Thoughts on Copenhagen fallout

The international climate conference in Copenhagen, known as COP15, ended yesterday in yet another pathetic example of what we can expect from the so-called leaders of the biggest economic powers in this world. Specifically in the US, whether on healthcare reform, military policy, food safety, climate change, moral leadership is inexistant. The Founding Fathers would be ashamed.

Climate issues are truly global and every citizen of the earth has the same rights to clean air, water etc... For any nation to believe that it has some right to pollute or consume more than its fair share is egregious.

The scientific facts are undeniable. Even if you don't believe the catastrophic predictions of what will happen once climate change happens, the fact that it's happening are beyond debate for any objectively minded human being. Further, the fact that we are depleting natural resources much faster than they can be replenished or regenerated is also beyond question.

I read yesterday something to the effect of 'the science says we must, the technology says we can, now what we need is the political courage to do it'. The latter is shamefully absent where it counts the most. Leaders of small nations the world over are ready to do what's needed, even if they have fewer means to do it. Yet the so-called leaders of powerful nations are beholden to special interests who are hell bent on protecting their financial interests, and are dragging their feet or aggressively opposing real, needed change.

To those who are in a position to act but don't, I say ask yourself whether you can live with the idea that you are committing future crimes against humanity. Tens of millions of vulnerable citizens of the world will die because you are delaying the inevitable. Their blood will be on your hands and I hope one day you have to account for it, on this earth or elsewhere.

To those who are pulling the strings in the background, I say watch out. You're all about protecting your current profits? Ask yourselves: what is the future cost of your actions? What will happen if your customers, the citizens of the world, join in rejecting your shameful ways by boycotting your products or services? Don't underestimate the power of the Internet to allow people to organize effectively. Pay attention to the 350 movement if you need an example. If you can't support what is right for humanity on moral grounds, then look at your business risk, your brand risk, your market risk, and ask yourself whether in 5-10 years the choices you are making today will look like the right ones in retrospect.

Whenever I think hope is fading, I am reminded that most of the world's population stands together in wanting to do what's right, ready to make personal changes and sacrifices to play their part. These voices, once anonymous and disparate, are being brought together in unprecedented ways by the power of the Web to unite, organize, amplify, communicate, act. Iran's government learned this lesson in a very meaningful way a few months ago. Obama used this to his advantage to get elected. If he doesn't quickly live up to the promise of his presidency, he will soon find out there is a flip side to this coin.

As Maldives president Nasheed eloquently said, 'we will not die quietly'!

Why I write

"The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium." ~ Norbet Platt

I've never considered myself much of a writer. As most of us now do in our professional lives, I find myself writing all day in the form of emails, IMs, Powerpoint presentations and the like. This form of writing is merely a tool to communicate asynchronously with one or more counterparts, often in different locations. But since I do so much of that, writing in my spare time (whatever that is anymore), writing to express thoughts, as opposed to communicate information or guide co-workers, had never really occurred to me.

I remember what triggered my desire to start a blog. In 2007 I attended a marketing leadership offsite in Istanbul, where one of our senior marketers went on about the future of things like blogging and micro-blogging (this is where I first heard of Twitter). And it turns out he is an active blogger. Calls himself a 'serial opinionator', I could relate to that!

So here I was, thinking I should give this a go, to understand the mechanics of it more than anything. And what happened really surprised me: I found I really liked writing, and the more I wrote the more I found I had things to say.

Every once in a while I'm asked for whom I write. Good marketing question: who's your audience? I don't actually know how many read this blog, but it can't be that many. Dozens, maybe hundreds. But the answer is really simple: First and foremost, I write for me.

Platt's quote cited at the top of this blog resonates with me. Writing about a topic helps me slow down my own thoughts on the subject, helps me externalize my own opinions and ideas, in order to react to them in a different way.

There is also something incredibly liberating about unleashing one's thoughts onto a medium where they will be preserved. It frees the mind in a surprising way. I often find myself with many thoughts and emotions and ideas swirling inside my head. And just the act of capturing them on a piece of paper or electronically acts like a relief valve, giving me peace about not losing the thought while not having to keep it suspended in mid-brain by fear of it falling into the murky abyss of my subconscious. For those of you who have read or watched Harry Potter, how incredible is Dumbledore's Pensieve, allowing him to forever capture intact memories for future retrieval and actually relive them as an observer?

I guess this is not new. People have been keeping journals and diaries for centuries, probably for these very reasons. So why not just do that, instead of writing publicly? I've been thinking about that question lately, and I think the answer is that writing with the potential of being read by others forces more discipline, more rigor, and hopefully yields a better outcome. But I think it goes beyond that: Writing my own thoughts in a way to make sense to someone else challenges me to think through them in a deeper way. I'm not merely writing them down in a clerical way, I'm hoping to evoke an emotion, prove an argument, convey a message - both to myself and to whomever cares to read what I write.

Catharsis is a word I've often heard but never truly understood. So I looked it up. And I was surprised by how well the definition captured what I'm feeling here: '..Purification of the emotions, primarily through art, that brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension. Elimination of a complex by bringing it to consciousness and affording it expression.' Bullseye! In fact, three colleagues of mine in the past couple of years, when diagnosed with cancer (all in their 30's!), started blogging about their journey fighting this terrible disease. They described it as cathartic... (Two successfully recovered, one very sadly didn't make it).

So here we are. Now that I've surprised myself more than anyone at how much I enjoy writing, I think I'll keep at it. I actually love that I really don't care whether I'm any good at it, this is not a criteria for me. Sort of like the wise words 'dance like nobody's watching, laugh like nobody's listening', I write like nobody's reading :-)

Holiday Quick Wins

The list below is straight out of the December Net Impact newsletter, I found it very handy so thought I'd just copy it here.

• Give sustainable gifts. Treehugger's 2009 Gift Guide is a great place to start. Consider spending time with friends and family as well as exploring the options below:
  * Give a microloan from Kiva.org or MicroPlace
  * Donate three bed nets from Malaria No More for $30
  * Help an entrepreneur or family with Heifer International - a $20 donation can buy someone a flock of geese
  * Support social and economic justice and buy Fair Trade Goods from Global Exchange, World of Good, and Fair Trade Federation Members.
  * Donate to your favorite nonprofit. We can think of one in particular that would love your support.
• Reduce holiday waste. Purchase biodegradable flatware and utensils and LED Christmas bulbs that use 80-90% less energy than incandescents for office events. Check out this great column from Grist.org for more ideas.

• Give back to your community. From helping out at a local homeless shelter to hosting a gift exchange for families in need, volunteering can be a team building exercise that allows you and your colleagues to give back during the holiday season. For a short-term project consider the resources of organizations such as Points of Light and VolunteerMatch. If you're interested in something more long-term, consider working with your local Net Impact Chapter and joining or helping start a Service Corps or Board Fellows program in your local area.

Pluses and minuses

I spent a beautiful afternoon outside of Paris today with my 'second mom'. I call her that because she was so present and influential in my life. She was our Portuguese full-time nanny and housekeeper, stayed with us from the time I was 5 to when I was 16. She's like family to us and we've stayed in touch ever since. I'll call her MT here.

Like many Portuguese people back then, MT came to France to find work. That was 36 years ago. She turns 65 in a few days and will retire at the end of the year. She is then moving back to Portugal, where she now owns her own place paid for by living frugally and saving from each paycheck.

MT is an amazing and inspiring woman. She is a secular nun who has devoted her entire life to the service of others. Everyone who's ever met her has been touched by her kindness and compassion. I've known her literally my whole life, yet today I learned things I never knew.

I knew she had never known her father, and that her mother was unable to keep her and had sent her to live with her grand-parents in the Portuguese countryside. They were extremely poor people, who could not put food on the table every day. MT grew up with her grand-father's wooden clog as her only toy. Still, she would always speak of her youth with joy and gratitude.

Today, I learned a whole new side to this story. Apparently her mother sent MT to live with her grand-parents out of fear that her dad might take her (didn't get the whole story there). MT had 2 siblings who were older and apparently not in the same danger. Apparently she did not know the whole story, and grew up thinking her dad was dead and her mom had rejected her but kept her siblings. In school, MT was registered as a 'fatherless' child, a statute not envied in a deeply religious country. She apparently deeply suffered from these things.

As she's telling us this side of the story today we've never heard, she went on to say how for every fear and feeling of inferiority and shame she had growing up, she also had amazing people who went out their way to make her feel valued and special. Her grand-mother, the local priest and others.

The way she netted out this story is that for every minus or gap thrown at her in her life, other pluses and positives came in to restore balance and carry her forward, and this is the source of inspiration for her life of service and devotion to God and humanity.

There are many things to deplore in this world, from big things like atrocities of war and social injustices and the destruction of our planet in the name of greed, to smaller things like every day inconveniences, missed opportunities, financial worries, etc... I think the lesson I learned today was that whatever situations may hit us, it is within us to look for nuggets of hope for the future in each of these.

Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the US. Although we should feel gratitude and express thanks every day of the year, today we reflect more directly on that for which we are especially thankful.

As I pay attention to the world around me, I am thankful for the privileged life I lead and for my good fortunes. As I reflect on this past year and search within to find those things for which I am especially thankful beyond core pillars like health, family or financial stability, a few come to mind:

Thankful for unconditional love -- None of us is perfect, especially not me. I am thankful for the people in my life who accept and love me as I am. Am also thankful for all the selfless individuals who devote so much of themselves to improve the lives of others out of love and compassion. Peace and social justice have to start with love.

Thankful for inspiration and commitment -- I have always been somewhat of an idealist, but had gradually become somewhat of a cynic. As I look to the future, I have renewed inspiration to apply my abilities to contribute in more direct ways to improve the world around me, and renewed commitment to draw on this inspiration and follow through with action.

Thankful for comic relief -- Our lives can get heavy at times, and being able to find ways to laugh at ourselves and with each other certainly makes tough situations much easier to get through.

Thankful for music -- I've always found music to be a great way to accentuate or soothe my moods and emotions. Recently I've paid more attention not just to the music but to the lyrics of brilliant songwriters, true poets of their age, who are able through the sharing of their art to inspire the rest of us and help put words to feelings we would not always know how to express ourselves.

Thankful for the rain -- Our Irish friends may not appreciate this one as much :-) In Central Texas, where we've been in an extended drought, the rain we've experienced lately has been a blessing. There is something so cleansing, so unifying, about just standing or walking in the rain. Try it, you'll be surprised.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

"Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way" — Native American Prayer

Dealing with loss

We all get to deal with loss at different points in our lives, and each instance probably affects us differently. Last week our 11 year old attended a funeral for one of her classmate's mom who wasn't even 40. One of my team members at work also just buried her mother this past week. Over this past year people close to us have lost parents, grand-parents, a child...

When a loss is so final, lots of questions must abound such as 'did I call them often enough?', 'did they know how much I cared about them?', 'what was the last thing I said to them?'...

Then there is the fear or anticipation of loss. We met a woman last night whose only son is about to be deployed to Afghanistan. She naturally fears for his safety, wondering if she'll get to see him again. Some of our friends work in law enforcement and place themselves in harm's way every day, making their spouses wonder if one day they'll get that dreaded call. As our parents and grand-parents age, we come to terms with the idea that they are not immortal and that one day they will be gone.

I guess the question I'm asking myself is whether the people I love have heard it enough from me. If they disappear abruptly from my life tomorrow, will I feel like they knew how much they meant to me? Will I wish I had done more, said more, shown more while I had the chance... I know I would.

Some people are gone and it's too late. For those who aren't, I'm committed to making sure they know how I feel about them, how thankful I am for them. That's my Thanksgiving pledge.

Footprints

Ran into this quote today. Made me reflect on the fact that this is how we grow as individuals, through the experiences we have with others. Most are fleeting and not meaningful. A few, like our parents, our siblings, our romantic partners and our closest friends, make impressions upon us that change us forever.

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.” Anonymous

Beautifully said...

Amazing 350 day!

Some things in life just seem to replenish our internal reserves of hope and inspiration. What the world witnessed yesterday is one of those. That a handful of young people a couple of years ago can start with an idea, and see it culminate in coordinated actions across almost 200 countries by people united behind a common ideal. To relive some of these moments, visit 350.org, it's definitely worth it.

As I wrote about in previous post, we headed up to the Hill Country and went ziplining and climbing across the 500 year old Cypress Forest. It was fantastic! One more piece to the beautiful mosaic of all the 350 events that took place worldwide yesterday.

Oct 24th - International Day of Climate Action

Today is likely to go down as the single largest coordinated social action in the world. Until the next one.

Because the message is clear: The people on this earth who are demanding meaningful action to reverse the catastrophic path we are on as a human race far outnumber those who either don't care or don't want to.

Corporations can't be counted on. Those who see business opportunity in solving the problem will support change, those who see business risk will oppose it. Psychotic.

Governments need to step up. Self-regulation and the like has not worked and will never work for the reasons just cited. Business will do what business will do. Don't put a gazelle in the lion's den and expect the lion not to eat it.

Let us all put pressure on our elected officials to understand their political future depends on the decisions they make now, and they will be held accountable.

As for today... We'll take part in some of the Tweet actions, then we're going to the Hill Country to do the CYPRESS VALLEY CANOPY CHALLENGE. It is described as follows on their site:

THE CYPRESS VALLEY CANOPY CHALLENGE is for the truly adventurous at heart. After having completed the Cypress Valley Canopy Tour, guests may choose to embark on our Canopy Challenge later that same day or on a return trip. The Canopy Challenge takes guests through a series of longer zip lines, sky bridges, and multiple canopy challenge events ranging from moderately to extremely difficult. The Canopy Challenge requires participants to be in good physical health as participants will be required to use strength, balance, and courage to cross various paths through a grove of trees. Participants choose the path(s) they take to complete the course. Due to physical requirements guests should be atleast 5 feet tall and 10 years old to do The Canopy Challenge. After completing the Canopy Challenge guests will have had both an incredible time in nature and the opportunity to push open some of their own physical and mental limits. Conquering the Cypress Valley Canopy Challenge can help individuals and groups learn to deal with adversity and approach challenging situations at home and at work.

We thought there was some symbolism in there. To be closer to nature will require our best efforts, and will certainly not be easy. Reversing decades of careless abuse of our environment will require our best efforts and will certainly not be easy. But just like we will need to get it done in order to get out of the forest today, so will we as a people if we don't want to leave future generations a world destroyed.

In the entire history of humanity, the past 50 years and the next 50 years are likely to be viewed as one of 2 ways: 1) Humanity almost destroyed itself but stepped back from the brink and did what was needed; or 2) Humanity had the opportunity to save itself but was blinded by greed and indifference...

Happy 350ppm day. What are you doing today?

Blog Action Day

Well, today I'm in Germany on a business trip, jet lagged and just coming off a 14hr work day. Still, there's no way I was going to miss the opportunity to participate in today's global Blog Action Day. And then I'll crash and try to sleep...

Early reports are that participation in today's action is really high, that's great news. Was trying to think of what to write, and since I'm travelling right now I thought I'd do a quick review of some easy-to-implement climate-friendly solutions I've run across in various places.

Eliminate plastic bags
Places like the UK and Ireland have dramatically reduced their use of plastic bags by implementing a very simple measure: charge for them (I believe Ireland was 22 cents a bag). Result: Everybody shops with reusable bags. Just like we tax tobacco and liquor, let's start taxing items that are very directly linked to pollution, while providing an easy alternative, and watch how fast consumer behavior adapts.

Eliminate disposable cup waste
In our Dell office here in Germany, the employee break area offers free coffee from a vending machine. But instead of having a big stack of disposable cups to go with that, there's a cabinet full of promotional mugs people have brought back from trade shows and vendor visits over the years. So the coffee tastes all that much better knowing its container isn't going to end its useful life within minutes. If you drink coffee everyday, get a reusable cup already!

Make it lucrative to turn in recyclables
Unfortunately, many people still don't recycle consistently. Or at times only have access to public bins that don't offer a choice. But in places like California where a surcharge is placed at the point of sale on reusable containers (i.e. cans, bottles), this creates a secondary opportunity for the item to find its way to a recycling center. For example, transients, who otherwise might have to beg on street corners in order to get some money, go around collecting these items and can collect the redemption value by turning these items in.

Quick blog post to mark and take part in Blog Action Day. More to follow soon, including our plans for Oct 24, world climate action day. To learn more go to www.350.org.

What is it going to take?

I am not optimistic at the progress being made ahead of the crucial conference on climate in Copenhagen later this year. Indications are that everyone is in there looking out for their own agenda, with the US and EU leading the shameful lot, not willing to agree to anything binding, looking for loopholes left and right, trying to exempt entire sectors known to pollute excessively, etc...

I have many questions. One is where are our leaders? What do they think their job really is? Is getting re-elected so important that they will make sure not to piss off their sugar daddies, aka lobbyists and corporate backers, even if that means going against the will and best interest of humanity?

The other question is: What will it take? Because let's be clear. This is not an if, it's a when. These guys will try to punt to the next guy until one day it's truly too late and we have to face up to it. This will be true for Social Security reform. It will especially be true for global warming.

So what will it take? What will be the tipping point? Will a hurricane 5 times as strong as as Katrina need to kill 100,000 people? Or wipe out Florida? Or when some US states have to do rotating water outages, similar to what California did when Enron was toying with the grid, because they can't meet demand?

What about if the rest of the world decides to challenge the sovereignty of our decision not to act? With less than 5% of the world population we generate almost 30% of the world pollution. If any other country in the world did that, we would deem that a threat to our national security and would likely commit them by force to change their ways. The US is strong, but what if all of Asia, Africa and Europe decide to unite against us to finally make us act? Would we nuke them all (I'm sure someone has already suggested that nuclear winter would be one way to stop global warming)? What if the entire world goes on a coordinated boycott of American products? What if China and Korea and others stop buying our currency and treasury securities, and instead threaten to dump their trillions of dollars of holdings, a move sure to collapse our economy?

I sincerely hope none of these things happen. My point is that this is like a tooth cavity, it will never get better on its own. The longer you wait to go to the dentist the worse the decay will get. But you know it's coming, it's just a matter of time.

Our leaders need to hear from us that we will hold them accountable for their inaction. And they need to hear we accept that this isn't just about making the hard political decisions, it's about following through with some real changes in our lifestyles, consumption habits, etc... From all of us. Starting now.

I recently read the book 'No Impact Man', in which the author says he never thought he was someone who could make a difference, and what he learned is that he is someone who is sure willing to try. That applies to all of us.

Write your elected representatives. Join a cause in your area that is going beyond talk and taking the message more directly to those in power. If you're not sure where to start, click on one of the badges on the right of the page to learn more about the Seal the Deal campaign, Tck Tck Tck or 350.org, among others. But do something.

A Gift to Humanity

'It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit'. Harry Truman.

One of the key barriers to rapid adoption of something new, no matter how beneficial to mankind, is who holds the rights to it. These days, everyone wants to patent their thing. We have strong remedies to treat AIDS patients. We have innovative technologies to reduce energy consumption or generate more in a sustainable way. And so on. But the patent owners are there, lined up, lobbying and marketing, waiting for their big pay day. Or worse, sometimes patents are acquired for defensive reasons because they threaten established, typically noxious industries, only to slow progress or adoption.

For anyone who's watched Food, Inc. you know companies like Monsanto have built huge lucrative monopolies on the back of patented seeds that farmers are pretty much obligated to use. The corn you buy in the supermarket will likely soon come with a trademark on it.

What if I stumble onto a cure for cancer tomorrow? Or discover a way to harness the power of the sun at a hundredth of the cost of methods known today? Or devise a way to provide food and clean water to the whole world in an environmentally sustainable and cost effective way? Should I be allowed to profit from that? To somehow restrict access to my invention only to those who are able to pay for it? At what point does an invention become of such public utility that it should belong to all of humanity? I'm all for rewarding innovation and hard work, but there are limits. Especially when lives are at stake. This is where Eminent Domain should come in. Rather than spend hundreds of billions of dollars bailing out moribund financial instutions, let's use public funds to acquire the rights to key medical, technological and environmental inventions. And then turn them over freely to the entire world. I bet the ROI on this investment would be off the charts!!

Talk about a different war on terror. Imagine the headlines in Gaza or Kabul or Islamabad if the USA made such a gift to the world. If our message was that we would use our might and our money not to send bombs and soldiers across borders, but doctors and architects and engineers with unrestricted access to the inventions needed to improve the lives of populations everywhere.

As John Lennon so rightly said: You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.

Peace...

Another Inconvenient Truth

I saw Michael Moore's new movie this weekend, 'Capitalism: A love story'. It could have well been titled 'Another Inconvenient Truth'...!

I'll start out by admitting I have long been a fierce believer in the efficiency, power and inherent fairness of free market forces. Allowing supply and demand to inter-operate freely, whether it be for goods, labor, etc... I continue to believe that. But I have also come to the conclusion that our economy is far from a free market economy, and is in fact manipulated and distorted by powerful forces.

The other inconvenient truth, following Al Gore's assertions on what human activity is doing to our planetary environment and climate, is that the economic system we have long held up as the model to promote fairness and opportunity for all is in fact not doing that at all.

Moore does a good job of reminding us that the cut-throat, profit-at-all-cost model our capitalistic economy is based on is not somehow defined in our constitution, or somehow ideologically inherited from the founders of this country. Further, he clearly demonstrates that the greed and ruthlessness that the system promotes clearly go against established religious beliefs of looking out for one another etc... Moore then tries to give socialism a good name, and there I think he fails. Socialism, communism and even capitalism have their merits on paper, in theory. Where Moore loses credibility is that socialism has proven to be just a corrupt as any other model. The Soviet model was 'you will all be equal in poverty and oppression'. The European socialist model was for the most part 'we will tax ourselves into an economic coma and the ruling class will squander the money'. Mind you, at least they have long vacations and universal healthcare and typically a much higher quality of life, so it's not all bad. But it's not all good either.

So where does that leave us? Well, for one it's high time to dramatically reduce the power the corporations and their lobbies have in our government. For this, real campaign finance reform is needed. We all watch - outraged but idle - as lawmakers who are taking millions from health insurance lobbies try to convince us that universal health care in un-American. Or as we continue wasting tens of billions of tax payer dollars on unjust wars instead of using that money to build renewable energy and cleaning up our planet.

Moore reminds us that when GM auto workers were being bullied by corrupt local police and industry thugs, Roosevelt sent in the National Guard to protect the workers. I wonder if President Obama should call in the National Guard to prevent all lobbyists from approaching within 1000 feet of the Capitol while urging Congress into an extraordinary session to get some real work done. None of this 'starting to phase in by 2017' crap...

Drastic regulatory measures with real teeth are needed. But first, enough politicians with real integrity are needed to support these measures. Do we have enough of these?

Can we regulate fairness? Are we measuring success in this country in ways that push us to these cut-throat systems? By most measures other than GDP, the US falls very far down the list when it comes to social equality, quality of life, etc... Is that the American dream? I say it's not.

My main fight is to combat climate change and the destructive human activities causing it. Yet it is clear that blind capitalism is the very cause of planetary abuse, pushing for consumption for its own sake, making long term sacrifices for the sake of short-term returns, etc...

Enough. Moore has a fantastic quote at the end of the movie: 'I refuse to live in a country like this, and I'm not going anywhere'. Change is needed. Real change. And it won't happen on its own. The American people deserve so much better, the world deserves so much better. Throughout history, oppressed populations have risen up against tyrants, have stood up for what was right once they could no longer stand by and tolerate the egregious behavior of those who were oppressing them.

Given the outrage of having been lied to in order to get this country into unjust wars, or to bail out financial institutions that did not deserve to survive (and whose leaders should be made to give back all the money they took while raping the system and should be sent to jail), or watching in real time as the health care lobby buys its way into even more lucrative outcomes, I'd say the tipping point is not far off. Politicians in Washington today will soon need to decide if they want to be part of the solution, or continue being part of the problem.

The Age of Stupid

If you haven't seen the Age of Stupid, go see it. Not because it's a cinematographic achievement or because you're likely to learn something new. But because you'll be taking action in voting with your feet and giving credibility to the important message this movie conveys.

I was in Las Vegas attending a conference and found a theater that carried the live premiere. There might have been 20-25 people in the theater. A group of UNLV students kindly asked me to join them so I wouldn't have to watch by myself. I wondered how 20-year olds look at this, the pathetic inaction of most of our leaders, the corrupt and criminal stalling and misinformation tactics of many corporations, and still have any faith that regular political processes will yield anything positive and meaningul.

In short: Are we, as a species, stupid enough not to take the necessary action to ensure our own survival, and in the process cause billion of fellow human beings to suffer climate-inflicted hardships and catastrophes.

There are several important subtext messages in this movie, including:
- This movement is still too much on the fringe, not yet mainstream enough. More people need to realize the urgency of the problem and exert pressure on themselves and their government to do something about it.
- Too many people agree with the IDEA of doing something to save the planet, as long as it doesn't inconvenience their day to day, obstruct their view, impact their property values, etc... The world has no time to wrestle with NIMBY mentalities or 'someone will come up with a solution that doesn't require any sacrifice'.
- Trying to do the right thing and get others to wake up still is considered radical, or criminal. Just ask the Yes Men (you guys rock!!! Brilliant New York stunt!), or Greenpeace activists, or anyone trying to go beyond words to make a statement.

To the so-called Greatest Generation, the one that stepped up in a big way to win WWII: Can we make you proud and do you one better? London parents sent their kids off to the countryside to live with strangers during the Battle of Britain. The entire US industrial machine turned on a dime and supported the war effort. Women entered the work force by record numbers - while keeping all the work they were already doing at home. And so on...

This type of mass scale mobilization is what we need now. None of this 'let's maybe think of reducing our impact somewhat by 2020 and see what happens' crap. Let's be bold. Let's do it with purpose and pride. Let's be the generation history books in 500 years look back to and teach kids about the way we stepped up and ensured the well being of all future generations.

Talk about making an impact. Talk about redefining what it means to be human, no longer a destructive force in this world but a healing and building one. Wow, I want in...

Discover Hope Fund

We're going to a fundraiser tonight for a local non-profit, Discover Hope Fund. This is a micro-credit organization that takes the concept further by focusing their efforts not just on funding entrepreneurial efforts in developing communities, but applying educational and support resources along the way. Their values as stated on their Web site are amazing and am copying them below. Read and I hope you are as inspired by them as I am. This is the kind of world we should all live in.

Igniting Personal Power

We believe that everyone has a fundamental right to give their greatest strengths to the world. We know that when a person is inspired to light their internal and external power, the world changes. Stepping through the door of opportunity takes initiative and courage and commitment to continuous learning. We believe that out of this amazing work, self respect creates a backdrop for constant growth. In turn, future generations see this powerful way of being and integrate this strength into the fabric of their communities. We believe in being change.

Practicing Authenticity

We believe in the sanctuary of integrity and know that our actions resonate out into the world and constitute the type of world we want to help create. We practice authenticity by reflecting what is true for people through listening and actions that honor the foundation of people’s passions. We believe in being awake.

Promoting Abundance

We believe that once personal power is nurtured, the vitality of the entrepreneurial spirit is liberated. When the doors of opportunity are open, we can usher in a life of abundance. This core value is rooted in absolute love framed by compassion and generosity that expands to children, communities and the world. We believe in being hope.

Letter to the President

I received yet another solicitation from Organizing for America (OFA), President Obama's group to mobilize his electorate, to donate funds to support his position on health care. I sent the following reply to OFA and to the White House:

'As much as I believe health care for all to be important, the most critical issue our civilization is facing right now is that of the way our lifestyles and industrial processes are depleting the natural resources of our planet and forever polluting our environment.
I want to see President Obama make this the first, second and third priorities of his presidency. Anything less would be a dramatic failure in leadership and would have dramatic consequences for our environment, economy and health.
If the President makes this the centerpiece of his agenda, there will be no limit to the financial and political support I will be willing to give him.
Thank you.'

Yet another view on health care

There are many views being expressed in the health care debate currently alive in the US. It's hard to find someone who's not passionate about their viewpoint - and relatively entrenched in their positions.

I recently read Kyrsten Sinema's 'Unite & Conquer: How to Build Coalitions that Win and Last'. One of the key points she makes in the book is that in order to build support around an initiative, it is important to build agreement around what problem needs to be solved, and be flexible on how that problem can be solved.

This intuitive approach has clearly been missing from the debate. Everyone has strong views on 'single payer', 'public option', 'government-run', 'insurance company profits', and so on... These are mechanisms but in themselves solve nothing. Focusing the debate on these things makes for good political posturing but does little to address the real issues.

I watched Michael Moore's 'Sicko' yesterday. As always, well done, very moving, but also somewhat overdone. I felt he weakened his argument by painting such a rosy picture of the systems found in France or the UK for example. These systems are not nearly as perfect as he paints them (I've experienced both personally), although they are definitely better than what the US has today. And that's the point I think Moore should have pressed. For the money being spent on US health care today, we absolutely deserve a much better, fairer, more effective system.

Moore talks from the point of view of the people who need health care and who experience great hardships due to the way the system currently works. This is the story that should be at the core of the debate, not all these mechanisms and options and 'means to an end'. Health care is about real people, real suffering, real hardship.

President Obama - similar to Hillary Clinton 15+ years ago - I think was too quick to present a solution. His opportunity was to create alignment and momentum around the problem needing to be solved, then bringing together his strongest 'team of rivals' yet to come up with solutions that would 1) solve the problem and 2) have chance of becoming law.

I liked Moore's parallels to police and fire departments, schools, post offices, as public services we take completely for granted. But again they argue in favor of making the entire system public. The fact is that the US health care system is almost entirely private, and any lasting solution will need to build from that point. We can't put the entire health insurance industry out of business overnight for example, that wouldn't necessarily help and that is the type of talk that freaks out a big chunk of the population. Of course that doesn't mean we can't deem health care coverage of public utility and regulate it as such, with strong safeguards...

So let's try to refocus this debate. Let's agree on what really isn't working in the current system. Let's also agree on some fundamental principles, like everyone who needs health care has the right to receive it, regardless of ability to pay. Like the fact that having had health problems in the past is reason to be eligible for more help, not being denied coverage or service. Once we're aligned on what isn't working, and what success would look like in terms of end-user outcomes, it makes it easier to identify how to best solve for that.

That can include looking at what is already working in other parts of the world, but looking objectively. The French system is amazing and unrivaled from an end-user perspective, but it is a massive and quickly becoming unsustainable financial burden on the French economy.

In the end, US voters should demand no less than the best health care system in the world, as measured by its inclusive coverage, ease of access and affordability, best in class facilities and care, and ultimate success in improving the health and well being of all Americans, especially those who need it the most.

Social Media's astronomic rise

A colleague recently shared these stats/insights gleaned from recent reporting about social media's reach and impact (have not personally verified them). These speak for themselves.
I'm not one of those who think everything will change as a result of social media. But many things have changed, among those the ability of marketers, politicians or newsmen to control their message. Those days are over. No way to hide behind smart advertising and slick PR. I love it!

1. By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
2. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
3. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
4. Years to Reach 50 millions Users: Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
5. If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia
6. Yet, some sources say China’s QZone is larger with over 300 million using their services (Facebook’s ban in China plays into this)
7. comScore indicates that Russia has the most engage social media audience with visitors spending 6.6 hours and viewing 1,307 pages per visitor per month – Vkontakte.ru is the #1 social network
8. 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction
9. 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
10. % of companies using LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees….80%
11. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
12. Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway and Panama
13. 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
14. Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé…In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen
15. What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…
16. The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
17. Wikipedia has over 13 million articles…some studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica…78% of these articles are non-English
18. There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
19. 54% = Number of bloggers who post content or tweet daily
20. Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
21. If you were paid a $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia you would earn $156.23 per hour
22. Facebook USERS translated the site from English to Spanish via a Wiki in less than 4 weeks and cost Facebook $0
23. 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
24. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
25. People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services than how Google ranks them
26. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
27. Only 14% trust advertisements
28. Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
29. 90% of people that can TiVo ads do
30. Hulu has grown from 63 million total streams in April 2008 to 373 million in April 2009
31. 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video…on their phone
32. According to Jeff Bezos 35% of book sales on Amazon are for the Kindle when available
33. 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
34. In the near future we will no longer search for products and services they will find us via social media
35. More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.
36. Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy Listening first, selling second
37. Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser

Profit vs. benefit

Bill Maher recently wrote an insightful post arguing that not everything has to make a profit in order to be a good idea. It's actually quite sad he even had to write that, it's a testament to how twisted some of our thinking has become.

Am not sure where this started. But one movement we can certainly point to as part of the problem is those who believe that paying any amount of taxes is bad, and that the government's responsibility is to keep as much of our money in our own pockets as possible.

Don't get me wrong, I like keeping as much after-tax income as I can. What gets missed though is the trade-off. The other side of the coin. And when Ilook I sure don't like what I see: Fast deteriorating public education. Non existent public health. Massive national debt.

Bill Maher is right. Profit is not the right measure for many things. Benefit is. We should look at how our public dollars are invested not based on financial efficiency, but on value generated. What is the benefit of adequately funded public education? What is the benefit of universal access to quality health care? What is the benefit of sustainable farming? What is the benefit of reducing dependence on fossil fuels? When asked that way, the question gets re-framed and the answer starts informing the choices we need to make.

I'll be the first to say that not all tax dollars are used wisely. And the ''pork'' that gets attached to most appropriations bills in Congress (or in State legislatures) is disgusting. Anti-tax militants love to highlight all those earmarks and amendments that spend huge amounts of public funds on obscure programs aimed at benefiting a small elite with usually no lasting value.

What is desperately needed is a bottoms-up budgeting effort to reset what we should expect from our government and what we're willing to pay for it. Next to each line item should be some kind of benefit statement, i.e. why is this here.

And I mean everything. Let's carve up the hundreds of billions of agriculture subsidies and understand where this money is going and what it's buying us. Are these subsidies encouraging responsible land use? Sustainable farming practices? A healthy food supply for the nation? The brilliant movie Food, Inc. argued the system is actually encouraging the opposite.

How about the hundreds of billions spent on defense? Where is that money going? How much of it is actually used to secure the nation's borders vs. funding offensive efforts away from our shores? What is the benefit statement, short and long term, for these investments?

In the end, what I'd love to see is a 'Bill of Rights'-like charter, maybe even a constitutional amendment, outlining the primary responsibilities of the government to the people of this country. Imagine seeing things in there like insuring a healthy food and water supply, access to clean and renewable energy, healthcare for all regardless of ability to pay, etc...

We take some things for granted. Like everyone expects the fire department to show up if their house is on fire, whether poor or rich. We all accept that the nation's roads and highways are for everyone. We all hope for (this one becomes questionable) equal treatment in the justice system.

Yet we've come to accept some blatant inequalities as fact of life. Ability to pay defines the type of healthcare you have access to, the quality and reliability of the food you eat and water you drink, even the air you breathe to some extent.

Al Gore, in his award-winning documentary, states that all research, data, facts about climate change point to an 'inconvenient truth'. This can be said for other things as well.

The US has led the world in many areas over the course of its history. It has never failed at anything when it pursued clearly defined objectives and applied the necessary amount of resources, time and focus to it.

Let's challenge our leaders to set their sights on ambitious, challenging and most importantly noble goals that will show the world we can muster our ingenuity and resources to produce the kind of free and equal society all should aspire to. Now there's something to get excited about!

Go solar!

“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power!” Thomas Edison said this. In 1931.

Humans have long understood the power of the sun and its connection to life on earth. Early civilizations, from the Egyptians to the Aztecs, worshiped it as a deity.

For a few decades now we've known that we could harvest the sun's energy to generate clean, renewable energy. Yet much less than one percent of our energy supply comes from solar.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, enough solar energy strikes the nation in a single day to power it for a full year. Read that again and think about that...

I was reading earlier that solar seemed ready to break through in the early 80's after the Carter administration funded research into it. But then Reagan apparently killed all the funding and advances stalled. I wonder what lobby was behind that decision (big coal? big oil?)...

Seems like things are moving again, at a rapid pace. Lots of funding is fueling lots of innovation and technological advances. Subsidies are making solar commercially viable, something it will need for a while until a certain scale can be achieved.

One type of project that I find just brilliant: Making covered parking out of solar panels. For anyone living in the lower half of the US for example, where the sun is abundant, you know how painful it is to get back into a car that's been sitting in the sun. Many places - malls, employers, airports, etc... - have huge outdoor parking lots with no covered parking. What if we could cover all these parking spaces and pay for it by licensing the 'roof space' to electricity producers? Truly seems like a win-win.

Other examples are big 'box' stores like Wal-Mart's or grocery stores using their huge flat roofs to generate at least part of the power needed to run the store.

There is no limit to the ingenuity of human beings and the marvels that modern-day engineering can produce when enough time and resources and focus are applied. Let's make clean, renewable energy the challenge of this generation, let's succeed and make that our gift to the next hundred generations.

Defining the right measures of success

''The end justifies the means". How often we use that little phrase to excuse a whole lot of ugliness.

A quick Google search did not yield a clear source for this statement, but there are apparently clear references to similar sayings going as far back as ancient Greek writings. History is full of memorable endeavors that started with a clear pre-defined outcome (the end) and then set out to achieve that outcome at all costs (the means).

Many quests start out as noble: Every person should be afforded equal rights & opportunities; or we'll put a man on the moon in this decade. But also: let's keep Holy lands safe for Christians (led to the Crusades); let's protect the integrity of the Catholic Church (led to the Inquisition).

Others start out less noble and less specific in their successful outcomes, and that can be dangerous too. Ask most Iraqis how it's felt the last 6 years to be 'liberated'. Or look at the result of the 'advance of civilization' to native American or bison populations in North America.

My point here is that once we decide that a goal is worth reaching, decisions made in the process of reaching that goal are inherently biased. Whether that bias is good or bad is purely subjective and absolutely driven by the quality of the goal itself.

Two simple scenarios to illustrate:
1) I have to get to work on time. Once I've set that as my primary objective, I will find it much more justifiable to break the speed limit, to run lights or stop signs, to engage in aggressive or rude driving.
2) I have to get to work safely. Once I've set that as my primary objective, my behavior is likely to be very different, and certainly more socially acceptable.

In both cases here I am trying to get to work, but the way I qualified or prioritized how I would get there made a big difference in the choices I made to reach that end.

In the movie Food, Inc. (highly recommend), the argument is made that like it or not, the food industry we have today is a result of what we as consumers have valued most, namely convenience and low prices. In the race to compete for our business based on price and convenience, the food industry has made many questionable choices. If instead they defined success (the end) in terms of the public's health or the environmental sustainability of their operations for example, the means they would choose would likely be very different. And they argue they would if we as consumers valued that more than price or convenience...

As with all the big questions our society is having to deal with (healthcare reform, climate change, scarcity of natural resources, poverty, war, etc...), it's important to make sure we define success in the right terms upfront and make sure the means employed to achieve the desired end don't create more problems than they solve. History is full of such examples...

Unity over division

I just finished the book by Kyrsten Sinema, "Unite and Conquer: How to Build Coalitions that Win and Last'. How refreshing!! The book is enjoyable because it is sensible, practical, and to the point. A quick read with some easy-to-refer-back-to sections in each chapter.
I'll let you read the book and get the whole story because I won't do it justice. But in short, the idea is that in politics you can choose to entrench yourself in your ideals and always be a vocal minority who is completely ineffective. Or you can choose to reach across ideological divides, find common ground with the unlikeliest of allies, and do so by anchoring yourself in values and interests, not objectives and pre-defined outcomes. These principles are certainly applicable in the private sector as well where I intend to make good use of them.
Our world is in desperate need of more uniters. We need to reach broadly across constituencies to drive meaningful change in areas like climate change, energy policy or healthcare reform.
Sinema's brand of politics is inspiring and am hoping it starts becoming more the rule than the exception. Well done Rep. Sinema!

Enough about tax hikes!

I'm feeling feisty today, as I write this waiting for a flight that's 2 1/2 hrs late.

I am so tired of all the Washington windbags and others who argue against climate and energy regulation 'because it's just another hidden tax'. HELLO!!

Then again, many of these guys were at the wheel over the past 40 yrs while we repeatedly raped and abused and depleted our poor planet. What's YOUR plan? Do nothing because it might cost money? Didn't seem to bother you to go spend over a trilion dollars to fight an unjust war or bailout Wall Street, but God forbid we spend anything to restore some honor to this generation and leave something sustainable to the next.

Do I sound mad?? Try outraged. Revolted. Mortified. And I'm keeping this PG. Is this going to cost money? You bet!! Try running a bulldozer through your house, then see if you can make it habitable again without paying for it.

Even if there was no other upside than doing what's right it'd be worth doing. But there is in fact plenty:
- Renewable energy technology, sustainable manufacturing methods etc. are going to be in huge demand globally for decades to come. Japan dominated the fuel-efficient car market from day one and hasn't looked back. Does the US need to lose this race also because lobbies are so bent on protecting the status quo?
- The US produces more than 25% of the world's pollution with less than 5% of the world's population. How do you think that makes the world feel about the US when we refuse to sign Kyoto protocol etc... If any other country did this, we'd probably wage war on them citing national security interests. And that'd probably be a good reason!

There is no match anywhere for the power of US ingenuity combined with its entrepreneurial spirit. Let's lead the world in shifting to clean energy, let's make better use of scarce natural resources, let's all make better choices as consumers and citizens. Imagine being able to tell our children we're leaving them the Earth in better shape than the one our parents handed us.

This isn't about money. Or politics. It's about humanity and love for our planet and all its creatures, damn it!!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Time to stand up and be counted

"It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable." ~ Jean Baptiste Moliere

I came across this quote on Twitter today. Inaction, or not doing something about a problem, can be as damming as doing something to cause the problem. In France for example, 'non-assistance to a person is danger' is a criminal offense. If you see someone in urgent need of help and do nothing, you are criminally negligent.

There is overwhelming evidence that some of our actions as a people are reckless and putting many animal species as well as fellow human beings in mortal danger. The beautifully produced documentary Home makes a very compelling argument not only about the catastrophic effect of global warming (something some people still like to deny is a problem), but the irrefutable fact that we are depleting vital natural resources at an unsustainable rate.

Many of us - myself included - are aware of and concerned about these problems. We lament the dismal example being set by political and corporate leaders and their myopic focus on the next election or quarterly earnings. But when does OUR inaction become complicit in the fact that we are not addressing the problem? Many ordinary individuals at grassroots levels or through NGOs make great personal sacrifices to make a difference. But many more of us need to step up and take an active part in changing our ways, changing our world.

I have a comfortable, privileged life, even by 'Western world' standards. I have more resources at my disposal than a majority of my fellow citizens. I have a choice to make: Do I continue using these resources to avoid the problems of our world (pay more for 'healthy' food, hire home security services, air conditioning, etc...)? Or do I refocus my spare time and resources to help confront and address these problems?

The answer is obvious. Still, inertia is a powerful force, and I realize the crucial first step is to change my ways, my consumption before I can effectively or credibly seek to change anyone else's.

I'll try to keep coming back here to keep track of concrete steps I'm taking in that direction. All advice and comments are welcome!

Beyond Good Intentions

I ran across this interesting project. Check it out at http://www.beyondgoodintentions.com/. An innovative, fresh look at the important question relative to the effectiveness and net impact of various international aid programs and solutions.
A couple of interesting takeaways so far:
- Rather than import 'Western' solutions and answers, use external resources to empower local people to apply locally-sourced solutions. In many cases this seems to be more effective in the short and long term.
- International aid volunteers seem to overwhelmingly feel like they gain more than give from their experience. Not that this is a bad thing in itself. These individuals are likely to come back to their own communities with a new sense of purpose, a new sensitivity and awareness beyond what the media may portray, and hopefully translate that into some sort of local activism or information sharing.

Certainly, we shouldn't turn away from parts of the world that are suffering. But all help is not created equal. Kind of like your buddy who says he can help you fix your roof. He sure means well and will try his best, doesn't mean he'll do a good job of it, and in the end it may rain inside your house :-)

Nice visit to Mount Vernon

We're in Virginia for a wedding, just outside of washington DC. Flew in yesterday and had a bit of time to go visit Mt Vernon, the home of George and Martha Washington. We were among the only people there and ended having a virtually private tour. Very nice! Although Washington was not perfect (he owned slaves for example), he must have been a remarkable man, especially not letting power go to his head. We need more people like that today.

MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO TEACH CHILDREN

I was recently asked the question:
What would you consider THE TEN MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO TEACH CHILDREN
NOT ONLY TO SUCCEED FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES
BUT TO CONTRIBUTE TO BUILDING A BETTER WORLD?

Tough one. Lots of different choices. Below is my attempt at it based on about 60 minutes worth of reflection. Will post this now, and will do follow up posts if I change my mind. I've also put the question out to my network on LinkedIn and on Facebook, so may have reflections based on what others have to say as well.

1. Self-esteem and confidence. Learn to love yourself for who you are and whatever your abilities. This is critical for true happiness, but also to truly love others as well. When we look at all the people in history this earth would have been better without, many of them lacked in this area.
2. Respect yourself. Treat yourself right. Eat well, exercise, cherish your health. Don't let others take advantage of you either.
3. Responsibility and leadership. Gandhi's words, 'Be the change you want to see in the world', are so inspiring. Take responsibility for yourself, your actions, your family, your community, etc... Lead by example. Behave in a way that inspires others to do the same (in a good way!).
4. Be kind to others. Reject intolerance and bigotry in all their forms. Embrace others for who they are, trust in their good intentions, believe that most people are fundamentally good. But don't forget some aren't and know how to deal with that.
5. Learn from the past. Study world history, ancient and recent. Consider multiple points of view, and form your own opinions along the way. The 'truth' is often quite subjective.
6. Travel. Experience other cultures. Appreciate and accept them for their differences, even if they don't all appeal to you. Live in multiple places if you have the chance.
7. Be flexible and embrace change. Whether in work, in life, in technology, change is a constant. Don't be afraid of change. Prepare for its inevitability and don't let it destabilize you. Look for the opportunities it creates and capitalize on them.
8. Be solution-oriented. Don't act like a victim or look for someone to blame. When faced with adversity, focus on what you can do to overcome it, and reflect on what you can learn from it in the process. This is a critical skill to be successful professionally but also in general.
9. Live within or below your means. Don't define your success in financial or material terms. Enjoy nice things, meals, trips if you can afford them. Share with others as much as you can.
10. Respect the earth. Be kind to animals and the environment. Use natural resources wisely.