不要害怕失败，没失败过才可怕

莱蒂西娅·加斯卡联合成立并负责运营全球首家致力于研究企业失败症结的智库Failure Institute。这位墨西哥裔企业家争取到一些优厚的投资和研究合作伙伴，其中包括政府机构、有影响力的投资基金、拉美跨国企业、墨西哥蒙特雷理工学院商学院和拉美开发银行。各方合作的远大目标是，帮助世界各地的企业领袖从失败中吸取教训。你有没有创业失败过？不妨随手做做这份调查，找找问题所在。

刚开始Failure Institute组织了一系列名为“搞砸之夜”（FuckUp Night）的活动，将企业家召集在一起分享失败的经历，类似非营利机构TED大会。这项自曝其短的标志性活动如今成为致力于帮助企业家成功的全球项目，每个月约有1万人在六大洲77个国家将近250个城市演讲分享。

这一切始于2012年。当时，加斯卡第一次创业刚失败，当时她想创业做社会公益：向墨西哥城的富人出售当地女性制造的手帕。后来加斯卡与朋友把酒夜话坦率分享创业失败的经历，发现这是“最有意义的一种商业对话”，因为这时交流起来非常坦诚，全是现实经验教训。为什么不认真做起来呢？“搞砸之夜”就这样应运而生。

加斯卡在初创媒体Ozy有如下精彩的介绍：

在确立分享形式两周后（每位演讲者通过十张PPT图片分享个人经历，演讲时长七分钟）组织了第一期“搞砸之夜”，首批约1000场分享活动如期举行。“搞砸之夜”的新任首席执行官恩尼克·奎克称，活动发展情况完全没掺水分。他们不能在Facebook、谷歌或者Twitter之类社交媒体宣传，“因为我们的（英文）名称里有不雅的词”，但又不可能改名（不过在一些伊斯兰国家允许主办方使用首字母简称）。“人们失败了就是会破口大骂，不会轻飘飘地说什么‘真讨厌’之类的，”奎克解释。他认为，“搞砸之夜”骨子里有一种“朋克、地下”的气质，坦诚是核心。全球多个城市的潜在主办方联系“搞砸之夜”团队，希望每月支付一小笔费用，换取使用这一品牌的许可。可口可乐、微软、花旗银行等约40家公司已经付费，在企业内部举办员工的“搞砸之夜”。

加斯卡将这一轮创业称为失败得来的远见。和“搞砸之夜”这个名字一样，这种对失败的严肃审视既接地气又不乏趣味，无论是从数据分析还是整体文化转变方面看，这项全球运动对打造全球商业生态系统真正出了一份力。（某些国家的人看待失败比其他国家冷静。）通过全球每月约200场“搞砸之夜”分享会和Failure Institute专注的调查，加斯卡及其团队可能比学界和传统案例研究认识更深刻。

而且这个创新本身就很棒。还有谁愿意分享惨痛的创业经历？如果你能上“搞砸”大会分享，我会给你备好美酒。

媒体关注

到处都是克里斯，克里斯·派恩吐槽好莱坞缺少多元化

克里斯·派恩不但有表演不错，还吐得一手好槽。他在热门综艺节目《周六夜现场》完成了一场非常有趣的首秀，他指出现在有太多叫克里斯的英俊白人男子占据大银幕，要么是动作明星要么是超级英雄。这本来就够讽刺了，更逗的是，同台的美国黑人女演员莱斯莉·琼斯根本分不清克里斯·派恩和其他一堆克里斯谁是谁：克里斯·埃文斯、克里斯·海姆斯沃斯和克里斯·帕拉特。《华盛顿邮报》的记者艾米·王（音译）一阵见血地指出，大银幕上到处是温和英俊而且完全可以相互替代的白人演员是有原因的，好莱坞的商业模式总是“想打安全牌”，如果演员的名字听起来像黑人或者西班牙人没法让投资方满意。

粉丝拿了好成绩 饶舌天后妮琪·米娜包学费

这是非常暖心的一幕。上周六晚，一位粉丝在Twitter上问米娜：“你愿意帮我付学费吗？”米娜惊人地做出一系列善举，资助能证明自己取得好成绩并可能证明学费的学生，全部或者部分承担学费。很多优秀孩子展示了成绩和需求。有人在Twitter上表示：“我的学费还有500美元没付，我是单亲妈妈养大的，家里还有个弟弟……我来自纽约皇后区，你可算帮大忙了。”妮琪，别管别人怎么说你“一时兴起不可持续”。传说中有位好姑娘不断将可能在沙滩上晒死的海星抛回大海，你也是个好姑娘。

美国杂志Ebony裁员了。

记录非裔美国人生活的月刊Ebony将裁撤将近三分之一编辑，并与姐妹刊物Jet合并。主编基尔·凯尔斯将离职，杂志将离开1945年创刊以来的总部芝加哥迁往洛杉矶。2016年5月，创办Ebony和Jet的家族企业Johnson Publishing将两家杂志卖给德克萨斯州的私募公司CVG Group。母公司变动带来了震动，不久就出现了诸多问题。一些Ebony欠薪的自由职业者开始公开抱怨，在Twitter上都用统一标签“Ebony欠钱”。

穆斯林的身份和形象分析

评论家内斯林·马利克为穆斯林定义了一系列文化符号上的“身份矩阵”和“特权级别”，可以用于预测穆斯林可能遭遇怎样的歧视或者骚扰。马利克写道：“一些穆斯林可以借助身份特征获得某种通行证。其用处基本上要看个体能否轻易融入占主导的富人文化氛围。听起来很夸张，但事实如此。”她还描述了近来对穆斯林身份的诸多分析，既有非穆斯林世界的，也有一些身为穆斯林的批判人士——激进的愤怒青年，或穆斯林嬉皮士。

视频：一位购物者对穆斯林女性说“真希望当初没让你来我们国家。”

事件发生在美国弗吉尼亚州雷斯顿一家Trader Joe超市。当时，队列中一位好心的顾客让一名女子插到自己前面。不知什么原因，那位插队的女士开始闲聊，说起另一名戴着头巾的女穆斯林顾客怎么不好。在允许闲聊女士插队的顾客确认戴头巾的顾客是穆斯林后，就出现了令人难堪的一幕。通过马利克的穆斯林身份矩阵观察，我们会发现这次交流很有教育意义。首先可以看到，针对戴穆斯林头巾的顾客，那位女士很坦然地公开发表反伊斯兰言论。其次，在被一位事后证明为伊斯林的人质疑后，那位震惊的女士试图以更尖刻的言辞为自己辩护，她提到了女性的割礼和据称为“穆斯林”的美国前总统奥巴马。这次事件是个教训，告诉人们提醒一位对穆斯林并不友好的顽固分子，会有什么结果。

觉醒的领袖

多个极端种族主义的白人组织得到免税待遇。

这样的组织有很多！田纳西大学诺克维尔分校社区发展经济法律诊所所长、法学助理教授艾瑞克·阿玛兰特希望改变现状。他的长篇论著值得一读，假如你想尽可能了解改进种族问题或者税收立法的靠谱观点，那就更要好好拜读了。阿玛兰特的论点很简单：“在批准免税流程中，美国国税局没能辨别仇视种族平等的组织，这不仅意味着，纳税的公众实际上为仇视组织的活动提供补贴，还会影响慈善组织的免税地位。”他有什么对策？将“教育机构”的广义定义缩小为给予学位的机构，博物馆或动物园之类远程学习和文化机构，清除与合法机构一样享受免税的仇恨组织。“第501(c)(3)条规定源于古老的英文法律，几乎没有经过公开宣传、讨论和考量。法条本就过时，执法的还是国税局。说好听些，国税局财力单薄，说难听些，国税局根本没法判定机构是否应该免税。”看起来是不是值得企业的朋友们游说一番？不是所有英雄都像蝙蝠侠一样身披斗篷，很多都穿紧身裤。

最新披露的信函显示，美国前总统尼克松曾担心，国内的种族主义会促使全球其他国家地区倒向共产主义。

这封信落款日期是1959年，当时美国政府担心同前苏联的冷战愈演愈烈。信函写在副总统官方使用的信纸上，主题是取消学校的种族隔离。信中尼克松写道：“我为种族分裂对世界大国的影响深表担忧。全球大部分地区的人都是有色人种，他们痛恨基于种族主义的侮辱。”他推测，一旦美国人看来像种族主义者，全球其他地区就会纷纷投靠共产主义，“那将造成灾难性的后果，导致我们周围充满敌意最后被孤立。”尼克松还表示反对偏执的种族主义：“我不接受希特勒的优等种族观，同样也不接受划分劣等种族的原则。”随着此后竞选总统失利，尼克松反对种族主义的倾向明显不见了。此人看起来一身正气，也只会整出乱摊子。

2012年被枪杀的非裔美国高中生特雷沃恩·马丁将被佛罗里达纪念大学（FMU）授予学位。

学位是马丁喜欢的航空方向，如果他仍然在世应该会很高兴。FMU这所传统美国黑人大学将于今年5月13日的开学典礼期间授予他学士学位，马丁的父母特雷西·马丁和塞布丽娜·富尔顿将代表他接受学位。富尔顿也是FMU的毕业生。校方的声明写得很感人，其中写道：“我们的校友塞布丽娜充分体现了力量与尊严，她呼吁人们更关注暴力事件的其他受害者，同时推动整个社会更平等、更公正。”点击查看更多内容，如果你不想影响周一的心情，就别看评论了。

经典名言

我可能会想成为美国黑人女作家托妮·莫里森，顶多也只是想想。上电影学院的时候，我发现一种全新的讲故事方式，非常适合我，而且我讲得很开心。这种新方式让我茅塞顿开，看世界的方式都变了。多年后，我终于有机会和托妮·莫里森共进晚餐，她却一直聊我制作的医疗剧《实习医生格蕾》。假如我没有调整想法，放弃模仿她转而努力发掘自己的潜力，估计永远没机会跟她这样吃饭聊我写的剧。

——美国著名编剧、制作人珊达·莱梅斯（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审稿：夏林

Leticia Gasca co-created and runs the Failure Institute, the first think tank devoted to studying the nuts and bolts of business failure. The Mexican-born entrepreneur has some well-heeled investment and research partners: Government organizations, impact investment funds, Latin American multinationals, Mexico’s EGADE Business School and the Development Bank of Latin America among them. Their lofty goal is to help business leaders from around the world learn from their mistakes. Did you have a business that failed? Take this handy survey and help the cause.

The Failure Institute started as a series of one-off events called "FuckUp Night," an evening that brings entrepreneurs together to share stories of their failures in a TEDx style setting. It remains the irreverent signature event of a now global program devoted to helping entrepreneurs succeed; some 10,000 people a month are showing and telling in almost 250 cities in 77 countries on six continents.

It all started in 2012. Gasca was fresh off her first failed attempt at social entrepreneurship, selling handicrafts made by indigenous women to wealthy folks in Mexico City. After a mezcal-filled night of sharing candid stories of dead businesses with friends, she realized it was “one of the most meaningful business conversations ever,” honest and full of real learning. Why not make it a thing? FuckUp Night was born.

From Gasca’s delightful profile in Ozy:

After settling on a regulated format (each speaker would have seven minutes and 10 slideshow images to share their story), the first FuckUp Night was organized a couple of weeks later — the first of around 1,000 events that have taken place to date. The growth has been totally organic, says Yannick Kwik, the new CEO of FuckUp Nights. They cannot market events on Facebook, Google or Twitter “because we have the word ‘fuck’ in our name,” but changing the name is out of the question (although hosts in certain Islamic countries are allowed to use the acronym, FUN). “When someone fails, they say ‘Fuck!,’ they don’t say ‘Darn this’ or anything else,” says Kwik, arguing that FuckUp Nights’ “punk, underground” roots have honesty and frankness at their core. Potential hosts from cities around the world contact the FuckUp Night team seeking a license to use the brand for a small monthly fee. Around 40 companies, from Coca-Cola to Microsoft to Citibank, have paid to host private FuckUp Night events for employees.

Gasca has embraced her calling as a failure visionary. And as fun and profane as it all sounds, the serious examination of failure has a real contribution to make to the global business ecosystem, in both data analysis and a collective culture shift. (Some countries are cooler with the idea of failure than others.) With some 200 FuckUp Night meetings a month around the world and dedicated Failure Institute surveys, Gasca and her team are on track to generate far deeper insights than anything available from academia or traditional case study models.

And it's an inspiring idea. Anyone got any worst practices to share? You get the FuckUp license, I'll bring the tequila.

On Point

One of the many white men named Chris poked fun at Hollywood’s lack of diversity

Chris Pine is both a talented actor and a good sport; his first-ever SNL monologue was a funny riff on how many scruffily handsome white guys named Chris are currently taking up space on the silver screen as action stars and super heroes. It was a fun conceit, made even funnier by the early appearance of Leslie Jones who confused him with the other Chrises: Evans, Hemsworth, and Pratt. The Washington Post’s Amy Wang correctly points out that these types of non-threateningly handsome white men are now interchangeable for a reason. In a Hollywood business model that has a “tendency to play it safe,” a Regular Jamaal or Jimena Q. Citizen are not going to fit the bill.

Got good grades? Nicki Minaj pays

It was a joy to watch unfold. Saturday night, after a fan tweeted the star asking, “Well you wanna pay for my tuition?” Minaj went on a surprise giving spree, funding some or all of the school fees for anyone who could prove they had good grades and could verify the costs with their school. A lot of excellence was on display along with some real need. “I have $500 left of my tuition to be paid, single mother raising me and my lil bro.. from Queens, you would help a lot,” tweeted one. You in the back - relax with the “it’s not sustainable” grumbling. You keep throwing those starfish, Nicki.

Ebony Magazine gets downsized

Ebony magazine, the monthly chronicle of African American life, is cutting nearly one-third of its editorial staff and consolidating operations with its sister publication, Jet. Also gone is the editor-in-chief, Kyra Kyles. The magazine will be moving to LA; Chicago has been home to the publication since 1945. Johnson Publishing, the original family founders of Ebony and Jet, sold both publications to Texas-based private equity firm CVG Group in May 2016. The transition was a rocky one nd troubles soon followed, including a spate of unpaid freelancers who took their grievances public under the hashtag #EbonyOwes.

On Muslim identity and profiling

Nesrine Malik has created an “identity matrix” and “privilege scale” for Muslims, a rubric of cultural markers that predicts how likely it will be that a Muslim person will be identified and discriminated against or otherwise harassed. “Certain attributes and accoutrements offer some Muslims a ‘pass,’” she writes. “A pass almost always depends on the ease with which an individual can blend into the affluent dominant culture. It sounds dramatic, and it is.” She goes on to describe the current slate of Muslim identities ripe for outside analysis and “othering,” from the radicalized, angry youth, to the Mipsters, or Muslim hipster.

Code Switch

The incident happened in a Reston, VA Trader Joe’s after one shopper kindly allowed a woman to cut ahead of her in line. Out of nowhere, the line-cutter started killing time by saying negative things about yet a third shopper who was wearing a type of head covering called niqab. When the shopper who let the woman into line identified herself as Muslim, a nasty conversation ensued. The exchange, viewed through the Muslim identity matrix, is instructive. First, we see that the woman making Islamophobic remarks felt comfortable publicly targeting the shopper wearing niqab for abuse. Second, the shock of being confronted by a person who turned out to be Muslim forced the woman to escalate her rhetoric; in an attempt to defend herself, she mentioned genital cutting and “the Muslim” Obama. An object – now viral – lesson of what happens when you remind a bigot that they’re not among friends.

The Woke Leader

Many white supremacist groups are tax-exempt

A lot of them! Eric Amarante, Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Community Economic Development Clinic at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, would like to remedy that. His lengthy essay is worth a read, particularly if you are in the business of making robust arguments on racial remedies or tax law. But his argument is simple: “The IRS’s inability to identify hate groups in the tax-exempt application process not only means that the tax-paying public effectively subsidizes the activities of hate groups, but it also cheapens the tax-exempt status of all charities.” His solution? Narrow the overly broad definition of an “educational organization” to degree-granting institutions, distance learning and cultural institutions like museums or zoos, and eliminate the hate-based organizations that get swept in along with the legitimate ones. “The 501(c)(3) statute was adopted from ancient English law with little fanfare, debate, or thought. Enforcement of this poorly-considered law was entrusted to the IRS, an agency that, at best, is underfunded, and, at worst, is poorly suited to determine tax-exemption.” Does it seems like something worth lobbying about, corporate allies? Not all heroes wear capes, but plenty carry briefs.

A newly resurfaced letter showed that Nixon feared racism in America would drive the rest of the world toward Communism

The letter was dated 1959, a time when the U.S. was worried about a deepening Cold War with the former Soviet Union. The letter was written on official Vice Presidential stationary; the subject was school integration. “I am deeply concerned with the impact of racial division in terms of world power,” he wrote. “Most of the people of the world belong to the colored races. They deeply resent any slurs based on race.” If we look like a bunch of racists, then the rest of the world flocks to communism, he reckoned. “That would leave us disastrously isolated in a hostile world.” He also stated his personal opposition to bigotry. “I could not accept Hitler’s idea of a master race. I cannot accept the equally false principle of an inferior race.” One unsuccessful presidential bid later, his moral case against racism disappeared, evidently. This guy seemed decent, but Dick 2.0 was a disaster.

Trayvon Martin will get a posthumous degree from Florida Memorial University

The degree will be in aviation, a subject which delighted Martin when he was alive. The HBCU will award the bachelor’s degree during commencement ceremonies on May 13. Martin’s parents Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton will be on hand to accept it; Fulton is an FMU alumna. “Sybrina, our alum, epitomizes strength and dignity as she uplifts other victims of violence while effecting change for a more equal and just society,” the school said in a lovely statement. Click through for more, but if you want to preserve your Monday mood, skip the comments.

Quote

I could dream about being Toni Morrison. Or I could do. At film school, I discovered an entirely new way of telling stories. A way that suited me. A way that brought me joy. A way that flipped this switch in my brain and changed the way I saw the world. Years later, I had dinner with Toni Morrison. All she wanted to talk about was Grey's Anatomy. That never would have happened if I hadn’t stopped dreaming of becoming her and gotten busy becoming myself.

—Shonda Rhimes