Made in Japan, Outsourced Globally

I have been slacking on my reading for a while, and I am now finally finding some time to catch up. The Google Story was gathering dust on my shelf since an impulse purchase at Waterloo station in 2006. Since then, the world has changed ten-fold for Google, and it has multiple pet projects that continue to surprise the media (as seen on Google.org). What's refreshing about Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the 'Google Guys', is their purist pursuit of technology and mathematics. No matter how rich they become, they are probably unsatisfied and are looking for the next idea to "Wow" the world. Case in point: the use of Google Earth to map out geothermal energy and to detect potential infectious disease outbreaks. My bet is on them to be the first to come up with a user-friendly cloud computing interface.

The Google business development reaffirms my theory that "being the right guys at the right time in the right place" is a huge success factor for exceptional companies, along the ranks of Apple, GE, and Sony. The stars aligned for Page and Brin (enterpreneurial partner, VC funding, mentors, Stanford backing, dot.com timing), and they took the opportunity. These are smart guys, and there are lessons to be learned (both from their success and mistakes). I'm also deeply in favor of having a company with strong cultures and visions - these are the magic ingredients for successful companies.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World was another book that I was recommended to read as I step back into the world of development. It's sometimes difficult to swallow the 'wealthy entrepreneur trying to make a better world' pill, but I think John Wood got it right. Above all, the success of Room to Read (an organization that helps open up libraries and schools in remote developing country villages through co-fundraising in the developed world and in the local community) speaks loud and clear that excellent business practices have a great fit with international development. (I also have a new-found respect for Steve Ballamer - sometimes you need bosses and leaders like him who are intimidating and rigorously number-oriented. I'm also glad my Dad didn't accidentally run him over).

The tides of social entrepreneurship is gaining critical mass today. To put simply, the desire for international development always existed and manifested in forms of international and state institutions (UN, World Bank, USAID), NGOs (CARE, VSO, Medicins Sans Frontierers, and other small NGOs), and private corporations (HP, McKinsey, Unilever). Then what is different today?

Here's what I think happened: Globalization exposed many business-savvy people to the remote corners of the world, and they became restless. There's a time and a place for the development institutions, NGOs, and corporations, but they weren't meeting some needs quickly enough in the eyes of the social entrepreneurs. Or perhaps institutional motives left gaps (e.g. - companies are thinking about the 'middle-bottom of the pyramid' and cannot possibly serve the lowest bottom of the pyramid). Globalization brought awareness, and social entrepreneurs thought they could do something about it. (*I do not mean to mitigate the impact or criticize the other entities - everyone has a role in development, and these organizations have been the bedrock of international development for decades, whereas social entrepreneurs are somewhat of a minority still).

Google regards realization of great ideas as their organizational objective. They also have a simple mantra: "Do No Evil", which encompasses the company culture. Their contribution to international development, therefore, is a residual of their great ideas and tools. John Wood left the corporate life to make education accessible to the children in Nepal and other remote villages his life-long mission. These seem like opposing approaches and goals (top down vs. bottom up, successful enterprise vs. spread of education in remote areas as a goal), but what's important to recognize here are the results. They are making tangible progress, and they feel good about it. Who said that you couldn't have your cake and eat it too? I think that's what makes the new generation of social entrepreneurs a little different from other oganizations - they are not shy about trumpeting their success and feeling good about the progress (there's also a PR aspect). I say more the power to them, because there's a lot of people and communities that can use all the help. It's a breath of fresh air and inspiring.