Example 1: Me
Kevin Long – Deaf Education in Developing Countries
Problem:
Fifteen years ago, I went to Kenya to volunteer teach at a school for deaf children. At my deaf school, there were 250 deaf kids and 11 hearing teachers. The hearing teachers were trained to teach, but had no idea how to sign or communicate with the deaf kids. With limited tools, the hearing teachers would write on a chalk board and point… Can you imagine how difficult it would have been to learn from this method of teaching when you were a kid?
Action:
I founded Global Deaf Connection in order to support deaf people in developing countries in their pursuit to become teachers. I fundraised money for tutors, Kenyan sign language interpreters, and college scholarships – so deaf Kenyans could have access to higher education and become teachers at the deaf schools in Kenya.
Blockers:
The Kenyan government and some academics in the deaf community were upset. “We have to build more consensus”, “you have not completed all the paper-work”, “you are hearing and don’t understand”, etc, etc.
My reaction to these blockers:
Improve what I could and ignore everything else. I just kept thinking, “these deaf kids need deaf teachers now.”
Results:
There are now over 40 deaf Kenyan teachers mentoring, inspiring, and teaching thousands of deaf children in the deaf schools across Kenya. This is an historical number of deaf teachers for a country like Kenya – a real model for effective deaf education across the world.
Example 2:
Martin Smith – Helping People Create Change Through Their Workplace
Problem:
Millions of people everyday go to a job they hate at a company that is not creating positive change in the world.
Action:
Martin Smith travelled the US and raised $400,000 to build and launch JustMeans – an international social media platform that rallies both companies and individuals around social responsibility. This included flying all over the world (i.e. to London to recruit me, to India to recruit the tech team, etc). His dream was an on-line platform that helped companies move regular customers/stakeholders into becoming real advocates for better business.
Blockers:
“But it is impossible to break into the social media space.”
“But you have to make your site perfect before it can go live.”
“It’s impossible to create an international platform right from the start.”
Etc, etc,etc.
Martin’s reaction to the blockers:
bullshit
Results:
In only two years, Justmeans has developed best in class technology that is helping a wide range of both for-profits and non-profits use our online tools to attract and ignite advocates for better business.
Example 3
Solar Bug Electric Car Building Super Star
Do you think he has a chance or are you a “blocker”?
I’ve just been accepted as a guest blogger on All Things Reconsidered, the JustMeans blog. As a founding expert at the Keyboard Culture New Earth Community and the author of Keyboard-Culture-Global-Warming.com, I prize the effectiveness of new media to stoke people to action and look foward to the opportunity of taking my message of environmentalism and social responsibility to ever broader global markets through the very fine niche which JustMeans addresses.
As always, I welcome all feedback to my posts there. Stay tuned!
Comment by Mr. Sustainable — July 8, 2008 @ 12:40