The title of this Weblog is How to Save the World. Although the title is intended
to be ironic, the number of Googlers that land here after typing in those
five hopeful words attests to the fact that a lot of people want to do
something about what they think is wrong with the world. And notwithstanding
my earlier post about our human tendency to procrastinate, I've spent the
lion's share of my business life in one Change Management capacity or another.
So I have learned a few things about how to get things done. I thought I'd
share them today.
Activism is Change Management writ large. Change Management is all about
getting people to do different things, or things differently. In business,
the guru of the moment on this subject is John Kotter. In his book
Leading Change
he describes the eight steps to getting people to do different things or
things differently, and they are irrefutable:
- Establish a sense of urgency
- Form a powerful guiding coalition
- Create a vision
- Communicate the vision
- Empower others to act on the vision
- Plan for and create short-term wins
- Consolidate improvements
- Institutionalize the change
The underlying principle here is that, in business as in real life, you don't
bring about sustained, meaningful change by edict. You need to persuade,
enthuse, and engage people in sufficient numbers to change behaviours, laws
or processes. If you want to do this in your business, buy Kotter's book,
since that's what it's focused on. But the same preconditions apply to political,
economic, artistic, scientific, spiritual or moral change. Whether the change
agent is a preacher or a politician or a philosopher or a post-modernist,
the process is the same. Not only does it entail these eight steps if it
is to have lasting impact, the steps must be done in precisely this order
.
Let's use environmental activism as an example, since Elizabeth May of the
Sierra Club of Canada has writen a wonderful primer called
How to Be an Activist
that essentially uses this very process. If you want to tighten restrictions
on clear-cutting forests, you need to first get people to believe the change
is urgently needed, by showing compellingly the dire consequence of inaction.
Then you need to persuade some people with significant power (influence,
wealth, media access, reputation, and exceptional ability to articulate,
fundraise or organize all being relevant types of power) to get on board.
The vision you must then create should be a realistic but glowing story or
snapshot of the future where the change you propose has been implemented
(or a devastating portrait of the future if it isn't). That vision must be
communicated by using the media (press releases, press conferences etc.),
public speaking opportunities, weblogs, even phone-in shows - anywhere lots
of people can hear your message. Empowering others then requires organizing,
lobbying, and making it easy for people to implement, or help you (by signing
petitions, giving you money etc.) to bring about the change. The easier you
make it for petitioners, politicians, reporters and other 'helpers' to do
what you want, and the more you do for them to make it easy, the more
likely it is they will support you, or at least not get in the way.
Most important changes take time and sustained effort, and since people have
short attention spans and can get discouraged easily, short-term wins (such
as a temporary injunction on clear-cutting, in our example) are essential
to sustain momentum. Consolidating your wins (such as getting the restriction
on clear-cutting written into law, or at least government party policy),
and institutionalizing the change (e.g. ensuring the new clear-cutting restrictions
are enforced, and the new law is difficult to circumvent or overturn), are
the final two essential steps to achieving an enduring change. This is not
for the faint of heart or the lazy.
This requires a lot of up-front and continuing research to acquire the facts
(know-what), the skills (know-how), and the contacts (know-who
) needed to bring about the change. The internet is a great research resource,
but as Elizabeth points out it's not enough and sometimes the telephone is
both more effective and more efficient.
As Michael Moore's unfortunate speech at the Oscars illustrated, sometimes
how you do things is as important as what you do to bring
about needed change. Here are Elizabeth's useful hints for how to
conduct yourself as an activist:
- Refuse to be intimidated.
If you are told that a subject is too technical or scientific for you to understand,
don't believe it.
- Be creative! Every
campaign and issue has its own dynamic.
- Don't take no for
an answer. Be persistent, the squeaky wheel.
- Ask lots of questions.
Get to the bottom of issues. Do your homework.
- Use the telephone.
It is a great research tool.
- Be unfailingly polite.
Being persistent is not the same thing as being rude.
- Leave no stone unturned.
Ask people for help.
- Give public credit
and thanks.
- You can accomplish
anything, if you don't care who gets the credit.
- Remember that politics
is also personal. Watch out for burn-out. You'll need the support of friends
and family. Build love into your campaigns.
This may seem simple and obvious. It is, and it works. The reason you don't
see huge grassroots changes being wrought every day is human nature: The
road to success is grueling, and long, and sometimes frustrating (ask Erin
Brockovich). It takes unusual endurance.
Last word is Margaret Mead's:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed
citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever
has.
Post-script: The photo of the butterfly, the symbol of change depicted at
the top of this post, is from the Causes of Color exhibit on a remarkable
site called WebExhibits
This site has some breathtaking studies that can change the way you
think about ordinary things.
|
MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
