Daniel Lubetzky

I am often struck at how some of the best people at the best companies make big mistakes just because of lack of attention to detail.  Some wonderful ideas or initiatives can get in trouble because of bad execution.

Small example: I was forwarded by a team member a very cool and innovative program from CHASE to donate $5 million dollars to charities chosen by the community.  Beyond being generous, it also was designed to build the CHASE brand and goodwill by encouraging Facebook users to vote for their favorite charities – nothing wrong with that in my book.

You’d think that when you are donating FIVE MILLION DOLLARS you’d be very careful with how you phrase things and execute.  Yet the home page of the campaign had the following image describing the program:

Can you spot the problem?

They commit to donate $5mm yet their plan only adds up to $4mm!!! ($2.5mm made up of $25k to 100, plus $1mm big gift, plus $500k made up of 5 grants of 100k).

I couldn’t believe it.  I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out and deeply-buried in the site’s legalise was an innocent answer – they had failed to include another step through which they are going to give out $1mm more.

The eligible charity receiving the most votes will be awarded $1 million, the top five runners-up will receive $100,000 each and the 100 finalists, including the top winners, will be awarded $25,000 each. Additionally, a special Advisory Board led by prominent national philanthropists will allocate $1 million to the nominated charities of its choice. [emphasis added]

But countless users will be suspicious of CHASE’s generous plan just because of a silly lack of attention to detail.

Interesting UC Berkeley study on human compassion…

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I was really touched by Maureen Dowd’s eulogy column about Abe Pollin.

He follows the tradition of frugal leaders like David Ben-Gurion, and characters from Isaac Bashevis-Singer’s shtetl stories, whose Judaism was about helping those in need.

Here is an interesting article that scientifically confirms one of the underlying assumptions of the KINDED Movement and the KIND philosophy: that doing good onto others actually feels good and benefits the one doing the KINDING as much as the person being KINDED.

Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust presents:

Tuesday, November 17, 7 P.M.

Making Money and Doing Good

Moderated by Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times

Daniel Lubetzky, Kind Inc. and PeaceWorks Foundation/OneVoice Movement; Nancy Lublin, Dress For Success and Do Something; and Barry Nalebuff, Honest Tea

The news has been marked in recent years by the moral and literal downfall of prominent businesses. Meet a new generation of Jewish entrepreneurs who are leading a shift in corporate culture and philanthropy by integrating their business plans with social activism.    

Join us for a tour of The Morgenthaus: A Legacy of Service at 6 P.M.  Space is limited.  Pre-registration for tour is required. Call 646.437.4202.

TICKETS:

Free with suggested donation.

Advance reservations recommended.

TO RESERVE TICKETS:

http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&pl=jewishheritage&eventId=2817044

OR CALL 646.437.4202

In Person: Visit the Museum Box Office at 36 Battery Place, Battery Park City, New York.

I was forwarded this really cool note from a KIND consumer that reached out to us regarding the KINDED movement…

Name: Melissa [last name removed]

E-mail: [removed]

Telephone:

Comment: Hello KIND team,

I happened to discover your "KINDED" card movement through my on-line subscription to "Springwise". It is an amazing way to encourage everyone (especially in this day and age) to take a moment out of our busy schedules to perform an act of kindness and then to encourage the receiver to do the same.

Next September, I will be marrying my best friend and we didn’t want to give out the usual favours that friends and family either leave behind, toss or eat. We wanted a favour that leaves a lasting positive note on our guests and the world we live in. The moment I read the article, there was no doubt that your KINDED cards are IT. Is there any possible way to arrange to have a bulk amount of cards? Approximately 100 to 150? We live in [removed] and we are willing to look at the cost of having these made, shipped, etc…If we could, we’d even include your snacks in our wedding treats but I understand that you can’t ship those outside of the US yet.

Thank you in advance for your consideration and we (eagerly and hopefully) look forward to your reply.

Melissa and Rob

Natalie in our team is following up to coordinate something with them.

I just finished watching Happy-Go-Lucky, directed by Mike Leigh.  Initially I was jarred by the ebullience of the lead character, played with Golden-Globe-winning excellence by Sally Hawkins.  But I stuck through it and discovered a well-executed character study of a woman with an eternally sunny personality (and her impact on others, including an irascible driving instructor solidly played by Eddie Marsan). 

If you think about it, it is pretty rare that we delve into understanding "excessively" positive people, compared to studies of darkness.  Yet the introspection pays off, and really delves nicely and naturally into her philosophy of life, human nature, and social conditioning.

Why do some of us live our lives wanting to be liked by everyone? Is it insecurity (from lack of affection, or from just biological need to be liked)?  Is it a Karmik outlook of life (treat others with warmth and it will come back to you)? Is it our genes? Or our family history or ethnic culture (living in the shadow of the Holocaust)?  Or our upbringing and parental models? Religious teaching? Is it guided by altruism, self-interest, or just being oneself?

And is it a "good" way to live our lives? Can we make this a better world by making others smile? (and doing unexpected acts of kindness for them – or KINDINGS – as KIND is encouraging with KINDED?).  And what drives some people to care so much about others and about making this world better, while others are less so motivated?

Do we yield better people if guided by social awareness and concern or by internal values?

One of my best friends never cares what anyone else thinks about him – and it doesn’t make him any less ethical or upstanding, quite the opposite in his case. He has a solid core of values, does what he feels is right, and doesn’t wonder how society will receive it.  He also doesn’t lose sleep.  But maybe he is a rare case? Certainly there are many examples of people who also do not care about what others may think and who are not role models for society.

Others like me are always wondering how their behavior and actions will be judged by others, very self-aware, introspective, and insecure.  In some ways this insecurity and self-consciousness can be a positive trait that makes us strive to be better and improve.  But it can also increase occasions of grief and worry, and more dangerously for people in positions of power or responsibility (say a politician leading a nation), it can cause them to bend to political/social pressure and potentially reach a wrong but ephemerally popular decision.  And just like in the other strand, there are also examples of self-aware people who may obsess about how others will see them but just put up fake mirrors and end up harming the world no less (think Bernard Madoff).

What is interesting about Poppy, the lead character in Happy-Go-Lucky, is that she is eternally positive and deeply committed to making those around her happier, WITHOUT judging herself or taking herself too seriously.  She is forgiving – of others and of herself.  That is quite interesting. And not as easy to emulate. She seems genuinely interested in healing the world – and in her own way, she quite succeeds at times.

Beyond values and outside impact, as far as our individual journeys in life, it certainly must be the case that having a positive outlook must yield greater happiness and joy in life than seeing life through gray. 

In very deep ways, attitude is destiny.

Very few people in my life have struck me as much as Van Jones for being as exceptionally inspiring, as extraordinarily sincere in their commitment to help improve the lot of others, and as leaders with such well rounded qualifications as Van’s.

Van is a fellow "Young Global Leader" from the World Economic Forum and the subject of a Skoll/Sundance "Stories of Change" documentary.  I have known him for many years in very intimate settings, including in international settings where someone else could have been negative about the US or extreme in some sense, but this was never the case with Van Jones.

Van is all about positively inspiring others – and he does that like few others.  There is not one bone in Van that is not authentic.

His resignation from the US Administration today – apparently provoked by dirty partisan politics – is a sad step for all Americans.  He had been appointed as the "Green Czar" with a brilliant concept of tackling two problems at once with an entrepreneurial solution: overcome disenfranchisement and unemployment of inner-city youth, and address climate change challenges and lack of US competitiveness in the green industry by building programs that train young people with green manufacturing and green industry skills.

Whoever engineered these silly attacks may have won a battle but will lose the war: Van will not be stopped from doing great work for America and the world, and this forced attention at least puts a spotlight on an extraordinary public leader that deserves our support.

People ask me why I hate partisan politics – this is Exhibit #1.

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here is a cool story about a Ugandan coffee cooperative of Muslims, Christians and Jews working side by side to make quality coffee.  Very similar to the PeaceWorks model we introduced 15 years ago.  But so cool to see the initiative coming from the African community.

The company that imports and markets the product, Thanksgiving Coffee Company, seems very sincerely motivated and professional.  And an NGO named Kulanu apparently catalyzed this venture.  Nice job!

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thx to Natalie, Erica and Kim for pointing me to this one and including it in the Essence of KIND presentation – very much in sync with KIND and the KINDED campaign.