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Personal MBA in Social Entrepreneurship
Now, September 5 – October 17, 2011
In-and-around Cambodia
Here is our slightly unconventional and partially bare-boned course outline for the next 6 weeks.
I hope it is subject to change. (That’s what makes it fun!)
I am coming here each day, impromptu and unplanned. Meaning – we are going to create this thing as we go along.
It’s all open. I am not running the show, I am showing up.
It’s best to create something fresh, everyday – things always taste better that way.
I want to be open to whatever opportunities we can whip-up – which requires taking action and doing things on the spot (and is a true challenge for me personally…because my default style tends to be to sit like a hen and roost on top of my ideas and thoughts, rather than shoo them out in the open).
This course, to be truly valuable, will be open to suggestion.
And, that’s the point.
The Point.
What I hope we will get out of this – what I hope we will take forward into our ventures is …
Recalibration
That we will have made a lasting time and space for:
Better questions. Reflective pauses. Disappointing failure. Personal alignment. Passionate discovery.
Authenticity
Excitement for bright spots where things are working. Humility, transparency, and compassion where things are not.
Inspiration
Ideas about mixing money and meaning. Concepts and structures for building ventures that intend to solve social problems. Rethinking the way we have been trying to do good in the world so far.
The Itinerary
I think you can start to see a general theme, here. I like open-ended plans. Plans that don’t look like plans at all.
I don’t know the Itinerary yet.
And I am not sure if you operate like I do, but – to me – ‘I don’t know yet’?
That, my friends, is the smell of Freedom.
So toss the map out the window…we will be following our noses.
We are the map makers.
The schedule is wide open.
An open invitation for adventure.
Because it just so happens that passionate people in wide open spaces is a universal summons for serendipity.
Don’t be surprised to see a few delightfully unexpected things happen during the course of this course.
Let’s go exploring.
After Startup Weekend, we will probably be hitting the open road. And it feels like the wind might be blowing to the Northeast…
Curriculum
Topics:
WHY - MARKETS - INNOVATION - ALIGNMENT - IMPACT - VENTURES
Week 1 – September 5th -9th – Why Social Entrepreneurship. Why You.
Week 2 – September 12th – 16th – Understanding Markets
Week 3 – September 19th – 23rd – Seeking Innovation
Week 4 – September 26th – 30th – Right Alignment
Week 5 – October 3rd – 7th – Positive Impact
Week 6 – October 10th – 14th – Creating Your Venture
Final Exam – October 14th
Venture Pitch.
I am going to pitch my venture. And for an extra challenge, I will also pitch it to you in Khmer language.
(It’s a good incentive for me to continue my language studies!)
The Finale – October 15th
Join me live at TEDx Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
‘Graduation’ Celebration – October 16th
If you’re in Phnom Penh, join me for a BBQ at my house.
And after that point, class will no longer be in session but this is what I will be up to:
Home for the Holiday – On October 17th I am hopping on a plane and headed Stateside for 3 weeks, but coming back to Phnom Penh in time to catch Cambodia’s Water Festival starting November 9.
After nearly a year apart, I will be at home in Oregon to visit my family, watch a friend walk down the aisle, attend a Duck game, and gather resources for my venture.
So expect a #socent #tweetup in Portland during this time.
And November 14 will the Week 1 of Startup Life in Cambodia.
RULES!
(rules?)
Actually I’m not too keen on those strict, boxy-looking things.
But let me put out a few requests.
This is a safe space.
This is an open-learning course.
I just went back through notebooks from the past 6 months of all of my scribbled-out thoughts. My perspective has changed so much already! In that short amount of time!
Here, we are allowed to change our minds.
And – in fact – that’s the whole idea.
To start – and to build forward – in a spirit of learning and transparency.
I want to chronicle the learning.
I want to remember where I came from and how I got to where I am. To realize the critical moments, the invaluable experiences, the lightbulbs that turned on in order to bring me to a new way of thinking – especially if it is a way that is really going to change my approach to life and to business.
So I am reserving the right to change my mind. To change direction.
To get it all wrong in order to learn to do it better. To stumble, and fall forward.
I reserve the right to be free in this learning process.
You, of course, receive the same.
And if you don’t dig it – Please go away.
This isn’t the place for you.
But if this is cool with you, I am really excited you’re here.
No student loans. No application. No entrance exam.
You feel passionate about making the world better? That is enough.
It is more than enough.
There is only one requirement:
Please bring your whole self to class.
We’re going to need all the pieces and parts and apps:
Your creativity. Your compassion. Your shadows and doubts. Your questions. The fears. Your values and ambitions. The parts you love and the parts you’re not sure about.
See all of you tomorrow.
