Daniel Lubetzky

Sometimes I stop to reflect on how far we’ve gone to implement one powerful but seemingly implausible idea (building a grassroots movement of moderates determined to push to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), and yet how far we have yet to go to achieve our mission, and I wonder if I really have what it takes.

OneVoice has grown from a fledgling idea with a few dozen supporters, to a movement with close to 500,000 signatories, 3,100 youth activists, and scores of dignitaries, celebrities and luminaries behind it.

 And yet, when the lights are dimmed, when the logical and methodical mind is resting, when the bravado tires, and when I am alone to wind down, I often get scared as to what I have taken on.  And I doubt myself.  Can I really help pull this off?  Can our team really execute on this bold undertaking?  What if we fail? What if the people don’t show up? What if the luminaries don’t take the bold step to inspire them? What if the people don’t care? What if I make some fatal mistake in planning? What if I disappoint all of our supporters and friends?  What if a war breaks out? What if our team succombs to the internal or external pressures? What if we don’t have what it takes?

Then I breathe again.

And I realize that if we don’t try, we will fail by simply shying away from the responsibility.

I realize that this is not about me or about OneVoice but about the future of our peoples.

I realize that while there are no guarantees we will get to the finishing line, what is guaranteed is that we will not get to the finishing line if we don’t take the first step.

 I realize that the power we are invoking is greater than anything anyone ever has relied on in this region - the power of the people – and that if we are able to channel the frustrations of millions of moderates into constructive energies towards ending the conflict – nothing and nobody will stop us.

I realize that there is no alternative but to succeed, because the future is too stark for humanity if this conflict does not get resolved.

I realize how much inspiration I draw by seeing how people always rise up to their responsibility – how even the most skeptical and cynicial ultimately will do their part.

I realize we WILL ABSOLUTELY get there – even if it will take a lot of work.

I realize there is nothing magical about doing this – other than the magic of determination and sheer depth of belief and conviction.

…I realize I better go to sleep (3:22am!) b/c I need to wake up in 5 hours or risk being late for Gil and Ayelet!

Bob Tedeschi of the New York Times today wrote in his e-commerce column about the difficult balancing act that manufacturers like PeaceWorks have to make in the online world, when selling to consumers without undermining their retail sales channel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/13/technology/13ecom.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin 

The basic rule and the basic opportunity in this space are as follows:

* RULE: as a manufacturer, what you shouldn’t do is take undue advantage of your marketing control, and ensure that you do not give undue advantage to your online channel at the detriment of your retailers; the clear example is that if the brick-and-mortar segment is selling your product for X, you shouldn’t just under-cut them with a lower price;

* OPPORTUNITY: online connections provide you an opportunity to make the pie bigger, rather than just divide it; there is a lot of value that can be created through creative programs where you are not just competing on price.

For example, KIND Snacks developed an ADVANTAGE program (http://kindsnacks.com/frequent-kind.html) for consumers where we will not give them a lower price than at the stores – the price will be the same – but besides the comfort of automated home delivery, we also reward them through a real partnership that benefits both of us: we send them free samples of new products we are developing, and we ask them to give us feedback on them; we send them free promotional materials like t-shirts, and they wear them and help us promote KIND.  We are also working to build a real NETWORK for the KIND COMMUNITY – so that the motto “Be KIND to your body, your tastebuds, and to the world” is true in all senses.

Be KIND to your body stands for eating healthy wholesome foods.

Be KIND to your tastebuds stands for eating TASTY food – you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other, as we have shown with KIND Fruit + Nut bars.

Be KIND to the world today means that by buying KIND bars, you are supporting our work with the award-winning cutting edge PeaceWorks Foundation, which launched and guides the OneVoice Movement and the Who Am I Film Project.  But we also want it to mean that being KIND TO THE WORLD should connect to the way we all live our lives, and we want the KIND COMMUNITY to embody this motto in their daily lives, so we are working with our family of consumers to develop fun but meaningful ways to establish a new model along these lines…

Doing something out of ‘self-interest’ but defining self-interest in a
broad enough and sufficiently long-term &/or sufficiently
consequential way that bears in mind societal impact.

Example: working to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not
‘altruistic’ at all. It is based on the imperative to prevent a
tragic world for our offspring. It is based on the recognition that
if the conflict doesn’t get resolved, it will impact all of OUR lives
- and that if WE don’t take steps to end it – nobody will do it for us.
.

In self-organizing systems, extremists rise up.

In the offline world, wackos can’t thrive like they do in the blog world……. colorful scary birds get a disproportionate amount of media and end-user
attention.