Tavis Smiley Quotes

My policies are producing results and will produce even more.

The most important question of the 21st century is not what or how much, it is 'How?' How do you propose to turn your good ideas into positive changes in other people's lives? You must be the 'how generation.'

The real problem is what to do with the problem-solvers after the problems are solved.

We want to show how technology can be applied to fix our problems. We need to celebrate not just success but to celebrate people who make a difference. It starts with people who do things for love, with no expectation of return. Some of that turns into enormous financial success, and then some of it goes back into doing it for love.

I like tackling problems that I can see making an impact on real people and real businesses immediately.

I believe in entrepreneurs. I believe in their ability to make positive change in the world.

What inspires me most are people who imagine and implement solutions to challenges in their own lives, in their communities, in our country and around the world.

We experience problem-solving sessions as war zones, we view competing ideas as enemies, and we use problems as weapons to blame and defeat opposition forces. No wonder we can't come up with real lasting solutions!

The problems of the real world are primarily those you are left with when you refuse to apply their effective solutions.

Behavior change is critical. While we’re working upstream, developing solutions, we’ve got to be thinking of delivery: How should we develop and deliver those solutions so that they will be adopted.

… people who are in trouble, if they knew of some place to go where really sane advice was available might start themselves going in the right direction again.

In order to design a future of positive change, we must first become expert at changing our minds.

No matter what your mission is, have some notion in your head. Forget the model, whether it's government or nonprofit or profit. Ask yourself the more important question: Is my mission improving the world? Are you sure about it? Seek to disconfirm that all the time. And if you can, change your mission.

The Buckeye Build will have a lasting impact on Cleveland, and it is an honor to be a part of it.

You have to have an idea of what you need to do, what needs to be fixed, what can be improved, what we should now imagine together which we didn't previously imagine. And having thought of it, decide to go it. And that's the government's role.

When I think about developing solutions, I think about how we can use technology to make a difference.

While it can be overwhelming to realize how many problems there are to solve in the world, it's always inspiring to see so many talented people willing to spend their time and energy in hopes of making a difference.

Traditional hackathons are fun and focused on skill and competition, but we believe that events which focus on the positive social impact of technology engage a wider and more diverse set of participants.

If we can be changing some lives along the way, that's the holy grail on television.

I do think we can be honest and upfront that certain organizations haven't gotten the job done. That's the approach we took in Boston. We identified certain things that we hadn't been doing well, that might have gotten in the way of a World Series, and eradicated them.

Every scientist dreams of doing something that can help the world.

I realized doing this work, identifying either issues or challenges or thinking about opportunities to actually impact people's lives, I could actually make things better, and bringing people around the table for solutions was something I liked doing and was actually something I was able to do fairly well.

We're changing little girls' lives across the world, and we didn't even know what we were doing when we started.

A lot of the companies that I am inclined to get involved in have a mission to fix something that is 'broken' in the world.

I'm proud to be part of projects that literally change lives.