The Fein Line

Great TED Talk on getting kids starting early as entrepreneurs.  Some great ideas on how to raise your kids to get them to think creatively and to develop skills that will serve them well throughout life.

I'm a big believer in entrepreneurship.  We need it in all fields and aspects of business, as well as in non-commercial organization like non-profits.  Entrepreneurship means that you identify problems and find innovative ways of solving them.  Bit by bit, entrepreneurs improve our world and deliver the economic growth we need to keep our standard of living.  Why not get our kids thinking this way from Day 1?

Posted by Mike Feinstein at 04:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The oil spill tragedy in the Gulf is a disaster.  One reaction to the long-term problem is to reduce our dependency on oil so we have less need for risky drilling.  This isn't a new idea, as Jon Stewart pointed out last night.  Unfortunately, despite the urgings of the last eight Presidents, not much has happened.  I think that we need a 'man on the moon' type of commitment to this, encompassing boosting research in a range of alternative fuel options, encouraging investment in energy efficiency, and changing economic incentives so that each energy source bears its full cost, including environmental impact from spills, byproducts, mining, etc. 

And, as the Moment of Zen shows, ideas that used to be conservative can become radical leftist.  Maybe with some strong leadership from President Obama we can overcome our partisan differences to deal with this problem before 8 more presidents go by.

Posted by Mike Feinstein at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm a big fan of the TED talk videos.  There are some great ones.

Today's video really resonated with me.  Rory Sutherland talks about how we often focus on really big and expensive solutions rather than small ones that have a big impact.  The talk has many examples and is both provocative and interesting.

I think that attention to detail is becoming a lost art.  In our multi-tasking world, it's harder to focus on the small things that really impact the user.  When you are defining a product or procedure, you really have to concentrate, sometimes to an excruciating degree, on small details.  Little details, small amounts of polish, shortening procedures, making directions clearer, and really understanding user behavior all can have a big impact.  And, most of these things don't cost much money.  They take time and attention.

Enjoy the video.  And then, go think about how you can improve your product or service with a few small, high-impact changes.

Posted by Mike Feinstein at 07:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pepsi did something interesting this year.  Rather than advertise at the Super Bowl, they decided to put the money into grants for great ideas in education, health, the arts, and more.

Online voting determines who wins the grant.  My town, Bedford, is in the running this month for a grant to fund a middle school climbing wall that is aimed at improving social skills as part of our comprehensive anti-bullying campaign.

Bedford is a small town, so we could use your help.  Voting is free and easy, and something you can do every day this month!  We're already #24 out of more than 330 projects, but we need to be in the top 10 to win.

Please take a moment each day this month to vote to support our climbing wall project.  You can also vote for up to 9 other projects you like every day.

To vote for the Bedford climbing wall, you can click here.

Thanks for your support.

Posted by Mike Feinstein at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)