Green Team USA

Snow Day Official

You all know how much we like to come in to the office and work even when most stay home, right? Today is . . . . wait for it . . . . snow exception. Most of us made it in while others got stuck in the boonies (don't throw your back out shoveling). What they missed was quality time spent on the roof throwing snowballs at the photographer; have fun everybody!

We Have a Dream

Here at Green Team we're working today. But that doesn't mean that we're not observing Martin Luther King Day in our hearts, minds and spirits (which, by the way, are currently battling the winter doldrums and winning, but only because temperatures have been creeping towards 40 for the past few days). While Dr. King's vision of a harmonious, racially integrated society was certainly the most famous and arguably the most important dream of all time, his four simple words have come to represent much more than the Civil Rights Movement alone. Really, 'I have a dream' has become the everyday, everything, everybody platform that keeps the world going, that gives us all something inspiring to stand on. A dream is the one thing that people, no matter who they are or where they are, have in common. You have a dream; your cousin has a dream; your dentist has a dream; your mailman has a dream; that girl ringing up your groceries has a dream; that man sitting next to you on the airplane has a dream; your new neighbor has a dream; the residents of Port-au-Prince urgently, desperately have a dream. And yes, those of us in the sustainability movement have a dream too. How to realize it? Well, that's why we're working today.

A Hole in the Wall

We're lucky enough to have Erika's good energy here at Green Team every day. But it would be wrong of us to horde it all for ourselves (come on, we're not that selfish). So, last Friday, we gladly gave her the day off so that she could spend Halloween weekend brightening the lives of a group of kids living with chronic and/or terminal illnesses. Erika's reflections on the experience inspired us all to put down our coffee, look up from our keyboards and pause to appreciate both the delicacy and the power of life - so we wanted to share her words with you all:

Life often presents us with challenges and for some those challenges are so large they feel as if they are faced with an insurmountable wall. This weekend I squeezed though a hole in that wall and into another world and here’s my feeble attempt to share what I saw and felt.

Before we go there though we must know where we’re coming from. Of course most of us are coming from “normal” lives where we often take our health for granted. Some of us, however, are coming from a place that is full of sick days, doctors, and very long hospital visits, where great pain and suffering often reign supreme. This is a world where the walls are high and made of the thickest stone. Fortunately, as I have already told you that wall has a small hole. And within that hole is a world where we are allowed to live instead of hoping we don’t die. There is no best or worst, no first or last. There’s no need for locks on the doors as respect is a given. There is no judgment passed and therefore no inhibitions. Energy is constantly circulating, those that are on full-throttle are always eager to share with the ones who are running low, as everyone here knows that energy is a loop with no beginning or end. The language of this world is love, it’s in every spoken word and every silent gesture. Laughter and happiness and hope reign supreme and are the sole goal of every endeavor. In this world,  “impossible” is just a word and a dream can become a reality.

This world is The Hole in Wall Gang Camp – a special camp for children who suffer from life-threatening illnesses. I was lucky enough to have spent my past Halloween weekend there with a group of unbelievably selfless and inspiring counselors, and children who have reminded me of the most valuable lessons in life. It’s amazing the strength, courage and wisdom found in this group of 8 and 9 year olds. I will take away with me many memories and lessons from this weekend but what touched me most is the power of love, hope and the human spirit.

Election Day is Finally Here!

I know everyone is reallllllly excited right? After that exciting primary? And that nail-biter of a runoff? Next Tuesday, November 3, is Election Day in New York City and that means you get to choose who is Mayor of this town, Comptroller, Public Advocate and also who gets to represent you in the City Council. And, if you live in Queens, you get to choose the Borough President. Important stuff folks, really. You know the drill by now, right?

Polls are open from 6am to 9pm; additional polling location information can be found here. And, if you want to learn about all of the candidates, check this site.

Don't forget, folks! And don't be lazy; wake up early tomorrow morning and vote before you get to work because you probably won't have time in the evening. You know it's true.

Over a Million Miles on Sunday

This Sunday, November 1, will be the 40th running of the New York City Marathon, sponsored by ING since 2003. Many of us at the office are avid runners (but none of us are running it this year) but we'll definitely be on the sidelines cheering on the expected 40,000+ runners, everyone from the insane world-class front runners clocking in sub-5:00 minute miles to the recreational runners and weekend warriors, the fitness freaks, the wheelchair racers, the always present and generous charity runners and especially the amazing Achilles Track Club runners who, no matter what their physical impairment, be it blindness, amputation or MS, still be doing it all the way! We salute each and every one of you.

We'll be out on the course at various points; if there are any runners reading this, Jeff will be up around Mile 20, just over the Willis Avenue Bridge coming into the Bronx so look for a little pit stop right by the gas station on the right; look for the huge Armitron sign! A course map is available for spectators who want some good views on Sunday.

And don't forget, daylight savings time adjustment also happens on Saturday night so don't forget to adjust your clocks: 2:00am becomes 1:00am so change it before you go to sleep post-Halloween.

Good luck runners! Rest easy the next day or so, get those good carbs in and enjoy every single mile of that run. Keep your eyes forward but also keep your ears open because we'll all be hollering for you! Let's go!

Copenhagen: Hugh Knows

Even when he's way up north at the Adventure Travel World Summit in Quebec, being chilled to the bone by arctic winds (or what remains of them), Hugh still finds the time to inspire us to blog about climate change:

Many of us were disappointed with the United States’ performance in Kyoto. Well, thankfully, Copenhagen is another chance for U.S. leadership to take aggressive steps to curb global warming. But hey, you don’t have to sit back and wait for world leaders to decide—here are four things you can do right now to show your support for the COP15 conference this December.

1. Support the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Bill.
The world will measure their own action against that of the United States, so what we do leading up to Copenhagen counts! Read the bill here and then call or write your Congress member through this site.

2. Support companies that support Copenhagen.
We could never name them all here, but this is a smattering of lists that have companies who want legislation on climate change:

Combat Climate Change

The Climate Group

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

3. Contribute ideas on how to combat climate change.
You can do this at COP15’s site, Climate Thoughts. You can also vote for other ideas.

4. Donate to one of the many organizations working on climate change.
They will be supporting aggressive emissions and environmental protection policy in Copenhagen:

The Alliance for Climate Protection

Earth Day Network

Earth Action

Earth Justice

Environmental Defense Fund

The Pew Charitable Trusts

National Resources Defense Council

The Nature Conservancy

Rainforest Action Network

Sierra Club

350

Union of Concerned Scientists

Wildlife Conservation Society

Can't get enough of Copenhagen? Or of Hugh for that matter? Check out his most recent g-Think article, Copenhagen Calling, here.

National Design Week is . . . halfway over.

But that's okay because you still have until this Saturday, October 24, to check out, for free, the exhibitions at the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum (along with various screenings, talks and other special events.)

They started National Design Week a few years ago to coincide with their National Design Awards (10th anniversary this year, gala event taking place tomorrow night, we are not recipients of any awards unfortunately) and what that means for you is the chance to catch two very cool exhibitions: Design for a Living World has been on since May and a few of us have already checked out the show, a study on sustainability and design through the pairing of well-known designers with specific sites/places/countries. The new show which just opened this past weekend is Design USA: Contemporary Innovation, a look at 10 years worth of past National Design Awards winners; should be a great retrospective of some modern classics. We'll be there this Saturday morning, along with the rest of the crowds.

And if you are not in New York, there are a ton of other design-related events happening all across the country this week; you can find a map/listing on the official National Design Awards site. Happy designing!

note: the word "design" is found 15 17 times in this post; feels over-designed.

Wiimbledon Rocks!

Thanks to our new neighbors, Toy, for a lovely welcome party to our their new digs; Sam did an awesome job setting up the conference room for an evening of headbands, doubles tennis and of course, sangria. Using a pioneering motion-capture technique called Graphical Interpretative Flow, we present just a few bits of the action. Ivan and Tony took top honors but a wii-match is a certainty.

TOMS Shoes - social entrepreneurship that feels good

Anyone who has ever lived in or visited New York knows that there's one thing you do pretty much more than anything else... you walk. And, if you're a woman, there's one thing that's more important than any accessory in New York: a good pair of walking shoes that are both cool and stylish (this is New York you know). Well, what if every time you bought one of those comfy cool walking shoes a needy child was given the same pair of shoes? Since its founding in 2006, TOMS shoes has provided over 140,000 shoes for kids worldwide. Shop online for your own and help them reach this year's goal of 300,000.

You may have seen the AT&T commercial starring the ruggedly handsome Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes. Whether intended or not, Blake has proven himself to be the New York woman's social entrepreneur of the year (at least at Green Team). We're all about doing well by doing good, and TOMS' One for One business model is a great example of how you can use the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good.

By the way, they also have lots of great styles for men, but the shipment of goodies that arrived last week at the agency were for the ladies! Lindsey is thinking about getting the silver and red sequin ones next... obviously!

Green Team at the World Business Forum, Day Two

If you missed the previous posts about Day One of the World Business Forum, please catch them here and here. Otherwise, proceed!

Day Two
Once again, I got to Radio City Music Hall nice and early, so I could snag a good seat, and once again I was successful (it was almost exactly where I sat (see above) when I saw the Pretenders perform there about 20 years ago). I wanted a good seat, because the day's line-up of speakers was quite impressive. It began with the Morning of The Global CEOs:

Dennis Nally
Since Nally is the Chairman of Pricewaterhouse Coopers I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised that he mostly spoke about issues surrounding global accounting. His message, however, was not nearly as dull as it sounds, and one that could easily be transferred to virtually any industry category.

People have lost their trust and confidence in business, and in order to regain that trust, business must focus on two key areas: transparency and collaboration. (I'm pretty sure Nally was psychically channeling Hugh Hough, though I'm not sure exactly how.)

Francisco Gonzales
Gonzales is CEO of BBVA, one of the ten largest banks in the world, and according to him, the only big bank unfazed by the financial crisis. He attributes this to BBVA being focused on more traditional banking practices and relationships with customers, and not on investments.

Gonzales was the second speaker to use the term "short-termism" as the root cause of the financial crisis. BBVA is the second most profitable bank in the world (I wonder what's the first?), and Gonzales attributes its success to providing customer-based innovation in a business atmosphere of trust and integrity. Given the paucity of those qualities in so much of this country's banking sector, BBVA's arrival in the US next year could be something to watch for.

Peter Vosser
I found it interesting/ironic/weird that the first speaker to mention Copenhagen 2015 was the CEO of an oil company (Royal Dutch Shell, to be precise). Vosser said his industry must not only find more energy, but do so "at a reduced cost to the environment." Go, Pete, go!

Vosser called for a global cap and trade policy for carbon, and that Americans shouldn't be afraid of such a thing, because it would provide "great opportunity for wealth generation." (Ah yes, we Americans do like our wealth generation.) Furthermore, he called on American government and industry to lead the way in the battle against climate change.

Morris Chang
No, he did not speak of the pompitude of love, but rather how his company, Taiwan Semiconductor, is optimistic about its future, and blazing full speed ahead with innovation, primarily in the nano-solar field. Chang also mentioned the high percentage of Taiwanese college students who are studying engineering, and praised their work ethic (Jeff, rising from his daily nap, concurs).

Roger Agnelli
When asked to describe Brazil's outlook on the economy, Agnelli—CEO of Vale, the world's second largest mining company—said, "good."

Good, indeed, thanks to China. When the moderator described China as "the Walmart of the natural resources market—big and demanding," Agnelli said, "I pray for China every day."

It was very interesting to hear how much more positive CEOs from China and Brazil are compared to their US and European counterparts. Thank God no Russian CEOs were there, the glee could have been blinding.

Gary Hamel
I'm not sure what this means, but I took more notes during Hamel's presentation than I did any other. Hamel, a London School of Economics professor, spoke about the need to completely redefine and rebuild business management. he cited three challenges future management must address:

    1. How do you build a company that can change as fast as change itself?
    2. How can you build a company where innovation is everyone's job?
    3. How can you inspire extraordinary performance?

The answer to these questions is, of course, beer. Ha ha, just kidding. There are no answers today because, according to Hamel, "they lie outside the envelope of our current capabilities."

Hamel did identify one company he felt was moving in the direction toward the future of management, W.L. Gore (makers of Gore-Tex). There is no hierarchy at Gore, rather a lattice, where all employees are equal until raised to leadership position by their peers.

Irene Rosenfeld
I was really looking forward to hearing how Rosenfeld turned Kraft around in only three years as CEO. I was woefully disappointed. Rosenfeld's presentation felt canned, trite and insincere.

She spoke slowly and deliberately, as if she were addressing a classroom of high schoolers. She smiled disingenuously as she talked about how Kraft closed plants and relieved 19,000 people of their jobs. But it was all worthwhile, because their innovation group came up with a breakthrough that truly altered the nature of their business, Oreo Cakesters.

Accompanying Rosenfeld's dumbed-down oratory were stock image slides so insufferably corny, they caused my eyes to roll so far back into my head, I was actually able to witness my brain cells as they atrophied. For example: "we needed to raise the bar," visual—a high jumper going over a bar; "we build a platform for innovation," visual—a platform diver standing on a …you guessed it, a platform; "we had to accelerate the process," visual—a blurred grouping of runners' legs.

Rosenfeld spoke of Kraft's quest for unearthing the company's "higher purpose." She and her executive team explored this issue for months, reaching out to employees and other stakeholders for their input. Finally, after extensive research and exhaustive soul-searching, the management team arrived at Kraft's higher purpose, "Make today delicious."

The crowd rocketed to its feet and roared its approval.

Paul Krugman
"Apocalypse Now has given way to Apocalypse On Hold." That was how Krugman, the only Nobel Prize winner present (or at least presenting) that day, assessed the present global financial situation.

Krugman explained how the financial meltdown happened (and introduced a new term, "Bernanke Banking"), and predicted the US would not see "normal levels of employment" for another five years. Then he moved on to world trade.

World trade. Globalization. Lots of charts and graphs. I'm sorry, I love Krugman's columns, but his presentation was just a little too eco-wonky for me (and the few others I spoke to afterwards). While globalization has its problems, Krugman believes the bottom line is, it's "a happy story."

Bill Clinton
The big finish. The piece de resistance. El enchilada grande. Before Clinton took the stage, I noticed a crew removing the teleprompter (for the first time throughout the two days). I guess he didn't want to deal with the same accusations the right was throwing at Obama earlier this year. (Those of you who follow me on Twitter will recognize this message. In fact, I was tweeting throughout the two days, which was kinda interesting, and yes, you can tweet and listen at the same time.)

Clinton said the world today is in a state of "interdependence," which is far more encompassing than globalized. We are all deeply connected, and "divorce is not an option." He cited the three persistent challenges the world must deal with moving forward.

    1. Unequal. In terms of poverty, education and healthcare.
    2. Unstable. See the financial crisis, China, swine flu and terrorism.
    3. Unsustainable. As a result of climate change.

To prove the concept of interdependence, Clinton discussed about how the US war on drugs in Colombia, and the lifting of the assault rifle ban during the Bush administration ("by people who think that the Second Amendment means that every American has the right to own an Uzi") has negatively affected our relations with Mexico.

He believes that the energy sector has the greatest opportunity for job growth in the near future, and that the recent healthcare "debate" has made him "laugh, cry and gag."

In summary
It was a long and intense two days. There were a lot of very smart people sharing a lot of good information on business issues both within and outside the walls of a company. The themes of responsibility and community were echoed often. Anyone playing Buzzword Bingo would have done well with the words "recovery," "innovation" and "values."

I count myself fortunate to have been able to attend the World Business Forum, and hope I'll be able to return in the future—perhaps even as a speaker. Granted,  that idea may seem a bit far-fetched right now, but if there's anything I took away from the past two days, it's that odds can be overcome, and great things can be achieved with grit, imagination, passion and a little bit of luck.

–Hank Stewart