Where Do We Go From Here?
There’s no doubt that we humans have thrown the biosphere out of whack (if you’re unsure about that, see previous posts). And yes, nature will recover and “have the last laugh,” but at this point it’s starting to look like that laugh will be on us. Life will probably go on until our sun starts expanding and fries the Earth (in about a billion years), but no one knows what life will look like by then or how much longer humans will be around.
But clearly that’s not our concern! Our concern is, how can we help bring things back into better balance to maintain the beauty and habitability of the planet for us and our furry, feathered, scaly, and leafy friends? Where do we go from here?
Wherever we go from here, we go together. So, what’s needed is engagement – engagement by as many people as possible. Despite Margaret Mead’s famous quote about the power of a “small group of thoughtful, committed individuals” to change the world and Erica Chenowith’s studies showing that continuous commitment by 3.5% of the population can change a government, I’m not convinced that a “small group” or “3.5%” is going to get us there fast enough. What is needed is a growing snowball of people committed to the environment, gathering numbers and strength over the next 5-10 years.
Why hasn’t this already happened? The facts are out there, and many people are working hard at spreading information and changing personal and corporate behavior, but it’s not enough. I believe the shift we need hasn’t happened because many of the approaches tried so far haven’t tapped into heart, mind, and community.
Whether you’re a CEO, a front-line worker, a community or religious leader, a teacher, or a parent guiding your family, the recipe is the same. We must start with the heart – our core values. Our values are the things that matter most to us, and they vary in priority from person to person. Our highest values may not be identical to our neighbor’s or our coworker’s, but many of those values are complementary. And believe it or not, the prioritization of our values changes over time and through various life experiences. You may think you know your most important 3 or 4 values off the top of your head, but I encourage you to do an exercise to truly identify your current, highest core values.
When I work with a group to set goals and actions for environmental protection and sustainability, I start with values identification. The exercise requires all participants to review a list of over 100 values, like competency, fairness, knowledge, reverence, service, status, etc., and gradually narrow their personal lists down to the 3 or 4 values that are most important to them. The individuals in the group (or within a smaller subgroup) then share their top values and explain why those things are important to them. While this may seem like an unnecessary use of our time, it serves important, foundational purposes. The goal is not to get everyone on the same page about the most important values, it’s to get everyone to embrace their own values and to anchor their thoughts in those values going forward. Identifying what’s important to you, then examining your life for alignment with those values is a powerful way to “right your own ship” and chart a course towards making the world a better place.
Engaging the heart also involves storytelling. Before we begin to consider data and map-out solutions we need human understanding and connection, which comes from storytelling. It’s not a fluke that storytelling is deeply rooted in every human culture or that we teach our children our values through stories. Even as adults, our personal and community values are crystalized through the books we read, the stories we tell one another, and the movies and plays we watch. Building the group bond that’s needed to take the next step towards environmental protection requires sharing stories of our own connections to nature, what we’ve seen with our own eyes, and how we feel about it.
The next step is engaging the mind. We don’t need to know all of the ways that humans are damaging the natural world. In fact, too much negative information can lead to apathy or denialism. What is important to know is what particular environmental degradation the group can impact and how it can have the greatest positive impact. No one group can solve plastic pollution, air pollution, water pollution, habitat destruction, resource depletion, and all of the other environmental challenges. But we can identify the best opportunities for the group to have a big impact on a few issues. Each business, project, or community has a different role to play, and finding the right fit leads to long-term commitment, visible success, and the possibility of future expansion. I work with groups to understand the current state of the world and to find their unique roles in making it better.
Engaging the mind also means understanding the metrics of change. Once a group’s environmental goals are identified, the members learn how progress and success can be measured and then establish specific targets for each goal. I act as a facilitator in the process – the team members identify what resources are available to continually measure and record their success. I work with them to create and clearly document the processes for action and accountability. A diverse group of participants will bring many different tools and ideas to the table, so my job is to help the group listen to all ideas, think outside the box, determine feasibility, and equitably make choices.
The secret sauce to that success is community. A small group may be able to lead change, but who are they leading? A community. The most impactful actions for the environment are those that engage the community, that is, the people outside of your small group or your business walls. Long-term success doesn’t come from one group imposing its ideas on another or working in a silo, but rather from a community working together to implement solutions and making connections to continue the work. The prospect of reaching out to others and sharing ideas and plans probably sounds great to the extroverts reading this, but maybe not so great for the introverts. Fortunately, most groups include extroverts and introverts who can use their complementary strengths to find ways broaden the group’s impact.
The icing on the cake is that engaging a larger community makes the work so much more fun! And the changes we need won’t happen unless they’re fun. My role at this point in the process is to help the group brainstorm the best ways to expand involvement within and outside of their organization as well as how to make it fun! Environmental actions that include collaboration, competition, celebration, music, and food will continue and grow. But it’s up to the group and the community to figure out what will be fun for them!
If you’re ready to discuss how I can help you implement this process with your group, please reach out – I’d love to talk! Remember, we’re all in this together.