http://www.circlemanifesto.com "In the Case of the Circle, Beginning and End are Common" ~ Heraclitus Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:31:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This past May, while receiving an award from Mayor Coss and the Chamber of Commerce for Excellence in Business, I viewed my physical surroundings: the wood on the tables, plated food, concrete, drywall, lighting and carpet, and wondered about the true cost of these commodities to the communities that produced ... http://www.circlemanifesto.com/?p=79 A Manifesto is a term for a doctrine of public import, though it often implies something revolutionary. The Circle approach to business as outlined here is the razor's edge of social corporate responsibility. It is too late for sustainability. Business practices must work ultimately toward regeneration of ... http://www.circlemanifesto.com/?p=75 I have not posted for quite some time, mainly because I do not have the time to write for 2 blogs while working on the strategic elements of our company, developing a re-design of our website and attending shows most weekends in Aug/Sept.  Fairjewelry.org was prioritized over circlemanifesto, for ... http://www.circlemanifesto.com/?p=74 I am president of a designer jewelry company and for years, I always felt conflicted about having a business in a sector which has such a terrible record for environmental and social responsibility. To the progressive shopper, the jewelry industry is associated with blood diamonds, dirty gold, and lead ... http://www.circlemanifesto.com/?p=73 Most businesses are structured like pyramids. People and resources are used to benefit those at the top who set policy to achieve maximum profit. This narrow focus, mandated in publicly held companies by the law of our land, has turned our basic human need for exchange into a destructive ... http://www.circlemanifesto.com/?p=72 Paula Underwood, my Iroquois teacher, was fond of saying, "The amount of conflict you can incorporate into your circle is directly proportional to the amount of peace you will feel." Here's some conflict I've let into my circle recently... I read this press release from Citizen Watch and I was so angry ... http://www.circlemanifesto.com/?p=71 My Iroquois teacher Paula Underwood, held ten thousand years of stories and history in her head. She called them her "data base." The stories were the life lessons of a small group of people that valued learning above all else. The stories were in pots in her head, ... http://www.circlemanifesto.com/?p=70 The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is the largest of its kind in the world. Every hotel in Tucson is taken over. Glamour of the biggest and most expensive gems in the world, everything that glitters under the sun. What I see when I walk in there ... http://www.circlemanifesto.com/?p=69 "A circle-based business is rooted in relationships that are nurtured by fair and equitable exchange. Every person inside and outside of the business is viewed as equal in their humanity." In 1995 my wife Helen and I started our jewelry business. That same year we purchased, with a few friends, ... http://www.circlemanifesto.com/?p=68 What keeps me awake at night running a small business in today's market place?: An elephant in a bikini. I sell a lot to galleries and boutiques, as well as jewelry stores. The galleries and boutiques are hurting. A manufacturing representative who I have been working with for eight ... http://www.circlemanifesto.com/?p=50