impact assessment

After a weekend spent scraping information about the largest companies in the US, I’m reminded that most of these companies aren’t very sexy at all. Our food scene is especially uninspiring, with something like 10 MNEs owning and operating the majority of brands the average person will encounter when grocery shopping, anywhere, ever..

I had a conversation with a friend this week, whose business school job offer was revoked in the second week of August post-graduation. She, like most people I’ve interviewed to find out what people expect out of a post-MBA career, has values she expects to be able to incorporate into her path and doesn’t want to compromise, especially after spending the effort, money, and time out of the work force to be able to earn more control of her career path on the other side. But, like many of the other folks I’ve also interviewed, her values, on the surface, turn her off from working in some of the most basic foundational industries in our economy… things like energy, wholesale, CPG.

It got me thinking, again, and again, and again for many years now, how you define “positive” and “impact” are very personal. I know my own understanding of positive impact has changed considerably over time, as has my motivation to achieve it.

As I consider the impact of my own career decisions… I’ve avoided putting a stake in the ground and instead think about ways to empower others to make the impact they desire. For people with some kinda conviction, what hinders them from aligning their actions with their values? With so many factors feeding into each personal “positive” and “impact” evaluation and decision algorithm, what kinds of information are universally required to allow people to make the assessments that matter to them? And in what activities are people struggling the most with this pursuit?

After several early attempts at designing a solution (that looked more like Yelp) and a makeover as a class project, it became a search aggregator with a filter for your personal values (with information assessment performed by Watson). Imagine every time you shop, look for a job, manage financial investments (if that’s a thing you actually do…), your search results could be rank-ordered by their match to you and your specific objectives!

I eventually discovered the Buy Partisan guy’s new thing. Awesome!!

Also Google might own the concept of a custom algorithm. I’m not sure.