This Isn't About Me........It's About Them

Generally speaking, I teach "life". However, you'd be surprised at how few people want to pay me to learn about that. So I teach it in English, and whaddaya know, lots of people - here in China - are interested.

My students excel at learning English because I use two time-tested strategies.

First, I use content that they are interested in (LIFE). The Chinese have a wonderful proverb that illustrates it perfectly: "Interest is the best teacher."

Second, I also follow a great American proverb: "Students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

In my "Life Course", we cover any and every thing, as the students wish. But when the choice is left to me, we focus on: Greatness; Creativity; Following Your Heart; Life-long Learning; Changing the World; Marketing and Economics. In no particular order.

How am I changing the world? My vocation isn't nearly as easy to describe. For here, let's just say that I'm changing the world "one person at a time".

Later on (below) you're going to read about some of the people - Danny, Greg, Tim and others - who I've been lucky enough to help.

In fact, the reason I'm applying isn't for Seth's Certificate - although I do know how valuable that will be - but because I want the knowledge from Seth's brain. So that I can move beyond just helping one person at a time.

I'm looking for a way to turbo-charge my work.

I've led management teams large (Wal-Mart International) and small (Party City, Eckerd Drugs).

I've lived and worked in four countries (USA, Venezuela, Mexico and China). I'm passably fluent in Spanish.) Chinese? Don't go there.

I've created lots of things: my own businesses (Party Jamz, Casino's Pizza); A school course on Creativity; my blog, etc...

I've helped more than a hundred of the world's poorest (one-at-a-time).

I've read 34 books this year (see below).

And I've spent the past 6 years living in China.

However, I realize that I'm still missing something. If I knew exactly what, I hopefully would have already solved this problem.

I still know how to get things done. I still believe I can change the world. But I seem to be moving at the same steady speed when I should be reaping the benefits of momentum.

As an evangelist of life-long learning, I understand better than many that I must keep studying, learning and growing.

APPRENTICING WITH SETH IS EXACTLY THE TYPE OF OPPORTUNITY THAT I'VE BEEN TEACHING MY STUDENTS TO WATCH OUT FOR. (Unfortunately for them, they're all too young. Fortunately for me, I'm not.)

In the end, what I think that I lack - and am therefore hoping to find - is a tribe of my own. In China, they have the same adage that we do in English (forgive the paraphrase): "If one man can lift 50 pounds, then two men can lift 500." I'm close to success, I can feel it. But I'm also far away - an inch is sometimes as good (or bad) as a mile.

Seth, I'm hoping to learn how to better reach out to people who would be naturally interested in joining with me and then successfully persuade them to do so.

During the 2006-07 school year, I CREATED and taught a class on creativity, entitled, appropriately enough, The Creativity Room. The premise was to help the students develop creativity tools that they would then keep in a figurative toolchest, for whenever the need might arise. One of the most useful tools is called "Thinking Backwards".

Here's an example of how to use it. I have been trying for what seems like forever to donate my spare kidney. I know that doing so will probably save another's life. That by itself is reason enough, but what if, by "Thinking Backwards", I might be able to save more than just one life?

So I start at the end...imagining thousands of Chinese donating a kidney each year (thousands of lives saved). Now I work my way backwards. What gave the thousands their inspiration/idea? It could have been a news article/report on how an American altruistically gave his kidney to a Chinese citizen. (That story would be sure to generate buzz - be newsworthy.) Moreso if I gave it to a PLA (soldier) member. Thus, instead of saving just one life, my single action, because of a more meaningful context (at least in terms of the general Chinese population) might actually save hundreds.

Each week we focused on one tool, with the students dividing up into different groups and using the tools in their expanding toolchests to tackle various problems.

If you interview me, I'll be happy to tell you more. I'm sure that you will appreciate it.

1. The OfficeMax series of commercials - "We'll take your pennies" - is a perfect launching pad for a fundraiser. Many of us, even here in China, have jars filled with pennies, or fen, which is the local equivalent.

It's estimated that there is more than 10 billion US dollars in spare change sitting in American's homes.

China, with her voracious savers, probably has just as much. The idea would be to do a similar set of commercials, promoted through YouTube and other social media, to get people to donate their loose change to help others. If you're unfamiliar with the campaign, please see the "We'll Take Your Pennies" link.

2. All over Hong Kong, the rich drive around with personalized license plates. They do this primarily because they can. After all, it doesn't make the drive any better.

Anyway, QQ is the Chinese preferred version of on-line chat. (I myself have 2 QQ numbers.) That's right, numbers. QQ does not use names or e-mail addresses. But they could.

If someone would lead, they could be convinced and the names could be auctioned off to raise money for charity. Hong Kong raises over 10,000,000 HKD each year by auctioning those tags. Surely QQ, with 500,000,000 unique I.D. numbers could raise a similar, or actually, a much larger amount.

Although he looked much younger, Danny was 18 and earning $1.25 per day selling sugar cane in the street when I first met him. His 9th grade education would be equal to an American 4th grader's. It took me more than a month to convince Danny to let me teach him. But once he started, it only took Danny 6 months to learn English and another year to learn the two most important things that all people must learn: 1. How to learn (especially by himself); 2. That he must keep learning for the rest of his life.

He has gone from hopeless with NO idea of how to help himself to a young man with a bright future. I gave him the two things that he was missing in his life: hope and help - a pitance of an investment to so radically change a life.

Danny is in the first, fourth and fifth pictures on this page.

Greg was on the road to blindness (cataracts) but didn't know it. His primary school education didn't prepare him to understand that his vision problem wasn't his glasses, but his eyes.

I met Greg on July 30, 2006 - I remember, because it was my birthday and a friend and I were leaving a restaurant. Greg was digging through the garbage, working by looking for discarded plastic bottles.

He was filthy and living on the street and looked all of ten years old. (Greg is the smallest boy in the third picture from the top. His smallness is undoubtedly at least partially the result of malnutrition.) We convinced him to come home with me and to let me help him.

He had arrived in Shenzhen a year earlier and had immediately secured a job in a restaurant which he promptly lost due to his poor eyesight - in spite of his glasses.

A few days after he arrived in my home, we took him to the doctor and it turned out that he had cataracts. The operations were successful and Greg stayed with me for 6 months before leaving for another job in another restaurant.

I wish that he would have stayed longer and learned more, but one of my rules is that my home isn't a prison and the people who come are free to go at any time.

It wasn't the fact that Tim won his school's English speaking contest that endeared me to him; it was HOW he won it.

Tim was hardly the school's best English speaker, he wasn't even in the top 10. But what he lacked in skill, he made up in leadership.

He had approached me for some coaching - the only student to do so - and equally important, he took my lessons to heart. He walked away the hands-down winner.

Fast-forward a year and a half, and a worried Tim sat down to discuss his college plans with me. Like too many of her generation, Tim's mother is illiterate. His father's fourth grade edcuation is only marginally better.

Knowing Tim personally made my decision easy - I would make a deal with Tim that would allow him to attend college without any financial pressure.

I offered to pay all of his expenses for all four years and in return, he would give me 5% of his yearly income for 20 years. (If you do the math, you'll realize that, speaking financially, this is a VERY POOR investment on my part.) However, if you consider the benefits to society and other 'externalities', this is a win/win situation. Oh yeah, and I promised him that I would use all of the 5% that he gives to me each year to help even more people.

This story isn't finished, in fact, it's only just begun. I expect big things from Tim. You can see two pictures of Tim, the second and third from the top of this page.

Sorry, but I've done far too many astonishing things (see definition above) to limit it to a single answer.

Quit School: Florida Atlantic University
Got FIRED: by the U.S. Government (G-7)
Quit my first 'real' job: Management: Eckerd Drug Company
Failed at my first business: Pizza Delivery Business (Casino's Pizza), Caracas, Venezuela
Quit my best job: Wal-Mart (International Division)
Failed at my second business: Retail Party Store (Party Jamz) Miami, FL

Most often, businesses think that just because they pay you to work for them, that this fact somehow obliges you to remain with them until they no longer need you. I quit the above enterprises - talk about astonishing people - because I had learned everything that I had wanted to learn (and actually, more). In every case, I moved on to experiences that were more rewarding (even the failures), thus proving (okay, not really, but work with me) the wisdom of those decisions. [Note: The U.S. Government fired me because they correctly sensed that I was not, nor ever would be, a "yes" man. In fact, I had an order to appear in court and my boss forbade me from leaving work. Surely I could have won on appeal, but I quickly realized that the government wasn't where I wanted to be.]

Astonishing Successes? Too many (more than a hundred) to mention them all, so I'll just name the most recent:

Bryan
Clarke
Danny - See Question 5A.
David
Eddie
Greg - See Question 5B.
Jack
Shane
Tim - See Question 5C.

As for me, I'm often astonished that I can change the world. Me! Who would have thought that? I don't think that astonished is strong enough of a word.

For starters, I'm not a 'real' professor. What I mean is, I don't hold the degree. In all other respects, I am one. And since I view degrees as nothing more valid than a 'certificate of attendance', well, we've all had good and bad teachers. And the thing that they all had in common was their degree. Being a professor yourself, I imagine that you can quite easily relate to what I'm saying. (Whether you think of yourself that way or not, the reality is that you are. I know, because you've been my best teacher for the past 6+ years.)

SECOND, in 1992 I tried to donate my spare kidney. I had just returned to America from Venezuela where I was first introduced to the concept that one could live a normal life with just one functioning kidney. Long story short, no one would touch my kidney, not for medical reasons, but simply because of fear. ("Perhaps I was selling it." Of course, I most certainly wasn't.) I gave up trying (back then I didn't have the strength of character that I do now) and went on with my life. In 2006, while living in China, I read about www.livingdonors.com (altruistic donating). I immediately signed up and decided that I would first try and give my kidney away to a Chinese. I've been trying to do so for the last 2 years. However, the Chinese government is afraid (turns out, fear is universal). If I don't have success here in China soon, then someone in America will be receiving my kidney in 2009. You can read more about my efforts to donate my kidney to a Chinese soldier by clicking on the link entitled Kidney Donation in the Links List (below).

THIRD, my mission in life is to build a new type of university. It's named, appropriately enough, Quixote University and you can find its link in the link list. I've been on life's journey for 35 years now, (I'm 48) but I only discovered my calling this past January. I was reading three books at the same time (something I had never done before). The three were about my three loves: Education; Leadership; and Business.

"Free at Last" is about a relatively new concept (40 years old) in education that purports that learning is a natural and instinctive activity and the more that we resist interfering in it, the better. Therefore, "free schools" have NO TEACHERS, CLASSROOMS or TEXTBOOKS. They do have LOTS of LEARNING. It is remarkable. See the Free Schools link.

In "You Don't Need A Title To Be A Leader", I was reading a section that told the history of Temple University and how it was started by one man and a handful of students whom he was voluntarily teaching.

And in "Built to Last", I was reading the section that talks about the difference between being a "time-teller" and a "clock-builder". And that's when I found it - my life's 'calling'. It was the intersection of these three ideas - to build a University that fits our modern world, where merely obtaining knowledge is no longer the basic need.

I will create a new University, one built with the 21st Century in mind. We'll have but ONE MAJOR: Leadership. And a thousand minors. We'll have no classrooms, textbooks (formal ones, anyway), or professors.

Not unlike this apprenticeship, students would design their own projects, and then execute them. The range of projects will be limited ONLY by the student's imaginations. Of course, the projects will all have to have their primary goal to be making the world better. (This is broad on purpose.) The school will assign a credit value to each project and the school will judge the final results and issue the student(s) credits based on the percentage of success. When a student has enough credits, she graduates.

Our school will provide a place to live and enjoy the social experiences of college life. We'll also provide the basics (computers, rooms to meet in, an eclectic library, etc...). But when it comes time for the students to actually execute, they are responsible for the fund-raising. Just like the real world - and isn't that the point of going to school anyway? To prepare you for life.

There will be just two absolute standards for admission: COURAGE and a burning desire to change the world. Of all the potential attributes, the reason that courage is indispensable is my belief that "without sacrifice, there is no progress", and sacrifice requires courage.

The name, Quixote University came about because at the same time this idea was congealing in my mind, one of my student's parents commented to him that I was "wasting my time" while another said that I was "too idealistic". Voila. Here I was, another Don Quixote. Okay, I can accept that - I am a bit "off", especially with regards to "doing the right thing" and "helping those who can't help themselves". The thing is, it's ALWAYS the rich who say such things. The poor whom I help NEVER say such things.

FOURTH, here's something that you probably won't remember, but I do: I had written you regarding an issue that I needed some help with and I was disappointed by your response. I in turn responded as follows:

"I still think that you're pretty brilliant, it's just now I think that your brilliance STOPS at your keyboard."

You replied:

"And your response to me was condescending." "No fair."

"Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you'll keep reading."

To which I replied:

"First, please accept my apologies for being condescending and any unfairness towards you. I've been told before that I am condescending, although to be honest, I'm never exactly sure what people mean by it. Still, enough people have said it that I don't doubt it's true."

"Of course I'll keep reading - when I find a way to have access. Your insights are, in my opinion,
brilliant. Not only that, but I am somewhat of an evangelist for you here in China."

"Let's make a deal. You keep coming up with the good stuff (for free!), and I'll find another way to solve my problem."

"Happy Thanksgiving back at you."

Dean

"P.S. Let me add thank you for taking the time to answer my e-mail. I know, clearly, that time is our most precious resource."

YOU then went on to solve my original problem. That was gracious beyond any reasonable expectation....in a word, REMARKABLE.

But that's not why I'm sharing this. I'm sharing it because I want you to have a better idea of who I am. I believe that this exchange is (probably) a fair snapshot of me. In the end, if you won't be happy with someone who isn't afraid to challenge you, then I am not your man. I'm betting, though, that you want the challengers, or at least one of them.

FIFTH, I am a creative thinker who is unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom. Here are some examples:

A.) INCOME GAPS ARE GOOD...it's the Education Gap that is killing us. Ask any (truly) poor person where they would prefer to live, and the answer is invariably somewhere where the income gap is large. To be poor in my city (Shenzhen, one of China's richest, with an income gap to match) is to be rich in any of China's other truly poor cities. Here they have health care, public bathrooms and water fountains, paved streets that are always clean, etc...Follow the Income Gap Vs. Education Gap link below.

B.) Whenever you give a beggar money, you're doing it because "you" feel bad and giving something is your way of alleviating your pain. If you really and truly want to help someone, then you need to STOP, evaluate the situation, determine what help the person really needs and then get them that help. Most people don't have time for all that, so they give to ease their conscience. Better to give to an organization that does have the time (and needs the money). See the link: Real Help Takes Time, Not Just Money

C.) In times of scarcity, the ideal is to consume more because that sends a message to the market to produce more and at the same time, because of the higher prices, creates a greater incentive for entrepreneurs to create new alternatives that are more economical. INCREASED CONSUMPTION IS SCARCITY'S CURE.

D.) Illegal immigrants who have worked in America without a criminal record (forgiving their "illegality") since 2007/01/01 would be able to "purchase" their citizenship by contributing $2,500 per year toward Social Security for a period of twenty years. (No lawyers need be involved in this process.) In the interim, they would become visible to the system and begin paying their own SS taxes and whatnot. Yes, that's double taxation - life's not fair. However, the fact that there are millions of illegals who would jump at the chance, tells us that they find the offer their best choice. And the truth is, we need them. Everyone wins.

E.) Lastly, in our current economic mess, one novel idea that I have is to allow foreigners to purchase houses in America, and when they do so, they are automatically eligible for a single green card (one per house), subject to security approval. The housing market would be segmented into different categories based on price and each segment would have an equal number of green cards available (up to maybe 2.5 million per year). And a final condition would be that the selling price had to be equal or greater than the last purchase price. This would create an immediate demand at all price segment levels. And the price requirement would create a floor in the market. Finally, it would be a way for America to get some of the dollars that the world holds back into our economy. Oh yeah, and it wouldn't cost the taxpayers a dime.

I understand that "good ideas" by themselves are, to quote Charlie Brown, "a dime a dozen." This is why I want to come and study with you, Seth. I am a doer. I couldn't have held the management positions that I did unless I was. However, something is holding me back and I think that you have whatever that is.

Please choose me so that I can learn from you how to DO MORE.

This is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that some of you have been desperate for. Yet you won't take the chance, because you're controlled by fear. I see this in my work, almost every day. I'll approach a poor, homeless, and uneducated young migrant and offer them a way out of their poverty. Most don't accept, they are paralyzed by fear.

(The hardest part of helping people is getting them to let you - getting them to accept help.)

And yet, like you, that is the chance, the helping hand, that they were searching for.

No matter where you are in your life, your education depends on you. You are responsible for its content. You are responsible for its teachers. You are responsible for its shortcomings.

Education isn't about a degree. (Most degrees are little more than certificates of attendance. Don't believe it? Think about this: Practically speaking, EVERY school teacher you've ever had has obtained one of those degrees. Were they all good teachers? Heck, were they all even competent? I thought not, and in my lifetime, my experiences show that the same applies to most other vocations.) Ultimately, education is not about where you went, but about what you know. And even then, that only counts IF YOU USE IT. Unused knowledge is worthless.

For those who know me, you know that I like to 'practice what I preach'. I've often said that each of us needs mentors and sited Seth Godin as one of my best teachers. Seth is offering an amazing opportunity - he'll personally mentor a small team of people for six months, in his New York office.

For the right people, this is the CHANCE of a LIFETIME that they have been longing for. However, like most opportunities, it comes quickly and goes away even faster. Many people have all sorts of reasons for NOT being able to grab it.

Me too! However, this is so important - such an extraordinary chance - that they should be (and I AM) willing to sacrifice to take advantage of this rare learning opportunity..