I found this insight from Paul Graham in a post called aptly “The Equity Equation” which provides great insight for startups:

An investor wants to give you money for a certain percentage of your startup. Should you take it? You’re about to hire your first employee. How much stock should you give him?

These are some of the hardest questions founders face. And yet both have the same answer:

1/(1 – n)

Whenever you’re trading stock in your company for anything, whether it’s money or an employee or a deal with another company, the test for whether to do it is the same. You should give up n% of your company if what you trade it for improves your average outcome enough that the (100 – n)% you have left is worth more than the whole company was before.

For example, if an investor wants to buy half your company, how much does that investment have to improve your average outcome for you to break even? Obviously it has to double: if you trade half your company for something that more than doubles the company’s average outcome, you’re net ahead. You have half as big a share of something worth more than twice as much.

In the general case, if n is the fraction of the company you’re giving up, the deal is a good one if it makes the company worth more than 1/(1 – n).

For example, suppose Y Combinator offers to fund you in return for 6% of your company. In this case, n is .06 and 1/(1 – n) is 1.064. So you should take the deal if you believe we can improve your average outcome by more than 6.4%. If we improve your outcome by 10%, you’re net ahead, because the remaining .94 you hold is worth .94 x 1.1 = 1.034. [1]

One of the things the equity equation shows us is that, financially at least, taking money from a top VC firm can be a really good deal. Greg Mcadoo from Sequoia recently said at a YC dinner that when Sequoia invests alone they like to take about 30% of a company. 1/.7 = 1.43, meaning that deal is worth taking if they can improve your outcome by more than 43%. For the average startup, that would be an extraordinary bargain. It would improve the average startup’s prospects by more than 43% just to be able to say they were funded by Sequoia, even if they never actually got the money.

The reason Sequoia is such a good deal is that the percentage of the company they take is artificially low. They don’t even try to get market price for their investment; they limit their holdings to leave the founders enough stock to feel the company is still theirs.

The catch is that Sequoia gets about 6000 business plans a year and funds about 20 of them, so the odds of getting this great deal are 1 in 300. The companies that make it through are not average startups.

You can read the rest at Paul Graham’s blog, if you want to know more about trading equity for venture investment or professional services like marketing or web design. At the end of the day, these calculations are estimations, however are helpful for creating a more accurate and targeted number rather than coming up with a random number.

Here’s the trailor from “Lord, Save us from Your Followers”

The trailer does seem to have a political learning, but it does perhaps provide some focus to the ongoing conversations about the intersection of faith and public life in America and around the world.

Thoughts?

My class at church which has college aged and non-colleged aged students (aka 20 to 30 somethings) in it is currently looking for topics of interest to the students. I’m going to outline a couple contemporary and Christian-themed ideas that I think are relevant both to college and post-college young adults. Heres my list of potential class topics:

1) Take any video (or perhaps 3 to 5) from the Nines and discuss it in class. (you might even have the class vote on the topics or videos beforehand) What does this mean? How does it square with scripture? Does this change how you live out your Christianity? (you could actually do an entire series of 4 to 6 classes on the Nines)

2) How do explain deal suffering and Christianity to non-believers? Take the recent book of Rob Bell (his most recent book) and Donald Miller (his most recent book) along with theologians like CS Lewis. The class might also look at two other contemporaries.

3) How do we deal with the issue of atheism? What are the new-atheists saying? How can we answer those issues?

4) How do we deal with the issue the emergent generation? (aka the post-Christian and post-modern generation). What is the role of post modernism? Is there some balance between the modern and non-postmodern that we can strike? Is there some balance between the modern and post-modern that the bible strikes (and that we should strike as Christians)? What does truth mean in an era of relativism? How do we deal with the spiritual, but not religious? Do they like Jesus, but not the church?

5) What is the emergent church? What are the different strains/versions of the emergent church? What can we learn from the emergent church? Is there anything troubling about the emergent church or emergent church theology?

6) How can we deal with money better? What does the Bible say about money?

7) Has the churches values adopted too much of America’s values? What role does this have on our personal lives and Christian walks?

8] How can we meet non-Christians in un-traditional ways? What conversations and non-traditional spaces can we encounter people who don’t share our faith values?

9) How can we serve and love others better as a church? What are the ways other churches are successfully engaging their communities?

10) Take any one of the Rob Bell Nooma videos and discuss it in light of our faith and personal lives.

11) What role does the creation story have in 21st century America? Is there a conflict between religion and science? (this one takes a lot of depth–I believe just saying one side of the discussion isn’t not fruitful for solving this conflict)

12) Relevance vs. religious? Should we engage culture? How? How not?

13) Galatians and the modern day Christianity.

14) How can Christians create a life plan and set spiritual goals better?

15) How can we optimize the talents of our young people in the church?

16) How can we better respond to peoples needs (both physical and spiritual) during the recession?

17) Ephesians and the modern day Christians.

18) Does James change how we evaluate our faith walks? I think the Church poverty curriculum “Perspectives on Global Poverty” by Hope International is helpful in navigating this issue and its free on their website. (its 23 pages and quite extensive in scope)

19) Biblical theme in movies like Spiderman. (sorry I need to find a resource for this one….feel free to suggest one in the comments section)

20) What do business ethics mean to Christians? How can we apply this practically? (this may only seem relevant to 25% to 45% of the class–but almost 100% will have a job which requires them to answer these questions)

21) Should we personally be stewards of the environment? How can we practically do this?

22) What is the role of the sacraments in our lives? How can we step by step move to practicing the sacraments….and more importantly a better walk with God?

23) Suggest your own…… (or combine two of the above)

25) What is the historicity of the Bible? How does the Old Testmament and history provide support to our faith?

26) Can we leverage small groups for good? Is this a Biblical perspective based on the New Testament church?

27) What are the dangers of technology? Can we leverage technology for good?

28) How do we deal with Christians we disagree with? How can we deal with conflict in the church? Are their Christian ways to deal with and resolve conflict?

So what do you think? What are the most important and salient issues for young Christians to be talking about these days. What issues would you add or subtract?

I’m fascinated with the concept of crowd sourcing whether it be iStockphoto, Threadless, Crowdvine, eLance, the social news site Digg, or the local company Studio Now which crowd sources video production. I’m equally fasinated with companies that experiment with it as a way of collaboration or market it, including those who successfully deploy it like Starbucks.

A recent Forbes article lodged an interesting critique of Crowd sourcing or perhaps identified a prominent misconception about crowd sourcing which could lead to misleading expectations and perhaps even failure:

For the past 10 years, the buzz around open source has created a similar false impression. The notion of crowds creating solutions appeals to our desire to believe that working together we can do anything, but in terms of innovation it is just ridiculous.

There is no crowd in crowdsourcing. There are only virtuosos, usually uniquely talented, highly trained people who have worked for decades in a field. Frequently, these innovators have been funded through failure after failure. From their fervent brains spring new ideas. The crowd has nothing to do with it. The crowd solves nothing, creates nothing.

The author continues

So what’s my problem? Why does it bug me that people think crowdsourcing is something it is not? Why do I care that people think a crowd is capable of individual virtuosity? What bugs me is that misplaced faith in the crowd is a blow to the image of the heroic inventor. We need to nurture and fund inventors and give them time to explore, play and fail. A false idea of the crowd reduces the motivation for this investment, with the supposition that companies can tap the minds of inventors on the cheap.

Does crowdsourcing exist as it is popularly conceived? Yes, it does, but it doesn’t have anything to do with innovation. Jigsaw, the community-created database of 16 million business contacts, is crowdsourcing.

It sounds to me that collaboration isn’t magic and its not a panacea. Similarly there isn’t an invisible hand which will just make your website like the passionate communities on Craigslist, Wikipedia, Yelp, or Facebook. Those communities are built…

Perhaps this article goes too far in criticizing the role of collaboration, but does point to a more balanced and more truthful approach to social networking communities, collaboration in enterprise 2.0, and social media.

What other criticisms have you seen? How do you believe this changes the nature of the discussion over crowd sourcing or what makes a crowd sourcing community successful?

Well, I think the prior question is should I become a social media consultant? Usually, this is a question of skills and market match . I think Mr. Harte’s explanation of the 25 components of a social media consultant are a fantastic introduction to what types of skill sets you want or may need to develop.

The idea of being a social media consultant sounds like fun at first glance–playing around on Facebook and writing about topics which interest you sounds like a great job, but does require a great degree of discipline, self-motivation and skill. What kind of social media consultant do you want to be?

Do you want to focus on writing and content optimization?
Do you want to focus on conversion optimization and conversion funnels?
Can you code in PHP, Drupal, or Ruby on Rails (ROR)?
Or perhaps you have amazing designs in Adobe Illustrator and/or Photoshop?
Perhaps you come from a design background and have a proven keen eye for layout.
Or maybe you would rather focus on a niche like video or mobile marketing?
Or you can edit in Final Cut Pro or have an acumen for iMovie?
Or maybe you have an interest in information design which helps tell statisical stories with pictures?

What is the strength you bring to the table which will give you a strategic edge on the rest of the market? Now how can you wrap that skill into a marketable commodity which a business will pay for? If you’re not sure they will pay for the service (or how much), perhaps its worth asking around to find how your specific skill (service) will fit in the social media landscape. If you don’t have a specific skill (and a product, portfolio, or resume which showcases that skill) its important to create something tangible that a business person can look to to determine if you have the requisite skills to complete the task.

Now the next step is probably creating a product/service price listing, exploring who your local competition is, and look for potential social media consultants or marketing firms to collaborate with. Remember: they probably won’t want to collaborate unless you have a resume or portfolio which indicates you have the requisite experience to demonstrate both skill and a significant value add for their company.

Pitching services like video, design, and copy editing may not be difficult to do, but many of the other services are just starting to come into their own and the public doesn’t have an understanding of the challenges. As such, much of your customer acquisition time may be spent discussing the new trends and expected return on investment, as well as creating a process or work flow for your engagement with the business.

I hope this article helps you determine if you should be a social media consultant…Thanks for reading. Feel free to add your perspective in the comments section.

Paul Polak founder for International Development Enterprises (IDE) was featured in this month’s Atlantic feature entitled “Brave Thinkers“:

Name: Paul Polak
Job: Founder of International Development Enterprises and D-Rev
Why he’s brave: His companies treat the poor as consumers and entrepreneurs.
Quote: “Talk to the people who have the problem and listen to what they have to say.”

Criticizing charities and development groups—for bloat, condescension, or naïveté—can be a convenient excuse to forget about the excruciating reality of poverty and inequality. But not for Polak, whose complaint with conventional charities is that they fail to consider the market potential of the world’s 1.2 billion poor people. Treating the poor as potential consumers and entrepreneurs, he believes, is the best way to help them achieve self-sufficiency.

Operating under the guideline “Cheap is beautiful,” his companies sell affordable and useful tools—like manual-treadle pumps for irrigation, or solar-powered water purifiers—that poor people can use to make a living selling products to their peers. For instance, a farmer who buys a treadle pump for $8 can use it to transport groundwater to his fields during the dry season, when crops fetch higher prices, and quickly recoup his investment at the local market.

Polak thinks that profitable markets in impoverished areas will spur more prosperity than offering direct donations, financing large infrastructure projects, or relying on government initiatives. “The single most important thing they need to get out of poverty is to find a way to earn more money,” he writes in his book, Out of Poverty. “This is so obvious that people tell me that it is a perfect example of circular logic. But the sad fact is that it isn’t at all obvious to the great majority of the world’s poverty experts.”

To learn more about Paul Polak and IDE I suggest reading “Design for the Other 90 Percent” and/or “Out of Poverty” and checking out his 12 steps to practical problem solving which can help new entrepreneurs, innovative start ups, as well as social entrepreneurs.

Are Co-working Spaces marking the emergency of Web 3.0?

Nathaniel Whittlemore on Social Entrepreneurship points out:

Writing about Virgance last week, ecofirm Max Gladwell advanced a new definition for Web 3.0 that’s not about cloud computing and semantic web, but instead about a phenomenon of human use:
Web 3.0 might also encompass the merging of the digital world with the actual world through Web and mobile technologies. Web 3.0 might include applications that integrate or necessarily include the actual worldwide web—the one in which we live, the tangible web of homes, streets, businesses, and government offices. If Web 2.0 is the Internet as a platform, then Web 3.0 might be the World as a platform.
In the new internet there is an increasing fluency between online and offline, and the direction of discovery flows both ways. Social networking technologies are no longer just the place where your offline connections live, but a doorway for relationships with new friends and colleagues.
The creatives are translating this emergent energy by building community hubs, rooted in place and designed to unleash the power of relationships to inspire innovation and ideas.
In the for-profit world, this is taking the shape of incubators. Y-Combinator is just the best known of an array of institutions designed to accelerate young companies by lavishing them with mentorship and connections. VentureBeat wrote yesterday about a new group, SproutBox based out of Bloomington, Indiana, and gave a shout to the growing field “a list that includes TechStars in Boulder, Colo., Launchbox Digital in Washington, D.C., Start@Spark in Boston, Mass., and Capital Factory in Austin, Texas.”
In the social sector, there is an explosion around co-working spaces for social innovators. The Hub’s global network is one of the leaders (and poised to come to the US for the first time this fall), but there are many others, such as NEDSpace in Portland, Oregon. Both the incubators and the co-working spaces share a common sensibility in attempting to draw out the unique composition of the communities in which they’re rooted.
And everywhere, conferences are popping up to build momentum around new sensibilities. This post was inspired by Big Omaha, a truly awesome looking event wrapping up in Nebraska today that is designed to converge brilliant entrepreneurs around the leading city of the Silicon Prarie.
The potential here is truly immense. Imagine a network where every city you went to, there was a community hub that you could check in with, each with a feel it’s own, but all connected by a passion for unleashing people’s capacity by allowing them to inspire and collaborate with one another.

Dave Ramsey Video on Debt Free Living and Financial Responsibility

No matter what political and spiritual group you belong to, the financial wisdom which Dave Ramsey imparts to his listeners is about 97.5% on point. I hope this is helpful to you

Here are four tips from Dave Ramsey for financial security:

• 80% behaviour, 20% head knowledge
• Stop the bleeding. Cut up your credit cards.
• The envelope system.
• Zero based budget.

Other Dave Ramsey Video Resources

Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University: Preview Part I)
Dave Ramsey at Catalyst Conference: Five tips given to church pastors and staff)
Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University

10 Things I Learned at Nashville Startup Weekend about Entrepreneurship and Business

I recently attended Nashville Startup Weekend at the Owen School of Business at Vanderbilt University and had a great time. I participated with the team that worked on Planet PE, an e-learning startup focused on physical education curriculum:

1) Scenario model for pitches is great (example narrative or sample customer interaction)
2) It helps to be funny
3) Artificial demand helps your business model and revenue
4) Re-packaging content (again and again) might help scale it
5) Often your personal pain points make the best products and stories
6) Build on existing communities for starting your business
7) E-mail is old school, but can work
8] Mass customization can work as a business model
9) Re-current revenue often beats a one off.
10) Can replicate an existing model in a new market or with a new twist (aka re-mix, mashup)

Here is an article which explains five reasons business plans fail, which can provide helpful guidance when writing a business plan. (hopefully, I’ll blog about and summarize the salient points from this article soon)

Here are all the startup ideas that were pitched on Friday night thanks to Tod Fetherling of the Nashville Technology Council:

1 Luke Mobile phone carrier identification app
2 Lawrence Human value exchange (service barter system)
3 Nicholas Boffee shop
4 Kate & Jason Office Hero (ordering system)
5 Nick Buffalo club (weight loss pool)
6 Lily Daily Candy (sports for sports haters)
7 Betsy Roommates.com for songwriters
8 Darren Online doctor scheduling
9 Stephen Focus Radar automated tasking system
10 Nick-o Get Rich on Jokes.com (joke aggregator/monetizer)
11 Jason Outlook for ADD, Anti-FocusRadar
12 Bruce Golf course merchandise aggregator
13 Luke MBA-powered musicians™
14 Tod PE Teacher.com (Online PE curriculum)
15 Lee Pizza Smackdown
16 Chris Online music collaboration marketplace
17 Anne & Justin Menu planning meets video poker
18 Jake Passive Traveler
19 tod Nashehr.com
20 Chad ican’tmakedecision.com
21 Luke Everyone’s favorite restaurant (multi-delivery)
22 Tom Zombie augmented reality storytelling 2.0 kindof
23 Jake Real estate self-guided GPS app
24 Chris Simple menu-to-SMS ordering for small restaurants
25 Justin Basecamp for event planning
26 Scott Real world Monopoly® GPS-aware game
27 Lee One auto enthusiast site to rule them all
28 Amber One wiki-like legal search app to rule them all
29 Nick-a-rama Reusable Hot-or-Not
30 Kate Evernote for Lyricists
31 Matt Local news site to take The Tennessean’s lost advert $ 2.0
32 Tod Truck Sock + The Wedge
33 Nathan K. Hyperlocal calendar aggregator
34 Nathan S. Wuja Cuja (charity-a-day)
35 Jake & Nate Startup Yearround (Kiva for the First World)
36 Bayard Social Media Styleguide Generator
37 Bo Mortgage applications – shop to all mortgage lenders

And here are the finalists thanks to Andrew Duthie of Duthie Learning:

Here are the five finalists:
PE Teacher.com (Online PE curriculum)
Focus Radar automated tasking system
One wiki-like legal search app to rule them all
Daily Candy-like service for sports haters
Office Hero (ordering system)

And here are the pitches that made the first cut but not the final:
Mortgage applications – shop to all mortgage lenders
Zombie augmented reality storytelling 2.0 kindof
Startup Yearround (Kiva for the First World)
Menu planning meets video poker
Basecamp for event planning
Nashehr.com
Real estate self-guided GPS app
Online doctor scheduling

Some have been asking questions about the quality and economic orientation of the New Testament. One attempt to (dramatically) re-orient the text has come from Conservapedia.

My Critique of the Conservative Bible Project

I wish I could separate the wheat from the chaff. Initially, it seems odd to me that we would find absolute free market endorsement in the New Testament (for instance tobacco, violence in the media, or endorsements of sinful behavior in advertising). So any nuanced and holistic understanding of the text must begin–based on my reading of the sermon on the mount–on those fundamental limits (among others) to free market activity. Hence, this passage from the ten Conservative interpretations principles of the project, simply misses the point:

Express Free Market Parables; explaining the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning

The parable of the talents is neither free market nor socialist nor endorses any other market. Its an argument for the value work and creativity, but not necessary in the free market–thats an incredibly important distinction. (Also the free market allows people to be lazy–those who have accumulated wealth, those who charge inordinate prices for their work, and those. I’m not sure how this discrepency squares with the Conservative Bible project’s philosophy.)

How someone uses their talents is something their work out with saviour. At best, this is an argument for keeping the welfare state accountable and transparent (sure he doesn’t say transparency, but transparency in the welfare would hopefully have the effect of helping ensuring money was used effectively and prudentially).

In the same way, the sermon on the mount doesn’t endorse socialism–it endorses compassion, love, and probably dignity. Second, conservatives, please stop abusing the word “socialism” your most astute and media savvy people even admit this just sounds silly. The need to provide a rationale, when neither view is defended is mostly an exercise in futility and unnecessary infighting.

Critique #2: Conservative Bible Project

The members of the conservative bible project apparently think the bible is “dumbed down” by various translations and this must be rectified. This is simply incredible:

Not Dumbed Down: not dumbing down the reading level, or diluting the intellectual force and logic of Christianity; the NIV is written at only the 7th grade level.

So apparently, our kids shouldn’t be able to read the text. Also, those in other countries with less than a 7th grade education are likewise out of luck. BTW, I thought it was 3rd grade–but I haven’t done the research and will have to defer to him. I just believe our kids should have access and we probably shouldn’t be calling them “dumb” or implying that either. Same goes for new christians.

#3 Criticism of the Conservative Bible Project

Apparently, the Conservative bible project doesn’t seem interested in what the greek says or a simple translation, or using terms that the Jews used themselves (which is an issue of truth and history):

Conciseness over Liberal Wordiness: preferring conciseness to the liberal style of high word-to-substance ratio; avoid compound negatives and unnecessary ambiguities; prefer concise, consistent use of the word “Lord” rather than “Jehovah” or “Yahweh” or “Lord God.”

I didn’t know so-called Liberals were so wordy or that using the Greek and Hebrew translations of words which probably best mirror that actualities of the times of Jesus was such a bad thing.

At the end of the day, most economic/political readings of the Bible are going to be based on interpretations and suggestions rather than a verifiable textual answer. Even in that search it would be difficult to answer the Bibles emphasis on helping widows, orphans, and outcasts. And like Amy Sullivan I curiously wonder how the Conservative Bible Project will translate:

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

However, we would do well to Ernesto Tinajero at Sojourners: Faith Politics, and Culture points out:

Of course, this flies in face our need of God’s grace and need for a humble heart. Jesus’ words challenge Consevapedia’s worldview. They also challenge my worldview, as they should. The truth is, all Christians try to remake God into our image. This is the very definition of the sin of pride. Liberals, conservatives, libertarians, socialists, and Christians all have fallen short of the glory of God. Then we try to use God as justification for our own biases, making the word of God an echo chamber.…Once, a theology professor made a comment I keep coming back to. He said if you read the Bible and it does not challenge you, then you are reading yourself and not the Bible.

Please, at least take a minute of prayer and reflection before launching into another (ravenous) us vs. them battle which makes the church look silly. Don’t let Satan use the systems of this world against us. For the sake of your sanity and soul, please don’t let politics, economic philosophies, or ego hijack the message of Jesus.

Just my humble opinion.

Endnotes:

Here are all Conservopedias ten critiques of current (aka liberal) bible translations:

As of 2009, there is no fully conservative translation of the Bible which satisfies the following ten guidelines:[1]
Framework against Liberal Bias: providing a strong framework that enables a thought-for-thought translation without corruption by liberal bias

Not Emasculated: avoiding unisex, “gender inclusive” language, and other modern emasculation of Christianity

Not Dumbed Down: not dumbing down the reading level, or diluting the intellectual force and logic of Christianity; the NIV is written at only the 7th grade level[2]

Utilize Powerful Conservative Terms: using powerful new conservative terms as they develop;[3] defective translations use the word “comrade” three times as often as “volunteer”; similarly, updating words which have a change in meaning, such as “word”, “peace”, and “miracle”

Combat Harmful Addiction: combating addiction by using modern terms for it, such as “gamble” rather than “cast lots”;[4] using modern political terms, such as “register” rather than “enroll” for the census

Accept the Logic of Hell: applying logic with its full force and effect, as in not denying or downplaying the very real existence of Hell or the Devil.

Express Free Market Parables; explaining the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning

Exclude Later-Inserted Liberal Passages: excluding the later-inserted liberal passages that are not authentic, such as the adulteress story

Credit Open-Mindedness of Disciples: crediting open-mindedness, often found in youngsters like the eyewitnesses Mark and John, the authors of two of the Gospels

Prefer Conciseness over Liberal Wordiness: preferring conciseness to the liberal style of high word-to-substance ratio; avoid compound negatives and unnecessary ambiguities
Thus, a project has begun among members of Conservapedia to translate the Bible in accordance with these principles. The translated Bible can be found here.

Crowd Sourcing and Outsourcing Video Editing and Production Companies

You might call me a fan boy of the crowd sourcing phenomena. There are several options for crowd sourcing video. Increasingly as broadband speeds go up, video streaming fees go down (plummet), and the desire for website interactivity and social media rises on both the consumer and enterprise end–video outsourcing and crowd sourcing looks to expand dramatically.

But what are the enterprise solutions in this space? Here is an overview of some of the companies which make up the video crowd sourcing, outsourcing, and off shoring space.

Crowd sourcing Video Companies
Initially Kaltura offers an open source method of outsourcing video editing.

If you are looking to outsource video editing there are many solutions available, with most positioned in India.

More locally, here in Nashville, Studio Now offers a platform for video production and editing. You might also check out Media Mobz for professional video or SpinXpress for more crowd powered video editing, production, and collaboration.

Alternative Crowd sourcing and Outsourcing Resources
Of course, Guru, E-lance, and other sites like Ki Work and even Craigs list offer more generic solutions, which allows you to find video editing and production freelancers internationally. If you are interested in other crowd sourcing companies this list is fairly comprehensive as is this list , although neither is entirely extensive.

Outsourcing and Project Management Principles to Keep in Mind:

I think I would opt for the outsourcing solution which provided:

• a clear idea of the production quality
• a clear time line for completion
• customer service
• met the overall needs and objectives of our organization
• overall custom solution

Have a suggestion for a video crowd sourcing or outsourcing company I left out? Want to recommend a firm you’ve worked with and been happy with the results?

Susan Herbst in Inside Higher Education wrote an eloquent piece on the value of debate as a component of high school and the university curriculum:

However, colleges and universities do offer more practical ideas and tools to American lawmakers, journalists, and interest group leaders, that are far more helpful and productive. There is the wonderful work by Gerald Graff and others on teaching argument and conflict, demanding that our students know how to make an argument in class, in papers, and as they go about their lives. As the years pass, these scholars have made a difference, and my bet is that their impact will be even greater as a younger generation of faculty learn how to incorporate argument into their teaching, no matter the discipline or class size.

But even more accessible than these pedagogical paradigms and tools is formal debate itself, from policy debate modeled by national championship college and university teams, to Lincoln-Douglas-style debate, and a variety of other formats that have emerged across nations. While I was only a high school debater myself, and I’m now far outside both the high school and collegiate debate “circuits,” it is clear to me that if we can train our students – not only our student leaders and teams – in debate, and make it a stronger presence on campuses, we might build a more constructive public discourse with generational change. Anyone can debate – learn to make an argument, marshal evidence, rebut – with some instruction and practice. And these skills, once gained, can be translated into the sorts of forums our students will eventually find themselves in: workplace meetings, the PTA, community organizations, and in some cases, city halls and legislatures. We do not need to train a generation of lawyers, but we do need to train a generation of students who can simulate what attorneys and great debaters do as a matter of course.

There are many people, organizations and institutions that teach debate either for the classroom or for regional or national competitions, in the United States, abroad, and online (see here and here). But the basic elements are the same across formats: Argument, evidence, forced reciprocity and dialogue, equal time, and mandatory listening. These are precisely the elements missing from much of the contemporary debate about health care reform, and I predict they will be absent as well from the worrisome debates coming next, immigration policy reform in particular. These aspects of communication are the very building blocks for civility, and at this point at least, we have a deficit of them.

Susan Herbst is chief academic officer for the University System of Georgia and professor of public policy at Georgia Institute of Technology.

For more comprehensive coverage of the value of debate.