Craftiness and a Better World

One thing that I really enjoyed about chapter 5 was the insight about the purchasing power of consumers.  We understand through the example of the shift in Big Tobacco companies and through projects like Slow Movements when groups of people with similar ideas join together, they can really change the way that big business, and even industries internationally function.

This primarily hit home for me because as a business owner developing a company that is attempting to change the way that people think about shopping and wearing clothing,  I do think of the retail industry as needing change.  I believe that in terms of fashion apparel, it’s time to make retailing more about personal style and less about fashion being dictated by magazines and big advertisers.  Ideas like the Slow Cities and truly inspirational people like Jamie Oliver that work together to change something as big as the food industry, prove that truly anything is possible.

It is quite the revolutionary yet sensible idea to wrap your head around: If you believe something can be better in the world, you can in fact change it through business (and a crafty one at that!).  This is at the core of Base of the Pyramid / social enterprise thinking and a nice correlation to the entire book.  Whether you are combating children’s foot diseases through some crafty shoes or knitting for Cambodia, your work can do good in a big or small way.

A key takeaway from this reading thus far for me is that “corporate” doesn’t have to be a dirty word for creative folks and positivity in business stems from the leadership.  So if you’re reading this and you want to do a little (or a lot) of good, it’s all possible with some creative thinking and doing.

Access Birthrights

Even though we are in the middle of reading chapter four, I wanted to bring up a thought from chapter one. On page 23 Field writes “…the intention that through our actions (in business and elsewhere) we may diminish suffering and treat all beings with respect and compassion. With this intention, we aspire that all beings have access to food, water, shelter, medical care, and such other things that are our birthright.”

This makes me think of all the issues that have been playing out in the news for the past year, especially in relation to the huge health care bill that was passed. It was even brought up in the debates between politicians that health care is a debate in philosophy. I think these debates are evidence of the influence of greed on our culture — the general argument that I regularly hear is “I don’t want my taxes to pay for (insert social cause)”  and this seems to be representative of our obsession with self-advancement rather than advancement of society as a whole. I know the debate is really deeper than that, but ultimately our country does seem to have a tendency to focus on individual wealth and success rather than the common good. Whether that is right or wrong in regard to different issues will always be debated, but I think that Field makes a good point that if our actions benefit the whole, we will benefit individually as a result (i.e. as society progresses, we progress along with it).

Guest Blogger for CraftMBA Book Club – Rachel Brooks

Hi Everyone! I’d like to introduce myself as well as a guest contributor to the CraftMBA Book Club for the current book Business and the Buddha (also still anxiously waiting on Amazon so I can catch up with the rest of you!).

I’m a new entrepreneur with a special interest in mass customization in apparel. Currently, I am working to develop and launch a line of clothing and accessories that allows customers to customize goods virtually called The Style Cooperative. Also, there’s a community/culture aspect that is important to me as well, which will be my area of focus while reading the book. You can read more about the business and some of my style inspiration musings on my blog, http://thestylesocial.blogspot.com

As I approach the time for the company to officially launch, I’m really looking to develop ways to ensure that the core values and beliefs that drove me to work with apparel stay true in the work that we do. I want to create something unbelievably positive, so it is my hope that this book will help open me to new and positive ways of thinking about business, style, culture, and the people that bring it all together.

Finally, as a newbie to owning a business, I’m most excited to learn from the more seasoned craftsters in business here.

Looking forward to sharing ideas with you!

Chapter 2: Business Beyond Profit

I love the idea to incorporate the “Cause No Harm” value to all businesses and, in fact, to every decision in life. It goes hand and hand with our own constitution that states we all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as long as that pursuit doesn’t harm anyone else. Same principle….. Adding this one value would change things and I can think of one industry that would have to stop selling all products. Until that happens, however, consumers can drive the market by not doing business with any company that doesn’t incorporate this value.

Does anyone else see the good that would come from incorporating this value in our everyday lives? What other ways could consumers help incorporate this value?

Christine Lindstrom – Guest Contributor for Business and the Buddha

Hi! My name is Christine Lindstrom and I am so excited to be contributing to the book club this month!

Since I started my company, Fey Handmade in December of 2008, it has grown and changed so much that I could have never even imagined all the different emotional situations I would be put in. I think this book may be extremely helpful at filling in the gaps about moral business practices and mindful business ownership – both information I have been searching for! I am so excited to read this book and start to make an impact on the world around me and give meaning to my business, beyond what I have already accomplished. I mean, really, why did we start our companies in the first place if we didn’t want to change the world a little?

Fey Handmade is a curated collection of independent designers, aimed at inspiring women’s lives with beautiful, handmade goods. I am also a painter and dabble in all sorts of (i.e. too many) things. You can check out the Fey Handmade blog here – http://feyhandmade.blogspot.com and also check out my personal blog at http://maiautumn.tumblr.com

Looking forward to lots of great discussion!

Chapter 1: Greed & Success

In Chapter 1, I found Field’s discussion of excess and the idea that “more is good, even more is even better” quite interesting. I know many businesses base success on this idea–in many ways, it is not their fault. Under the current Capitalist way of thinking, business celebrity is often synonymous with greed: Focus is purely on profits.

Do you currently measure your success in profit only? If not, how do you measure success?

Guest Blogger for Crafting an MBA Book Club

Hi there. My name is Daniella Lekach, and I’m excited to be part of the conversation for this month’s book Business and the Buddha!

I’m particularly enthusiastic about this read as it appears it will help those with both established and budding businesses to reevaluate the way their business is run. Our priorities can no longer afford to only be on Capitalism’s “bottom line” (i.e. Make as much money as possible and disregard harm that might be done to others). As a crafter, I know I want my business to be filled with the same compassion and personal nature that are found in the things I create. Hopefully, this book and our dialogues together will help point the way.

If you’d like to know more about me you can check out my blog:

http://blog.lovedaniella.com

Happy reading!

Business and the Buddha Guest Blogger

Hi, my name is Kerri and I’ll be a guest blogger for the May Book Club selection, Business and the Buddha.  I’m really excited as this is my first time to be involved with a book club.  I think it’s going to be a great experience and the book will prove to be a valuable asset for all who read it.  I feel the time is NOW for companies to reassess priorities and change they way they do business.  The ends does not justify the means.  Many of us with online businesses are new to the business world and can incorporate the ideas in this book from the beginning rather than having to change a corporate climate that has been going on for years.   I’m looking forward to this month of reading, blogging and learning together.

If you’d like to learn a little more about me you can check out my blog at http://www.beadworksbykerri.blogspot.com or my shop at http://www.beadworksbykerri.etsy.com

I’m Molly Cox and I also hope to be a contributor to the blog…that is, IF my book arrives Thursday like Amazon has promised. I didn’t think I’d have any trouble finding the book but apparently they don’t keep it readily on the shelves here in Fort Worth, TX.

A little bit about me: I live in Fort Worth with my husband Brett and our two dogs, Maddie and Buster. I am a meeting planner by day but a crafter/wanna-be artist by night. I have a strong desire to learn more about building a business which attracted me to the Crafting an MBA website in the first place. I’m hoping Business and the Buddha will be a great read with many lessons to be learned.

If you want to learn more about me, visit my website: http://www.wix.com/poppyCOX/poppyCOX

Business and the Buddha contributor Cody Moore/Waking Illustration

Hello, my name is Cody Moore/Waking Illustration. I am an illustrator, print designer, art director and artist from the Columbia, Missouri area. I’ll be guest contributing for the next month while reading Lloyd Field’s Business and the Buddha. I am an avid reader and always looking for advice and insight into maintaining a healthy work/life balance — I think that Field’s book may offer some insight to this idea. I’m also interested in Field’s ideas about business promoting social well-being. This seems to be an especially relevant concept in the art/design world. Thanks to Megan for inviting me to contribute — I’m looking forward to the book!

Visit my blog at http://www.wakingillustration.blogspot.com or my website at http://www.wakingillustration.com