A Radically Different Model of Success

When my colleagues and I developed Stanford’s creativity course, we thought of it as a complement to other business courses. If our students could better access their creative side, we reasoned, that would help them leverage the analytical tools they were getting from virtually all the other courses in our school.

Eventually we realized, however, that these other courses actually promoted a way of life through the unspoken, fundamental assumption that economic success, together with its trappings, is the ultimate goal. The premise of our course was quite different: We wanted students to experience their inner wisdom and authority and the connection they had with all beings—another kind of success altogether. Without realizing it, we were not only offering a training program for a new way of doing business, but also of living in the world.

Students who discovered their essential inner resources and the ultimate purpose of their existence found they could do their work and live their lives in ways that contributed to positive change in the world. Alumni came back to tell us how they lived from that purpose and maintained their focus using the structure they had learned in our course. A few examples:

• Denise Brosseau built on her discovery in the course that, in essence, she is a connector. She cofounded the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE) soon after graduating from Stanford in 1993, changing the game for women entrepreneurs by helping them find funding and develop networks. For instance, one of her FWE conferences alone raised more than $185 million for twenty-six women-run start-ups.

• Jeff Skoll, who took the course in 1995, credits it with teaching him to look inside himself. He amassed a considerable fortune at eBay, earning a spot as one of the five richest people under forty in the United States. He then founded the Skoll Foundation, with the “mission of investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs.”

• Dominic Houlder, dean of the Sloan Program at the London Business School, has become quite prosperous both financially and in other ways in his career in business. He has also developed into a Buddhist teacher. In his recent book, Mindfulness and Money: The Buddhist Path of Abundance, he writes that this course “opened many students’ eyes to spirituality in business …”

When the course was offered to widows of victims of the 9/11 attacks, similar kinds of stories emerged. Though these women faced incredible life obstacles, the invocation of the highest goal is helping them take steps they never thought they could take. They inspire others to live lives that change the world for the better.