U.N. envoy arrives in Yemen's Aden to advance peace talks

The United Nations envoy to Yemen met President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on Saturday to discuss prospects for peace talks between his embattled Aden-based government and Houthi forces, a source close to Yemen's president said. Previous U.N.-led efforts to end the conflict through dialogue have failed as battles rage across the country and Saudi-led warplanes bomb positions of Yemen's ascendant Houthi group and its Yemeni army allies. The source said U.N. envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed's talks with Hadi aimed to lay the groundwork for a second round of talks in the Swiss city of Geneva.

Ted Cruz says San Bernardino shooting may be ‘radical Islamic terrorism’

Sen. Ted Cruz on Thursday linked the shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., to the attacks in Paris, telling donors and activists with the Republican Jewish Coalition that America needed a "war president" who would take such events more seriously. "At this point, the details of what happened in San Bernardino are still unclear," the Texas […]

Do More Good, Do Less Harm: The Role of Business in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Do you think the world will be a better place this tomorrow? What about next year? What about in 15 years?

The answer is: Yes, it can, but not with business as usual according to Michael Green in his TED talk How We Can Make the World a Better Place by 2030. In this data-driven talk he explains how we need to make changes to the way governments, businesses, nonprofits, and even individuals operate.

He argues that achieving the audacious United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is possible, but only if we start looking at root cause issues. As an example, instead of trying to get people out of poverty, we need to change the systems that allow poverty in the first place.

In contrast to Michael's data-driven approach, Anand Giridharada's related talk at this year's Aspen Institute's Action Forum used personal anecdotes to take a critical look doing less bad, instead of only talking about doing more good. The video of his talk, titled The Thriving World, The Wilting World, and You, is a must-watch.

As it relates to business, both of these talks highlight that if a company is doing harm to the earth in its operations, no amount of doing good can make up for its malpractices in a way that will actually help us reach the sustainable development goals.

Doing Actual Harm While Trying to Talk About Doing Good

As an example of a company still doing harm while trying to do some good, H&M attempts to laud its own sustainability efforts, but it does so while producing over 600 million pieces worth of "fast fashion" manufactured in plants with skeptical safety standards and paying less-than-livable wages to over 850,000 people on earth. Less than .2% of its clothing is recycled and only 13.7% of it uses organic cotton. As Linda Greer, director of the health program at the Natural Resources Defense Council shared: "Fundamentally, there is a disconnect between the idea that you are selling a tremendous amount of clothing in fast fashion and that you are trying to be a sustainable company".

Shannon Whitehead of Factory 45 critiques H&M more accurately "there is no amount of 'Conscious Collections' that can make up for the human rights and environmental damage already done.

In other words, hurting the environment and people during production of products and then trying to make up for that with sustainability reports and green campaigns is not solving the root cause issue.

However, if a company instead sources products along a sustainable supply chain and treats employees fairly then it can it do less harm. And since markets reward corporate responsibility, they are still able to give to important long-term environment and social initiatives. Patagonia is a company that doesn't want you to buy new clothes unless you really need them, has rigorous sustainability standards, and continues to give money to social and environmental causes.

This is precisely what Michael and Anand are trying to get across in their previously mentioned talks: We have to build better systems that reward responsible behavior at all levels, do less harm, and still enable us to do more good.

In a passionate talk, famed philosopher Slavoj Zizek talked about this idea years ago, and you should watch his talk to learn about what he calls "cultural capitalism": The notion that when you buy something that is bad for the environment, you can be absolved of your responsibilities because the company makes you think you are also doing good in the process. One example of this is Tom's Shoes, which doesn't actually help anybody, and in fact, it creates dependencies, erodes dignity, and hurts local employment - all while driving excess sales of products that also create a negative environmental impact.

But, before you think this article is building a case for a radical overthrow of corporations, to quote Slavoj, "let's not discard the evil, let's make the evil work for the good". In fact, many companies are already really good at doing more good. So here are some thoughts about how we can just do less harm.

Bright Spots: Some Companies Are Already Thinking This Way

When I attended the Corporate Citizenship Conference sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Fall 2015, it was refreshing to see that many were already modeling this very idea. The conference's theme was "Connect the Dots: How businesses solve global challenges locally" and speakers explored how companies can integrate corporate social responsibility initiatives throughout all layers of the company and across every business unit.

"Corporate citizenship is not about giving more money and more product, it is about transforming businesses to operate responsibly." -- Kathy Pickus, Divisional Vice President, Global Citizenship and Policy, Abbott

Throughout the conferences, corporate social responsibility professionals highlighted that while they are able to do more good through donations and skills-based volunteering, they are increasingly working with their business units to do less harm, including things like:

• Analyzing environmental impact, human rights, and income inequality in their supply chains, like Patagonia.


• Getting business units to report -- and pay -- for environmental impact, like Microsoft's pay-for-energy program which is making a notable impact.


• Addressing income inequality, like Salesforce.


• Holding business leaders accountable, including tying executive and board compensation to green targets.

Indeed, most business leaders believe that sustainability issues can provide short and long-term bottom line benefits, including innovation, market development, marketing, and employee engagement and retention, and there is a plethora of research highlighting how businesses benefit by being socially responsible.

There are at least 7 research-backed reasons as to why companies should be more sustainable, and as quoted above, there is real evidence that doing so has a material and positive benefit to the bottom line. Deloitte just released new research explaining that "social impact has evolved from a pure PR play to an important part of corporate strategy to protect and create value."

According to Business Fights Poverty, "Given the ambition of the SDGs, and the essential role that business must play with others in achieving them we must take stock and reflect deeply on what it will take to get there, and we must do that together." To help, Business Fights Poverty has released a report and kit to help all businesses: Business and the Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Success at Scale.

In summary, to return to one of my favorite panelists during the previously mentioned Corporate Citizenship Conference, Kathy Pickus said that "If we keep trying the same models, we're going to get the same results. Who better than the business community to take some risks."

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

China scaling back cyberespionage, shoddy stuff for Ukrainian soldiers, and a test trial for Guantanamo

CHINA SCALING BACK CYBERTHEFT. Fighting crime does pay, apparently, as the Chinese military appears to have backed off its commercial cyberespionage since the Justice Department indicted five officers last year. But The Washington Post reports that while cyberespionage seems to be spinning down, it isn’t clear that China is going to make good on President […]

Facebook's Zuckerberg to give 99 percent of shares to charity

SAN FRANCISCO/BENGALURU (Reuters) - Facebook Inc Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and his wife said on Tuesday they will give away 99 percent of their Facebook shares, currently worth about $45 billion, to a new charity in a letter addressed to their daughter, Max, who was born last week. The plan mirrors a move by other high-profile billionaires like Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates, who have pledged and set up foundations to give away their fortunes to charity. On his Facebook page, Zuckerberg posted a photo of himself, his wife, Priscilla Chan and their new daughter, Max, along with a post entitled 'A letter to our daughter.' In the 2,220-word letter, Zuckerberg and Chan touched on issues including health, education, Internet access and learning before announcing the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which aims to "advance human potential and promote equality." Zuckerberg, 31, and Chan said they plan to give away 99 percent of their Facebook shares over their lifetimes to advance the initiative, which was formed as a limited liability company controlled by the two.

Facebook CEO, now a father, will give away most of his money

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Talk about birth announcements: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife say they'll devote nearly all their wealth — roughly $45 billion — to solving the world's problems in celebration of their new baby daughter, Max.

Bernie Sanders makes it clear: He’s playing this game to win

MANCHESTER, N.H — As about 1,400 Democratic activists cozied up next to one another in a New Hampshire ballroom for the party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Sunday night, it was clear that despite the relative calm of the Democratic primary contest, the electorate in New Hampshire is still very much divided — primarily between former […]

US ends phone data collection exposed by Snowden

The US government has halted its controversial program to collect vast troves of information from Americans' phone calls, a move prompted by the revelations of former intelligence analyst Edward Snowden. As of Sunday, the National Security Agency (NSA) ended the program whose existence its former analyst Snowden revealed in 2013. US lawmakers earlier this year passed legislation known as the USA Freedom Act to stop the program and roll back some powers the NSA had gained under the Patriot Act in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

10 Management Practices to Drive Results

In this excerpt from my book, Tell Me I Can't...and I Will, I offer 10 management practices that I have learned along my own journey that have driven results, results that I have witnessed firsthand. From managing student organizations to launching and turning around nonprofit organizations to investing in communities across the country, these lessons represent parts of my management philosophy that I challenge you to reflect on and test drive in your own management practices.

No. 1: People are not widgets. People matter... period. They have fears, aspirations, insecurities, and commitments outside of work. People want to be respected, engaged and valued. They want you to sincerely acknowledge their presence, contributions and commitment. Genuinely care about people. Challenge yourself to continually step into other people's shoes and look at the world through their perspective. Consider how your words (or lack thereof) will be translated in their minds. Treat people with compassion by employing empathy. Create a space where people can bring their whole self to the team. Remember and celebrate milestones like birthdays, employment anniversaries, weddings and births.

No. 2: Step away from your desk. Roll up your sleeves and work alongside people. Experience what they experience. Challenge your assumptions. Gather context on what it takes for each person to meet performance goals by witnessing them in action. Andrew Carnegie once stated, "The older I get the less I listen to what people say and the more I look at what they do." Gather insight from people's actions on the front line.

No. 3: Question more and talk less. Engage in the role of coach, advisor, or thought partner. Use questions to call out and challenge people's assumptions. Inquire about what is and is not working. Ask why. Clarify understanding and direction. Listen to what is not being said. Identify trends across team members. Clarify the big picture. When you are micro-managing, turn questions around and empower people to make decisions.

No. 4: Transparency builds trust. Deliver the truth. Provide context. Admit what you don't know. Don't speculate or create rumors. Don't say something about someone else unless you have already told them directly. Stating you know something but cannot share it fosters power plays, breeds frustration and weakens collaboration.

No. 5: Get direct feedback. Ask your team directly how you are managing. Embrace their feedback openly and often. Don't get defensive or make excuses. Just listen. Retain what is working. Reflect on what is not working and try a different approach. Pulse check your performance at the water cooler, over coffee or through desk-side chats.

No. 6: Remove obstacles. Identify barriers to your team's performance. Brainstorm solutions together. Take the lead on removing hurdles. Verify that the obstacle has been removed. Differentiate between what is in your control versus what you can influence.

No. 7: Be authentic. Commit to being the best "you." Humanize yourself by sharing and relating your personal and professional stories. Don't change your character depending on the scene and audience. Be consistent. Be present or don't show up.

No. 8: Push hard. Play hard. Challenge people to achieve their potential. Stretch their performance. Put more faith in people than they have in themselves. Make good better and stretch better to become the best. Set challenging yet obtainable goals. Listen to advertising guru David Ogilvy's advice, "Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine." Celebrate victory at each milestone. Laugh. Have fun together.

No. 9: Focus and prioritize. Provide clarity on goals and direction on action. Drive efficiency and promote effective practices. Constantly prioritize to remain relevant and within a balanced workload. Set clear expectations. Maintain a scorecard. Put it all in writing as a desktop guide and reference it often.

No. 10: Feed people's hunger. Consider John Quincy Adams' wisdom, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." Keep work fresh, engaging and challenging for your team. Acknowledge when greener pastures would elevate people and guide them there.

Overall, I believe that management is about getting grounded in why and focusing on how. Managers must understand the big picture (the why) to effectively guide their teams. They must also know how to operationalize a vision and strategy (the how) to efficiently get things done. When people on teams do not see the connection between their work and the bigger picture or purpose, they will often lose motivation and feel disconnected from the team and organization overall.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Markets hack away at Cyber Security ETF

By Trevor Hunnicutt NEW YORK (Reuters) - One year after a set of high-profile cyber attacks and a hot market for trendy exchange traded funds propelled the PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF to one of the most successful ETF launches in history, it is facing a major test of its investment strategy.

Google Photos to help users save space

Google Photos is rolling out a series of changes, including one that will help users free up space. Announced on Google+, the first two changes are rolling out on Android starting on Tuesday and include a "Free Up Space" button on the Settings screen that will prompt the user to bulk-delete copies of photos already backed up from their device.

The Art of Noise and the Power of Communication

Matt Harvey


This is a picture of Matt Harvey, a poet in Devon, outside his shed where he sometimes gets inspiration. He does really brilliant shows and is passionate about getting his message across, and mostly he is a lot of fun and really entertaining. Since his residency, with RegenSW, he is the closest thing the South West of England has to an official climate poet.

Climate Poets

We definitely need more climate poet because, to be frank, for most people, in simple talk, the science is not exactly straightforward, doesn't paint a particularly rosy picture and leaves you thinking, "Well, what on earth I am supposed to do?"

It is also grist to the mill for those campaigning for things as they are: the marketing and communication mind of the scientist, I am afraid to say, is no match for the nimbler 'hands-on' street fighting competitor. The communication of this infinitely interesting and actually rather inspiring topic of conversation has been, rather sadly, a bit of a balls up.

Rules of the Game

The rules of the game don't apply equally well. There is no match referee to call offside and manage fair play. It's not a fair fight; it's plain to see that the 'cause for common good' is handicapped by its earnest sense of doing the right thing. This is especially true when all the bad climate news is labored, up until a point where people are doom laden and in the mood to switch off and indulge in some comfort shopping.

So there needs to be a change in the style of communication. In terms of bringing a message home, the more potentially disruptive it is, the more people will tend to use their defenses to ignore it, discredit or put it in the just too difficult box.

For a message to work it has to have some key ingredients: it needs to be relevant, it needs to be actionable, it needs to be positive and it needs to provide some sense of comfort. It also really helps when your friends, colleagues, peers and leaders are also thinking and feeling along the same lines.

Change the Game

The art of noise is about how to confuse the picture so nothing changes; it is in part an appeal to our lazier habits. It tends to favor 'old school' and monopolistic institutions and is not good for free markets, competition, innovation, personal freedom or the common good.

One way to change the game is to appeal to the instincts of competition, growth and innovation rather than play the moral 'my science is better than yours' blame game. There are millions of people who work creatively with climate risk and sustainability across all areas of work life and make good money from purposeful risk.

Mapping this shows real change and it is a much more helpful starting point. It meets the criteria of communicating a relevant, actionable, positive and comforting message, where many people are in the same boat.

Another way is to have some fun; here is one of Matt's poems which has been turned into song for a new crowd funded Transition-inspired musical (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/862794604/something-wonderful-in-my-back-yard-or-swimby-the):

Pie in the Sky

"Put a saddle on a sunbeam
Hang a bridle on a breeze
Ride the tide into the future
Land of Possibilities

They tell me: If you want that kilowatt
You've gotta frack 'n' drill a lot
And then of course you spill a lot
And when I ask them WHY?
They say: Don't let 'em tell you otherwise
Those Greenies tell a pack of lies
When will you people realise
It's all just pie in the sky!
Yee-ha!

Well slap my thigh,
Pie in the sky!
Hi de hi and Ho de ho
It's the high-wide sky-pie rodeo

And I say: If the sky can provide
Gee, that's kinda nice of it
If there's pie in the sky
Then cut me a slice of it

Serve me up a plateful
I'll be glad and I'll be grateful
Earth, water, wind 'n' fire are my dream team
Let's tap the to-ing and the fro-ing
Bag the beaming and the blowing
Milk the movement of the ever-flowing stream
Yee-ha!

So frack me no fracture
And drill me no well
And nuke me no reactor
'Cos I'm goin' for to dwell

In the Land of Possibility
The Land of Ingenuity
Exploiting every property
Of earth, sea, wind and sun
It puts the fill in my philosophy
A sigh in my psychology
Adds meat to meteorology
An' I guess it's kind of fun (Yee-ha!)

In the land where the sky can provide
Yee ha!
In the land where the sky's made of pie
Yee ha!

Because the reckoning is beckoning
The planetary auditors
Are reeling every second in
There's flooding and there's shortages

Put a saddle on a sunbeam
Hang a bridle on a breeze
Ride the tide into the future
Land of Possibilities"

By Matt Harvey, The Element in the Room
https://thequixoticpress.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/theelementintheroom.pdf

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.