Be the Solution How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World's Problems

by Strong, Michael; Mackey, John

• ISBN13: 9780470450031
• ISBN10: 0470450037
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-03-16
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Praise for Be the Solution"In the past, many believed you either went into 'public service' to do good, or you 'went into business' to make money. Few realized that the long-term success of business depends on serving people, not making money. Few realized that perhaps the best way to serve the public was through free enterprise. Whole Foods Market founder John Mackey, visionary thinker Michael Strong, micro lender Muhammad Yunus, and a few others understand these truths. Be the Solution is the best single book to read to understand the emerging ways in which entrepreneurs can change the world." -Gary Hoover, serial entrepreneur, founder of Hoover's Business Information Service, Hooversworld.com"Michael Strong speaks the truth. A must-read for our new American government." -Sam Wyly, founder, Green Mountain Energy; author of 1,000 Dollars and an Idea"This book is totally fantastic. Treat your mind to a feast. Use it to tune your vision towards what really works." -Charles Harper, Senior Executive VP, Chief Strategist, John Templeton Foundation"Perhaps more than ever before, young people today are motivated by the desire to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, many have little idea about how to do it, and their educational studies provide them with little direction. In contrast, this book is a road map about how we can get from where we are to where we want to be-to a more peaceful, more prosperous, and more environmentally sound world. Plus, it is exciting, uplifting, and adventurous. Indeed, it provides the recipe for a better world." -Dr. James Gwartney, coauthor of Economic Freedom of the World: 2007 Annual Report; Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair at Florida State University"This is a very thoughtful and timely book that asks us to look around-and to look within-the amazing opportunities that entrepreneurship offers to the world. I recommend this book to anyone interested in finding solutions to the current crisis." -Giancarlo Ibarguen, Executive President, Universidad Francisco Marroquin"At last, a book about the heart of capitalism as a force for creating good in the world for solving many of our tough societal problems. I hope our political leaders read it." -R. Edward Freeman, Olsson Professor of Business Administration, Academic Director, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics, University of Virginia

Author Biography

Michael Strong, educated at Harvard, St. John's College, and the University of Chicago, has created several high-performance private and charter schools, including a school that was named the 36th best public school in the United States on the Washington Post's Challenge Index. The author of The Habit of Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic Practice, Strong has consulted for hundreds of educational institutions around the world. Prior to his career in education, he was a doctoral student at the University of Chicago working on a dissertation on "Ideas and Culture as Human Capital" under economics Nobel laureate Gary Becker. Strong is currently the CEO and Chief Visionary Officer of FLOW, Inc., the nonprofit organization he cofounded with John Mackey.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Preface	p. xvii
Acknowledgments	p. xxv
The Entrepreneurial Spirit and How to Liberate It	p. 1
Context	p. 3
The Entrepreneur as Hero	p. 37
The Opportunity: The Creative Powers of a Free Civilization	p. 51
Conscious Capitalism	p. 71
Creating a New Paradigm for Business	p. 73
Social Business Entrepreneurs Are the Solution	p. 115
Business as Service: "Doing Well to Do Good"	p. 125
Leveraging Entrepreneurship for Social Change	p. 133
What Do We Need to Do So That Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World's Problems?	p. 139
Solving All Environmental Problems	p. 141
Eliminate Global Poverty	p. 173
Is Economic Freedom for Everyone?	p. 197
Can Entrepreneurs Help Us Improve Our Understanding of the World?	p. 211
Improving Health, Happiness, and Well-Being	p. 227
Living a Life of Flow	p. 275
The Upward Flow of Human Development-Maps of the Terrain: From Success to Significance-The Five Bottom Lines of Conscious Capitalism	p. 277
Areté and the Entrepreneur	p. 305
The Creation of Conscious Cultures in Support of Human Flourishing	p. 327
Liberating the Entrepreneurial Spirit for Good™	p. 333
The FLOW Vision for the Twenty-First Century	p. 341
About the Contributors	p. 363
Index	p. 369
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