Food for Thought No. 3
This week we share how blending Eastern philosophy and Western business can help us thrive in these uncertain times, seeing COVID as a mirror and showing how profit and purpose can be harmonious.
Hi,
Here is your weekly GC Food for Thought newsletter - curated insights to help you thrive in a world experiencing uncertainty and exponential change.
Every Sunday morning this summer, you'll receive GC's 3-2-1 newsletter with 3 ideas to explore, 2 things to read, and one question for you.
Gamechanger Sessions #3
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Julie Hanna, Executive Chair of the Board at Kiva.org and Venture Partner at Obvious Ventures shares her insights with GC.
Julie shares how blending Eastern philosophy and Western business can help us thrive in these uncertain times, COVID as a mirror and how profit and purpose can be harmonious.
Or, if you're on a time crunch, watch the key session theme clips or read GC's deep dive insights.
EXPLORE
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I. Temporariness.
In Eastern traditions, there is a beautiful concept of temporariness.
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Nothing is permanent and everything is constantly moving — especially our emotions. We have this great capacity for range of emotions — from happiness, to anger, or sadness — we must be weary to not get caught in any one state.”
- Julie Hanna
Temporariness teaches us to let go, be patient, and not be fixated on our current feedback loops no matter if they are positive or negative.
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II. Fair access to the four pillars of dignity.
Julie believes there are four pillars to a dignified life:
Education
Health
Access to capital
Access to information
If we get fair access to all four pillars, we can build a foundation for a dignified life.
COVID has exposed much of the illusions around fair access that have existed even in resource-rich countries like the US. It has shown us where there are market failures and government failures. It has brought clarity to where the current capitalistic system is vulnerable and where it is resilient.
“Systemic problems are often symptomatic of unequal access and technology. While talent is universal, opportunity isn’t.”
- Julie Hanna
Julie believes that technology can be a great enabler for the pillars of dignity --it has the untapped potential to effect change, en masse, at an exponential rate.
This doesn’t mean it always will drive positive change but it is an amplifier of its intention and has the ability to democratize access. Julie’s work at Kiva.org, Obvious Ventures and GoogleX all support her thesis of profit and purpose and the unprecedented power of technology.
- Julie Hanna's TED Talk on Bringing humanity to business, and business to humanity.
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III. COVID as a mirror to society’s gifts and shortcomings.
The global pandemic has been a wake-up call. We are all part of a highly interdependent ecosystem, wherein singular actions can have an exponential effect on a global scale, for better or for worse.
An act of self-preservation and an act of compassion are one in the same. Sheltering in place isn’t just about our own survival. It’s about contributing to the survival of others.
Our singular effects can have an exponential effect for better and for worse — one person that’s infected can infect 2.3 people and so on. In the same way, acts of change and kindness also multiply exponentially.
READ
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I. Julie’s recommended reading list for thriving in uncertainty.
Viktor Frankl’s Search for Meaning. Frankl shows us that the greatest freedom lies within and our ability to choose our mindset.
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron. Chodron unpacks her own journey of discovering the hidden gifts in the very moments when things fall apart.
Happiness by Matthieu Ricard. Ricard is a Buddhist monk and he observes happiness from a Western scientific perspective and an Eastern philosophical perspective. He shows us the tangible crossroads between our left (analytical) and right brains (spiritual).
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II. Ideas on creating the future we want.
How the team at Obvious Ventures (where Julie is a Venture Partner) thinks about creating net positive companies and a World Positive Term Sheet.
The latest developments on the inspiring projects at GoogleX using radical technologies to solve the world’s hardest problems.
REFLECT
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I.
“Our pre-corona existence was not normal other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, and hate... We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.”
- Sonya Renee Taylor
What is your hope for a new future that allows us to live harmoniously with nature and humanity? What role can you play in shaping it?
Thanks for tuning in. Stay safe!
See you next weekend.
Best,
Candice
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P.S. You can watch all previous Gamechanger sessions and see highlights on our website. We'll land in your inbox 1x a week. No spam, we promise.
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