kind of effort.

Comment by Simon Young on "The Stunning Result of 10+ Years of Work"

Simon Young — 2009-06-08T00:09:15-06:00

Beautiful video, beautiful commentary, Carol. This kind of passion is what businesses find so hard to understand. It's raw humanity, and it's amazing what we can do.

Comment by Carol Ross on "Are You Worth Following? "

Carol Ross — 2009-05-30T12:04:05-06:00

Thanks, Tre, for stopping by. I love where you are pointing, as one of the hardest things about being a wisdom entrepreneur is what happens as the community starts to get some momentum. It's critical that at some point, the wisdom entrepreneur lets go--to the community--so that the initial idea can reach its full potential. I've used the example of the founder of AA, who could not have imagined what AA would become. At some point, he let go of AA to the AA community. His 12 steps are still integral to AA but after that, there's all kinds of variations, depending on the local chapter.

Entrepreneurs in general have the same challenge--to let go at some point of their baby, to others who can grow it further.

Comment by Tre ~ on "Are You Worth Following? "

Tre ~ — 2009-05-29T16:02:24-06:00

Wow. Incredibly humbling questions but vital to assess.
I surely hope to be communicative, conversational, about the building, about the creating infrastructure that works for the all of us. But I surely know I have my sense of what works, and has worked, for me, for others. And surely my blog/posts promote that perspective. I know I'd like to find a way to coexist..without being another sliver of a pie chart...one more individual with HER perspective...you know..one of THOSE people. But what I WANT and what I DO and how I BE...there's probably huge gaps. MAYBE a starting point is finding where we all agree....I am being vague...but maybe it doesn't matter the agenda...YET...where do we agree and build from there.
Great questions. Over here pondering ongoingly ;)

Comment by Carol Ross on "4 Ways Social Media is Changing the Non-Profit World"

Carol Ross — 2009-05-24T17:46:28-06:00

Thanks for stopping by, Dan. I *abhor* the charity model, that goes after the "big give." In these times, the drawback to that model is painfully exposed. I hope that it's an opening for a model based on "value in the marketplace."

Comment by Dan Padilla on "4 Ways Social Media is Changing the Non-Profit World"

Dan Padilla — 2009-05-24T13:33:38-06:00

Thanks for a great post. Your comments seem very timely for those of us in the Honolulu Symphony. We seem to continually be asking for "community support" these days. I agree that things work much better the other way around.

Comment by Carol Ross on "4 Ways Social Media is Changing the Non-Profit World"

Carol Ross — 2009-05-22T15:13:25-06:00

Just found your post about Mark Pesce's thoughts on clouds vs. towers: http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/05/mark-pesce-at-cua09-think-like-a-cloud-make-a-storm-kill-the-tower.html

Fabulous piece! Really enjoyed the question of how a cloud interfaces with a tower. Also agree that communities are concentric circles of involvement and intrigued by what keeps the cloud together is love of what the cloud is about. Beautifully expressed.

Thanks, Beth, for your stories and insights about using social media for social causes.

Comment by Beth Kanter on "4 Ways Social Media is Changing the Non-Profit World"

Beth Kanter — 2009-05-22T14:46:24-06:00

I think that the key for organizations is start working more like "clouds" than "towers" - not sure if you read Mark Pesce's essay on it - but I found it very insightful and helped me think about the changes.

Comment by Carol Ross on "Why Commitment Trumps Passion"

Carol Ross — 2009-05-17T22:31:34-06:00

Thanks, Herb, for "egging me on" to think about this more deeply. Some thoughts come to mind:

* A couple of years ago, I was in a three-day workshop with Michael Gerber, author of the E-Myth. He was coaching me in front of the room about having a big enough dream to work with. I asked him, "What if I'm interested in many things?" He said, "No, this is about something you would give your life to." I've seen individuals like me, passionate about many things. But it wasn't until I got to a deeper place of why I'm on this earth that I could commit to something that I would give my life to.

In practical terms this means, not being distracted by "lesser" projects that don't align with my life purpose. What is my life purpose? To uncover wisdom in unexpected places and to build on that wisdom to help others. That's why I work with "wisdom entrepreneurs."

You know you're committed when you say no more often in service of saying yes to something else that really matters. That doesn't necessarily happen with passion.

* Longevity is the result of commitment, but it's not the same as commitment. I stayed in engineering for 15 years. That's longevity. Was it commitment? Not really. I had a job. I was competent. I was good at it.

* In terms of sticking to something when the chips are down, yes, I think commitment plays into this. In this situation, resolve comes not from fear (e.g., plowing through because I don't want to fail) but rather from a sense of purpose (e.g.,playing the role that I'm meant to play.) It has much more a sense of "I can't stop myself from doing this, because it feels right." Passion can also feel like this but I've seen individuals who quash passion, because they couldn't commit. Commitment would have required serving passion at all costs.

* Commitment requires resourcefulness, exactly because it means going through good times and bad times. Passion doesn't require resourcefulness. It requires heart and love. Commitment requires discipline--to say no in service of saying yes. Passion doesn't require discipline. It requires expression. If passion is about divergence and expansion, commitment is about convergence and singular purpose.

Hope that helps. I appreciate the question and sometimes, the question creates more questions. What do others think?

Comment by Herb Morreale on "Why Commitment Trumps Passion"

Herb Morreale — 2009-05-17T21:34:32-06:00

I think you should build on this more. How do committment and passion differ? I believe that "success" (achieving the goal) is mostly about hard work, especially when the chips are down. And, it definitely hard to get people behind something (lead them) if you're not passionate. So, is it really about longevity? If you work at something long enough you'll succeed? Obviously its more than that, but I want to hear you talk about that.

Comment by Carol Ross on "Why Commitment Trumps Passion"

Carol Ross — 2009-05-16T08:54:34-06:00

Thanks, Dave for that example of what it takes sometimes to come up with a NYT bestseller! People see the end product but they don't see all the work that went into it.

Reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers. He talks about how mastery at the highest level requires 10,000 hours of practice, no matter what the discipline. He cites the history of the Beatles. Everyone saw them in their 10,000th hour and thought of them as an overnight sensation. In reality, their early years were spent in Hamburg, Germany, playing day after day in crummy joints. Crummy in the sense that these were small, unknown clubs but great in the sense that it helped them hone their craft.

Yes, commitment does indeed trump passion.

Comment by Dave Murphy on "Why Commitment Trumps Passion"

Dave Murphy — 2009-05-16T07:15:00-06:00

This is an excellent post, Carol. You draw a distinction that once made, seems obvious. But it's not at all apparent to many who plunge into something without the staying power.

With several first-hand experiences with helping causes, the important line between passion and commitment is the difference maker. It's not at all hard to get fired up about an issue or a project. It's quite another thing to carry it through to completion.

A local writing contact (Doug Stanton - http://books.simonandschuster.com/Horse-Soldiers/Doug-Stanton/9781416580515) will be featured on this weekend's cover of the NY Times Book Review. He has a great story to tell, a track record of success, and clearly he's exceptionally talented. But none of that matters as much as the fact that he worked and struggled for six full years to bring the story to completion.

His idea was easy to get passionate about; his commitment has created a bestseller and future feature film.

Comment by Carol Ross on "Why Commitment Trumps Passion"

Carol Ross — 2009-05-14T15:18:57-06:00

Thanks, Marissa, for stopping by and letting me know the impact of this posting on you. Yes, if you get the chance to hear Greg Mortenson speak, take it! You can see his speaking schedule on his site, www.threecupsoftea.com. He's booked months in advance, so you'll get plenty of notice if he's coming to a town near you.

In the meantime, the book is a quick and meaningful read.

Comment by Marissa on "Why Commitment Trumps Passion"

Marissa — 2009-05-14T06:00:18-06:00

This is a beautiful, profound and inspiring post, Carol. I read it twice, and I'm bookmarking it so I can come back and read it again later too.

And I haven't read Three Cups of Tea, but now I really want to, and I really want to see Greg Mortensen speak!

Comment by Carol Ross on "Jeremiah Owyang, Part 2: The Nature of Communities"

Carol Ross — 2009-04-30T20:44:29-06:00

Excellent insights! Thanks, Holly, for emphasizing why face-to-face is so important for building community. I also appreciate your point about value add. We are always making trade-offs in terms of where we spend our time and energy. Communities have to provide value in order to be worth the trade-off that individuals make to participate in them.