A human-being? Or a human-doing?

Clearly we have seen better economic times.  Unemployment is at an all time high with the national average at roughly 10% – higher in California.   In May 300,000 jobs were lost – and this was an improvement over previous months where the norm was closer to 600,000.  Projected GNP changes for 2009 are, as Elvis Costello says, “less than zero!”

The federal government is spending at an unprecedented rate in an attempt to stimulate an economic recovery.  There is considerable debate about President Obama’s economic reform activities, and it is probably too early to tell if we are turning the tide or haphazardly spending, but few would argue that the government is sitting idly.  Presidential tenures are often characterized by their first hundred days, and President Obama’s first seven fortnights have been a flurry of activity.  So while it’s hard to say if he’s doing the right things, it would be difficult to criticize him for lack of effort – at least he’s “do-ing.”

This begs the question, are you a human “be-ing” or a human “do-ing?”  All too often we sit not so quietly on the sidelines lamenting about the decline of the economy, the fall of the S&P and our personal portfolios, the state deficit and our increasing taxes, and the loss of jobs.  At the same time, people are lining up to collect the increased benefits associated with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as if this were some sort of baptismal entitlement.  My question is, “If there is a problem in our economy, what are you doing about it?”

Over the past few weeks I have frequently been asked, why did you want to come and work as a part of the OCTANe team?  My response – I want to be a human “do-ing.”  OCTANe’s mission is fueling “innovation development” in Orange County.  We marry entrepreneurs, capital, and technology thereby accelerating entrepreneurship and company development for the technology and biomedical industries.  We work together to get more companies started, funded, and accelerated in OC and surrounding regions.  We teach entrepreneurs what to do and then how to do it.  In so doing, we create jobs, revenues, an increased tax base, and societal value.  These are the activities that will stimulate the economy and will support our nation’s financial recovery.

I can’t say for sure that what I contribute to OCTANe will have an appreciable impact to our nation’s recovery, although I am sure that the OCTANe community will keep these goals and activities at the forefront of their ambitions in supporting and driving innovation.  This is why I want to work at OCTANe.  It’s difficult to predict the timing or the ultimate end points of our acitivities, but there is no doubt that the OCTANe team is a group of “humans do-ing”, not merely “humans be-ing.”