big idea number 2

Howard Schultz is the CEO of Starbucks, and as Joe Nocera writes in the New York Times,We Can All Become Job Creators. Howard Schultz's first big idea was that we should withhold all political contributions until politicians in America start acting like they care about more than their own political ambitions. Fat chance. The corporations and the wealthy will keep the money flowing to keep their positions secure in the American political arena. So that didn't happen.

Along comes Howard Schultz with his second big idea, and this one might work. We Can All Become Job Creators. The smallest businesses in America, even the ones that haven't been started yet, have the greatest potential for putting Americans to work, but nearly any new enterprise requires capital and the banks aren't lending. So where can that money come from?

Howard Schultz gathered a select team of executives from Starbucks and asked them to hlep him come up with ways to put the US back to work. What they developed is a strategy in which the millions of customers at their stores can invest in new American jobs. The idea is based on some of the same trickle up strategies that Starbucks has used in developing nations. It is worth reading. In fact, if you are near a Starbucks in your own town, you can partake in American job growth and renewal at the same time you get your morning buzz. Starbucks expects the plan raise $350,000 million in investment capital for new businesses. If Starbucks can do that, just imagine what other American industries might do if they decided to work together on the problem of unemployment.

Development of new ideas in the economy always follow a path parallel to that of learning, from the concrete to the abstract. While some may think of the rich as residing in ivory towers and thus coming up with the ideas that spark innovation, the real work comes when people are engaged in reality and feel greater need for creative attainment. It is why kids in schools need to be doing real things.Each thing they know how to do is an important resource for creative metaphor and real development.

This afternoon, the 7th, 8th and 9th grade students at CSS will be practicing on the lathe.

Make, fix and create...