Changing Lives

ICBC 2010 at Queen's University – 5 Years Later

Ian Selvarajah — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:22:07 +0000

This post is coming to you exactly 5 years (and 2 days) after I competed waaay back in the day at ICBC 2005. I’m so amazed at how quickly time flies, but really happy to be able to look back on events from so long ago!!

I’ve told several people I have a really good feeling about 2010 and the year got off to an amazing start! I had the privilege of joining the JMSB team at Queen’s University for this year’s ICBC case competition. Being surrounded by so much energy, enthusiasm and fun was exactly what I needed to kick start the year!

I’m going to cheat and copy/paste some of what I wrote to the students, but it’s a good summary of how I felt about them:

Now for the cheesy (hopefully, inspirational) stuff: You guys are truly the best of the best that JMSB has to offer. I was so proud watching all of you present, network (and party!) this weekend. I was especially impressed with how young some of you are and I’m really looking forward to when you’re all business leaders! JMSB’s reputation continues to excel and improve because of individuals like you. You make us proud!!

I truly hope we’ll have a chance to work together in “the real world” one day!

I just went back and read the entry from 5 years ago! Here are 2 things that stood out to me that are still very relevant today:

2010: Our MIS team, despite an amazing performance, didn’t podium. I’m sure they were a little disappointed and that’s perfectly normal.

2005: I was quite disappointed that my team didn’t podium and Mark (the head coach) said: “If you always want to win, stay home.” Blunt, but very true.

2010: On the “Board Game” theme night, after walking around for a few minutes, I said to Val: “I’ve looked around quite carefully and there is no doubt that you guys are the best looking delegation here. No question.”

2005: Our team ambassador said the following to me: “Hey man, no matter what anyone says, the one thing that can’t be disputed is that you guys are still the best looking group here. And that’s what really matters!” Hilarious.

Here are some pictures that summarize the fun pretty well:

ICBC 2010 slideshow – click the little bubble to see the captions.

Thanks to everyone for a really fun weekend and congratulations to all the teams!!

Here’s a link to the official press release: JMSB Returns from ICBC with 2 Podiums

First Post of 2010 – Thank YOU

Ian Selvarajah — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:56:04 +0000

Throughout my life I’ve had (and continue to have) the fortune of being surrounded by amazing people who constantly provide encouragement and positive reinforcement. I truly believe that whatever success I have is thanks to the prayers and positive thoughts/energy of all these amazing individuals. I’m so grateful for this and I realize I don’t thank some people as often as I should, so I want to do it in writing. Most of the names I’m writing in are chronological, not in order of importance!

There are so many people that have had a positive impact on my life (great or small) that I don’t know where to start, but I would like to thank my family and all my close friends. I really appreciate having you all in my life!!

Family

My father has always been an amazing role model for me to look up to as a good citizen, hard worker, Christian, husband and father. My mother has always been the “brains of the operation”, so to speak and I’ve always appreciated her organization and efficiency. My little sisters help keep me in line – Liza usually with my patience (or lack thereof) and Joanna with my kindness (or lack thereof AT TIMES). I try to set some sort of example for them although I’m not sure I’m doing a great job! My grandparents are really great always providing old school wisdom and constant encouragement as well. I’m thankful for my aunt Heshani who’s also very good at putting me in my place, but I know it’s for my own good! My uncle Mike who’s always interested in and encouraging my entrepreneurial pursuits and my cousin Johann who’s been like the big brother I never had over the years!

Mentors/Advisors (also Friends)

I’ve had so much great life and career advice over the years by such intelligent, successful (and generally good looking! ) people. Here are a few names that come to mind are Gerry W., Meral B., Mark H., Amanda H., Leslie P., Angie O., Heather H., Vince S., Hooman T, Hans L., Tara W.

Friends

Again, faaaar too many amazing people to count and I know I’m going to forgot some names, but here are a few that come to mind:

Friends that go way back (> 15 years): Daniel W., Kuldeep S., Fabrizio C., Matt E., Marie T., Cyara P., Jenelle J., Rekha R., Eli M.

Good friends: Olivier T., Amit S., Patrick S., Hugo R., Trevor Y., Jen S., Jaimie B., Taryn B., Gen G., Gen M., Hicham R., Yifeng S., Sandra H., Ted Z., Emily R., L-E S., Dustin C., Manuel V., Steven B., Elissa M., Jen A., Vanessa D., Matt F., Dom B., Phil D., Roshni D., Caster A., Gio M., Elizabeth R., Robin M., Bernhard A., PY G., Tony M., MH C.

Amazing people I’ve met during my travels and/or projects: Eben A., Krishan K, Hannah W., Luke H., Samali K, Tammy C., Selma P., Lina B., Mireille M., Jen M., Jenn S., Josh G., Dash, Tom G., Bonnie A., Anna C., Geetika C., Craig C., Moose A., Monica P., Jaclyn P., Jen and Court, Paul R., Tika R., Salome L., Amanda F., Pascale L., Munir D., Chantal J.

Church crowd: Jacob P., Dwayne L., Rex V., Eden V., Gioia E., Steph J., Erica P., Jack K., Arthur M., Michael M.

Over the years, all of you have had a positive impact on my life in some way or the other- whether it was good advice, listening to me vent or sometimes just a conversation that made me think. I really appreciate it!

A lot of people have high expectations and while sometimes I feel like I’m letting them down, I’m very excited about this year! It’s only been 2 weeks, but they’ve been pretty intense and a lot of good things are happening!

I truly hope I’ll have the opportunity to enrich your lives as much as you’ve enriched mine! Looking forward to an amazing 2010 for all of us!!

What Matters Now – Inspiring Ideas for 2010

Ian Selvarajah — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:50:30 +0000

“What Matters Now” is a free ebook that Seth Godin has developed with over 70 great thinkers. What I like the most about these micro-essays is that they’re very easy to read and they encourage you not only to think outside the box, but to look at the world beyond yourself and your immediate circle.

I found the book extremely inspiring and if you’re looking for new year’s resolutions, this is a great place to start. As Seth suggests, please be sure to share the book with your friends!!

I’ve chosen my top 10 11 topics below and pulled out a single sentence from the essay. I encourage you to read the entire document (40 minutes, tops!), but at the very least, I hope you will read the pages below!

Facts

Index card pictured above
Jessica Hagy (@JessicaHagy) (Pg. 7)

Dignity

“Creating ways for people to solve their own problems isn’t just an opportunity in 2010. It is an obligation.“
Jacqueline Novogratz (@jnovogratz), CEO Acumen Fund (Pg.

Re-Capitalism

“If you live or operate in the developed world, you’ve got a problem- you have a lot to unlearn, and no short-term incentive to do it.”
Chris Meyer (@ChrisMeyer16) (Pg. 14)

Most

“Are you the most of anything?”
William C. Taylor, Cofounder FastCompany (Pg. 21)

Autonomy

“Management isn’t natural.”
Dan Pink (@DanielPink) (Pg. 25)

Poker

“Everything I know about business I learned from poker”
Tony Hsieh (@Zappos), CEO Zappos.com (Pg. 26)

Evangelism

“The future belongs to people who can spread ideas.”
Guy Kawasaki (@GuyKawasaki) (Pg. 32)

Neoteny

“While we retain many of our childlike attributes into adulthood most of us stop playing when we become adults and focus on work.”
Joichi Ito, CEO Creative Commons (Pg. 39)

Change

“Stop agonizing about what’s not working. Instead, ask yourself, ‘What’s working well, right now, and how can I do more of it?‘”
Chip and Dan Heath, Authors, Made to Stick (Pg. 50)

Productivity

“Don’t worry too much about getting things done. Make things happen.“
Gina Trapani (@Smarterware) (Pg. 68)

Gumption

“Get hungry- hyena hungry. Get fired up. Find your backbone, and your wings.”
J.C. Hutchins (Pg. 81)

"Social Entrepreneurship is stupid." according to Penelope Trunk

Ian Selvarajah — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:07:27 +0000

I was quite surprised to read this statement from Penelope Trunk, founder of Brazen Careerist today. Let’s skip the fact that it’s really stupid to assume a company’s corporate citizenship level simply by looking at a single factor (the presence of a ‘green initiative’) and jump straight into the comment about social entrepreneurship.

The heart of her argument is in this post. The general idea makes sense: You can no longer separate the world into the “non-profit do-gooders” and the “for-profit money-grubbers”. This is an obvious oversimplification, but as we know, the world is rarely that black and white. A commenter gave a great example about Nike vs. Tom’s Shoes.

Nike vs. Tom’s Shoes

Nike does a lot of good work for the world. In fact, one of my favourite development campaigns is from Nike: The Girl Effect (make sure to check it out if you haven’t already!). Tom’s Shoes on the other hand, was founded on the “one for one” premise.

Do you see the difference? It’s in the authenticity; it’s in the priorities. Even if you don’t see a difference, I think it’s quite harsh to say one of them is stupid. I think a much more interesting evaluation would be to see what percentage of a company’s revenues (or products/services) are fed back into making the world a better place vs. the shareholder’s pockets. Perhaps that’s a better approach?

Profit isn’t the Top Priority

At the end of the day, the key distinction is that for a social enterprise, money/profit is seen as a means- not the end. The resources acquired are used to enrich the lives of yourself and others.

If you think Social Entrepreneurship is stupid, I’d love to know why.

Update (17/12/09): A well-written comment by @AkhilaK who blogs at Justice for All

$50M Social Innovation Fund Approved

Ian Selvarajah — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:47:07 +0000

Good news for social entrepreneurship and the development world last week; the US House-Senate has approved $50M of funding for the very first social innovation fund!

Looking at some of the comments on the Chronicle of Philanthropy site it seems that people are disappointed that funding for volunteer and non-profit capacity building programs has been cut to support this. While I can sympathize, I’m glad that there’s more of a market approach to social development now and at the very least, this shows that governments are interested in social innovation rather than simply giving away money to non-profits.

Hat tip: Change.org’s Social Entrepreneurship Blog

What you resist will persist

Ian Selvarajah — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:35:59 +0000

I like charts.

As I migrated the blog over, I couldn’t help but notice the decline in the frequency of my posts over the last couple of years. Then, I saw a pattern. Since March ’07 I’ve been tracking the relative progress of a particular situation in my life on a monthly basis. Unfortunately, as you can see, that situation (the blue line) hasn’t been going well. The interesting thing, is when I superimpose the number of blog posts per month (the green line) on that chart, you notice the obvious correlation.

Back in October ’07, I wrote a “Why I haven’t been blogging” post and the #1 reason has (roughly) held true over the last 2 years. This chart makes it even more obvious that even after trying to remediate the situation, I continued to let it affect my general happiness which has been my biggest mistake all along.

The more I tried to fix the situation, the worse it seemed to get. At the beginning of October, I realized I had to let go. Letting go is really hard to do, especially when it’s something important. Letting go is tough because it almost feels like giving up and I hate to give up.

I was reminded of a quote one of my mentors shared with me: “What you resist will persist.“ Although much of the situation was out of my control, I got the sinking feeling that I was partially to blame as I didn’t expect it to improve. The amazing thing is that as soon as I let go, things have almost immediately started picking up. I’m not stressed, I’m not bothered, I’m not even tracking the blue line anymore!

Lessons learned?

If you’re going through a rough patch or things aren’t working the way you want/expect, you need to focus on something else; something positive. Stop focusing on what’s going wrong: the more you focus on the negative, the more negative you’ll attract. I’ve always been an extremely positive person and have generally attracted positive things, so this has definitely been an eye opening experience for me! Over the last 2 months, I’ve been attracting a lot of good things, so let’s hope this keeps up!!

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… and we're back!

Ian Selvarajah — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:54:33 +0000

If you’re here for the first time, welcome! If you’ve arrived from my old blog, welcome back and I’d love to hear your feedback on the new design/layout/concept (or anything else you feel like telling me)!

I’m hoping this blog will have a little more focus than the last one, but don’t worry, you’ll still be getting a good dose of my random stories!

Cheers!

What's happening in Sri Lanka

Ian Selvarajah — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:38:58 +0000

The civil war in Sri Lanka between GoSL (government of Sri Lanka) and LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) forces came to a bloody end in May 2009. According to the latest USAID report, there are still over 270,000 Sri Lankan Tamils in IDP camps. Tamils around the world in Canada, Australia and the UK are protesting the dismal conditions and poor treatment of Tamils in these camps. How quickly can these people be resettled and how soon can this area be (re)developed?

Opposing Views from the Diaspora

With the LTTE defeated, Sri Lanka is presented with another opportunity to develop the country. There are people on both sides of this issue: There are some that are still focused on achieving a separate state because they don’t believe Tamils will ever be treated fairly in Sri Lanka. Some of these “Tamil circles” (I’d like to know who they are!) are criticizing multinational corporations that are investing in the country in articles such as this one: MNCs flock in to get the ‘fruits’ of war.

On the other side, there are those who believe that economic development of the entire country can be the starting point in rebuilding a stronger, united Sri Lanka. There are thousands in the diaspora who, I’m sure, would be happy to invest provided we know that the funds are being used properly and fairly.

I hope this blog can bring together like-minded individuals both abroad and in Sri Lanka where we can discuss ideas and, sooner than later, take some concrete steps towards progress. I’d like to leave you with a quote from Mano Ganesan discussing the Tamils imprisoned in the IDP camps:

“These people are neither beggars nor homeless street people. They are proudful people who lived honorably in their traditional villages, the villages and land of our ancestors who lived and shaped our heritage for thousands of years. It is very true that Buddhism and Hinduism carry the messages of kindness and mercy. But these people do not require mercy. They need no to be at anybody’s mercy. This national problem cannot be restricted to water bottles, clothing, food packets and tents. Government is trying to cover it’s nakedness by using the media excessively to telecast the ‘merciful’ supplies of such goods to the IDPs. … This trend of portraying our people as poor beggars on the breadline should stop at once. Their legitimate rights to live freely in their own traditional villages should be treasured and respected. I am talking this from my heart.”

Uniterra Leave for Change Volunteer Project in Nepal

Ian Selvarajah — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:05:00 +0000

What is “Leave for Change”?

Leave for Change is a subprogram of Uniterra, one of Canada’s leading international volunteer programs. The program offers individuals and companies the opportunity to contribute towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). While Uniterra offers longer term projects, the Leave for Change program is unique in that it offers shorter projects that last 2-4 weeks. These are well suited for professionals who may not be able to take leaves of absence, but would like to offer their expertise as a volunteer. For more details on how the program works for employers and employees and how you can get involved, please visit the Uniterra website at www.uniterra.org.

Can someone make a difference in 2 to 4 weeks?

This is the most commonly asked question and the answer is “Yes!” The key strength, and what makes short term mandates work, is focus. Since the partners know the volunteer is only there for a short while, everyone works more efficiently to maximize their time. Most people don’t have the same sense of urgency to get things done when a volunteer is on a longer term project.

Knowing some of the complexities and challenges in humanitarian work, I knew I had big shoes to fill when the organizers kept telling me that the last short term volunteers were incredible! In the end, everyone was pleased with the results and I received these kind words from the partner I worked with:

“Your courage to choose a country that experienced a decade long civil war, diligence to get things done rightfully, a skill-set to adapt to a new environment and upbeat and pleasant personal traits in combination mitigated all challenges to make the program successful.”

What was your mandate?

The partner organization and I offered a “Business development and social entrepreneurship awareness” seminar to 8 of the largest NGOs in Nepal. The NGOs in attendance dealt with a range of social issues such as healthcare, energy, finance, forestry, media, etc. The participants also varied in age and experience so the audience was quite diverse. We presented business concepts in ICT, marketing and finance as well as recommendations around potential income streams to minimize donor dependence. The feedback received after the seminar indicated that it was a great learning experience for them.

Leave for Change mandates are focused on capacity building, so unlike a reconstruction mission I did after the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, this was more of a knowledge transfer/educational project. While this project wasn’t in the field at the grassroots level, as many volunteer projects are, the transfer of skills was still a very satisfying experience.

Who did you work with?

My project was a multi-partner placement; however, I worked primarily with Magnus Consulting, a social enterprise based in Nepal. Magnus has only been active in Nepal for 4 years, but, arguably, they’ve done more for the country than some NGOs that have been there much longer. Their current focus is to bring ICT to local farmers in rural areas of Nepal.

The founders’ courage and determination to push forward in a country that is experiencing significant political change is inspiring. Their core values of integrity, transparency, good governance and efficiency in everything they do, make Magnus a good example of why social enterprises are the way of the future in driving social change.

Would you recommend this program to others?

Absolutely! After my experience with Tsunami relief work in Sri Lanka, I feel everyone, at some point, should volunteer in a developing country. My experience in Nepal further cemented that belief. A short term Leave for Change project is ideal as it allows you to sample volunteerism. Although humanitarian work isn’t meant for everyone, Leave for Change is a great way to get your feet wet! It’s an amazing experience both personally and professionally; I highly recommend it!

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask as I’m happy to share my experience!

Speed Dating Take 2

Ian Selvarajah — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:09:00 +0000

Me: I mean, come on, no one really comes here expecting to meet their future boyfriend/girlfriend right?
Girl#1 (surprised): So you’re just here to make friends???
Me: …Ooohhhh…I guess you did…

A couple of friends and I are working on a new business concept dealing with singles/dating, so yesterday afternoon we were doing some research on the competition. It turned out that one of our potential competitors was having an event that night, so I said: “Is anyone up for some market research?” and the rest is history. I had already been speed dating about 3 years ago, but I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised this time…

3 Years Ago

When I went 3 years ago, I had prepared several characters/personalities that I was going to use with the various women: an immigrant who arrived the day before, an alcoholic, a religious nut, someone still hung up on his ex, Borat, someone who was hearing voices, etc. I was extremely disappointed when I arrived and noticed that A) the layout had all the girls sitting next to each other so they would be able to hear all my bizarre conversations and B) they were all French-speaking, so the jokes wouldn’t really work! My fun idea was ruined, but in the end, I still had a few good stories come out of that night.

Yesterday

Since this was more for research purposes, my buddy and I were able to have a bit more fun with it. The downside, again, was that although some of them were bilingual, out of the ~16 girls, only 3 really spoke English. My humour is of the witty/clever variety, so most of the conversations in French were, unfortunately, pretty generic. My buddy (who is French, but usually speaks English) even said it was awkward trying to explain what he did and to be smooth in French.

The upside, was that the venue was cooler, so now we know how much of a difference the venue can make and the majority of the girls were half decent and were capable of handling a conversation for 5 minutes. We also found out that engineers make up the bulk of speed daters… interesting! Overall, I’d say it was definitely a productive evening!

What Surprised Me

3 years ago, the majority of people (men and women) at the event seemed very awkward. At yesterday’s event, most of them appeared to be intelligent and decent looking, so I wondered: “Similar to online dating, has speed dating now become more mainstream and “normal” people are giving it a shot?”

Assuming that people are ever-willing to experiment with new dating concepts/methods, I believe my idea should work well, but I’ll explain it in further detail later on.

If you’ve never been speed dating, I definitely recommend it as a fun evening experience. This is what I told a guy who seemed pretty nervous before the event: “Worst case scenario: you come out with a few funny stories to tell. Best case scenario: you meet someone amazing. Hopefully you fall somewhere in the middle!!”

Have you ever been speed dating? Would you try it?