If you asked Nicholas Woodman more than ten years ago what he might be doing with his life, you might get a blank stare and a shrug of the shoulders But little did he know, he would become the leader of GoPro. In 2002, GoPro hit the streets to introduce a small, durable, lightweight camcorder which can tape memorable moments that could never have been seen up-close before.

Weighing less than three and a half ounces, the camcorder allows surfers, snowboarders, kayakers, and even scuba divers to record every second of their experiences. The company has sold almost a million devices to various sport shops and has even ventured to vendors like X Games and Best Buy. Woodman’s $30,000 investment, which he got through selling beads and other products in Indonesia and Australia, has definitely been a success as the company fights for market shares against corporate giants like Samsung. From various models ranging between $180 and$300, many TV producers are looking to the GoPro to shoot in dangerous and riddled shots. Shows like Deadliest Catch and Whale Wars use the GoPro due toits durability, sound quality, and sharp image quality itcan obtain in the harshest conditions. The company would like to expand as well; plans to go public have been the chatter lately and even venture capitalistssuch asSteamboat Ventures have taken stake in the company going forward. With the device being waterproof up to 180 feet and shock proof from 3000 feet, there is little doubt that GoPro is the item to turn to when you need tough shots taken!

Recently there have been many discussions that our society, or more broadly put, our lifestyle as a whole is rapidly approaching the end of a plateau. These discussions have developed because of the notable offset of events such as the recent recession, Middle Eastern unrest, and foreign civil rights. To a certain extent, most can agree that the 21^st century has started off rough, but at the same time most do not agree that the plateau is near, or whether it even exists. Suggestions have risen that our society and style of life needs to be sent back to the days of simplicity, and some even advise prehistoric lifestyles. But too many economists and philosophers say there are no facts that suggest the human race is willing or able to take steps back in time just live a simpler, slower life.

Let us pull back to reality for a few moments. We can all agree that a caveman-like lifestyle is not the best way to go. Rather just say we turn the clock back to sometime in the early 1900s. During this time period many problems plagued our societies, especially diseases. Tuberculosis, pneumonia, and various water borne pathogens were the top three causes of death and life expectancy was around 50 years old during this time. But what does this have to do with anything? If we were currently living in the 1900s and we heard the same clamor about changing our lifestyles because of the various happenings during those days, we would have never developed medical treatments for these diseases. Innovation is how we found these treatments which were created through competition, labs, and the frenzy of our markets. Complain all you want about the frantic life we currently live, but you cannot take the good without the bad. You cannot take the 70 year life expectancy without regulations from the pharmaceutical companies and the government. Would it make sense to turn the ship around now? No.Currently, innovation is trying to attack the modern day problems like AIDS/HIV. So where do Pop Tarts come in to play?

Cookies and Crème, Wild Grape, Cinnamon Roll, Rainbow Sandwich, Cherry Turnover, and Blueberry Muffin are just a few of the over thirty flavors of Pop Tarts that you can find on shelves today. In 1964 when Pop Tarts were first sold however, there were only four flavors: Strawberry, Blueberry, Brown Sugar Cinnamon, and Apple Currant. With an ever-expanding market and a society which craves innovation, we get rewarded with options and choices. If you want Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts you can buy them, but could not do that in 1964.Because society and modern markets want innovation, we get the choice to buy new and different products. Turning back to the times of old would impede development of options and choices.

I am not a doctor but I know that the human brain is programmed to innovate and plan. Our brain gets excited when we start to watch a movie or when we create something new (like a website). Without the excitement to create or start a project, we would not see progress in medicines, higher standards of living, or increases in life expectancy. In addition, humans like to have choices like what to eat, watch, or discover. It is not impossible to go back to the days of more simple living but are you willing to give up going to the grocery store in exchange to hunt in your back yard? No need to take a poll, the majority of us are not going to give up Wal-Mart. To sum it up, we like progress and turning around to the life of stagnation is not what we are trained to do. Although innovation brings headaches, it also brings many advancements which are well-worth the trouble.

Zero pay cuts, zero waste, zero layoffs, zero strikes, and even zero health care premiums—these aren’t facts from a glamorous company which many people think of, rather they’re from a relatively small car manufacture named Subaru. In the depths of Indiana lies the automotive plant which is changing how manufacturing and overall business is done. Driven by responsibility, Subaru has created a formula which rallies both employees and competitors to do and be more than average.

Subaru has withstood the test of time, making it through multiple recessions and countless adversities. “Change for the better,” is the motto of SIA, Subaru of Indiana Automotive, which has implemented countless unique ideas to better the industry, like the zero waste philosophy at the Indiana plant. Eco-friendly isn’t something Subaru is doing just to please advocates of Mother Nature, rather it just so happens to be profitable as well. With savings of $5.3 million last year, SIA has found a way to make a so-called costly stewardship into a profit-raking monster. Simple strategies like auctioning off valuable waste to the market, reusing copper slag for welding, customizing machinery to save over 100 pounds of steel per car, and even recycling over 30,000 pounds of lug nuts have created a bold black print on the company’s balance sheets. Making zero waste for a 3.4 million square foot plant profitable is one thing, but what about making your employees feel like stars?

This all seems to be too good to be true, and to some extent it is. With zero Carbon footprint comes extra work for the employees in Indiana. Most employees work over 40 hours a week and forfeit many weekends with their families, but SIA has already taken this into account. On average, employees will rake in a starting salary of over $50,000 and other valued incentives, such as no premiums on health care, financial counseling, and ability to earn a Purdue University degree onsite. Another huge thing SIA does for their employees is pay for them to volunteer in their communities. This is one reason why there were no lays-off during the shortage of parts after the recent Japanese natural disasters. Not bad for citizens of a state which has been struggling in the automotive industry over the past few years, huh?

Funding for all these social programs and other activities wouldn’t last long if there wasn’t demand for their cars. From 2008 to 2010, sales have jumped more than 40% which has allowed the car manufacturer to keep strong with their promise for change. Some tag Subaru’s principles as glorified dumpster-diving or corporate socialism but I like to label it as, “Doing business the right way.”