The following two inspiring pieces come from the curriculum FLOW produced for the Working for Good program, which debuts this month and continues into May with a series of live webcasts. The first, Areté and the Entrepreneur is by Brian Johnson, Philosopher and CEO of Zaadz, Inc. The second, J.B.'s Story is by Marilyn King, two-time Olympic pentathlete and creator of Olympian Thinking™, a program that catalyzes effective action.

Areté and the Entrepreneur

“Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills – against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence. Yet many of the world’s great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32 year old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. ‘Give me a place to stand,’ said Archimedes, ‘and I will move the world.’ These men moved the world, and so can we all.”

Robert F. Kennedy, 20th century US political leader

If we--as enlightened entrepreneurs--are going to change the world, we must start with ourselves. We must strive to live at our highest potential while using our greatest strengths in the greatest service to the world.

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J.B.'s Story
by Marilyn King

J.B.was considered a “high risk” youth. He lived in East Oakland and in the fall of 1989 the house where J.B. and his mother were staying was raided as a crack house. Mom went to jail and J.B. would spend one night at his coach’s house, another night with a friend or at “Nanny’s.” Some nights J.B. would tie knots in his new sneakers and wear them to bed so no one could steal them.

When J.B. became involved with Olympian Thinking™, he learned that all successful people have three things in common:

• They have something that really matters to them; something they really want to do or be. We call it Passion.
• They can see the goal really clearly and the "how‑to" images begin to appear like magic. While the goal may seem farfetched, they can imagine doing all these little steps on the road to that goal. We call it Vision.
• Finally, they are willing to do something each day, according to a plan, that will bring them one step closer to their dream. We call it Action.

Passion + Vision + Action is our equation for success.

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The Progress Paradox, by Gregg Easterbrook

Easterbrook portrays a powerful case for progress through exhaustive research on a broad range of indicators. He also observes a widespread case of cognitive dissonance in the West: though the typical American's real income has doubled in the past 50 years, the percentage of Americans who describe themselves as "happy" remains where it was half a century ago. Easterbrook, a senior editor at the New Republic and contributing editor to the Atlantic, believes the underlying problem is a crisis of meaning.

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