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Suzuki, cut-through and authenticity
A good friend made a comment earlier about a talk they attended about a decade ago in Byron Bay where David Suzuki spoke. Similar to last night where the Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House was full, in Byron 800 people were hanging on his every word about the necessity for action in saving the planet.
That was all great, until my friend stayed behind to help clean up and had to pick up the drink bottles and papers these same ‘green’ people had left behind.
This is not a spectator sport. Watching passively is not enough. How can we avoid ‘greenwashing’ and achieve authenticity?
My friend Matt the other day had some suggestions about cut-through and how difficult it was to achieve. We have all observed over the last few years that cut-through without authenticity is an empty and gesture. Perhaps a lighthouse is a good metaphor for cut-through and authenticity
I think my friend Fay has a solution:
Bring on some mindfulness – and some action.
How much is enough? Are there no limits?
There were the two big questions which David Suzuki led with when he spoke at the Sydney Opera House last night. Thanks to my dear friend Virginia for taking me along.
It was a talk called ‘Legacy’ based on the thesis of his present book. Actually, I have been profoundly shaped by Suzuki’s work. This whole journey (all of it, not just the 10 City Bridge Run) began after reading Suzuki’s book “Good News For A Change” while I was posted in Darwin during my time in the Army… It was good to come full circle and hear him talk in person.
He covered many themes skilfully woven together in a seamless talk. Population growth, our preoccupation with jobs, who we are as humans, economics, and why this matters to nature.
Suzuki challenged our idolisation of lifestyle through our worship of the market: Do we actually put the economy above human life? Have we missed the opportunity that was presented with the global financial crisis over the last three years?
Is the economy the source of everything we need?
In economic systems, unless money changes hands the transaction for something is thought to have no value. He uses the example of the environment and nature. In a similar way, this appeals to how I have been thinking about ‘developing countries’ and the 24,000 children who each day will die largely from preventable disease. All ‘externalities’.
We have enshrined economic growth as our highest priority. By itself, growth is nothing. It is not a definition of progress. It describes a cycle, not progress. Does all of this stuff make us happy?
We never ask the important questions, Suzuki lamented, returning to the questions that had framed his opening comments.
As a biologist, he observed that death resulted from things growing forever. As humans, we have defied our own limits to growth becoming the most populous mammalian species on earth (I haven’t checked this figure, can this be true?)
Death awaits us all. What are the meaningful things in life? What really makes a home? Suzuki told us a moving story about his father in the last month of his life which exemplified the importance of relationships. The things that matter most are not valued on the economic system.
His answer sounds a little abstract, but I think needs to be practiced rather than planned:
- Slow down!
- Get to know each other.
- Re-imagine the future.
- Dream of what is possible.
Small actions matter. I found inspiration in his distillation of why it is important to act, which I would summarise as “because we are human and part of creation”. Similarly it gives good rationale to why we should care to address extreme poverty: we are all human- caring for others and relationships are what make us human.
The same economic argument for the environment presented by Suzuki applies for extreme poverty. They are directly linked. High birth rates in ‘developing countries’ that come from high child mortality creates an unsustainable population.
Hans Rosling has made comments about this population explosion which Suzuki portrayed using the exponential growth of bacteria in a test-tube. The lifestyles we enjoy now will become untenable not because of our cities, but because of the effect and neglect this is having elsewhere.
We all have a choice. What will be our legacy. It actually does matter.
How do groups get anything done?
Clay Shirky outlines a framework for crowdsourcing in this TED Talk. This is explaining the how we can think differently about addressing the problems that come from coordinating work.
During the time I am running in the 10 City Bridge Run (10 runs of 24 km in 10 cities across 10 countries inside of one month) the real work is the collection of 24,000 photographs of human bridges. 24,000 is reflective of the number of children under the age of five who die daily.
This is a coordination problem with no institution to frame the work. Here are some of the challenges. How can we design or engineer this to work:
- It needs to be free.
- It needs to be at no cost.
- Anyone can contribute from any country, any culture, any language.
- People need to understand what defines a ‘human bridge’ (…I hear you ask: ok, so what is a ‘human bridge’ exactly?!)
- The photographs need to have integrity as a group for use as a pictorial petition to present to the leaders of all G20 members once they have been collected and curated.
- The photographs will subsequently be collated into a book with a working title of “Above the Line” as a educational tool of what might be possible for us as individual’s collectively to do to influence extreme poverty.
At first, it sounds simple enough to just dismiss this problem as “Use Flickr”. I think that Flickr will be the best platform, but how is that best achieved with the right tagging so that these photographs are not confused with others (with similar matching works in their tag).
This is not just some abstract musings. It is a real problem. And I am asking for your help. Help me to design or engineer this so that together we can make a difference.
The democratisation of philanthropy
Katherine Fulton speaks from the heart in this inspiring TED Talk about re-perceiving philanthropy. I heard Katherine speak in San Francisco in 2008 and she was just as inspiring.
Is there “a wrong side of philanthropy?” Is it time to reinvent as the global philanthropy industry emerges?
Philanthropy is not just about money. It is also about time and talent. The democratisation of philanthropy is about what all of us will contribute to the future of philanthropy. We are all capable of making a contribution- how much money we have is immaterial. This is why I find the term “High Net Worth Individual” which is used by many large ‘philanthropic’ organisations so offensive.
Aggregated giving and mass collaboration will shape the future in philanthropy. What assumptions do we make presently that inhibits our ability for innovation?
This is not thinking our way into a new way of acting. Rather, it is acting our way into a new way of thinking.
Last night at the Sydney Opera House I was fortunate to hear David Suzuki speak about his recent work “Legacy” which was evidence of an emergence of a new moral hunger.
We stand at a new frontier to make a difference through our contributions. To reinvent what we understand of ‘philanthropy’ and ‘charity’ we need a new generation of citizen leaders to make this change. It is a question about hope.
What is the story that will be your legacy?
Architecture is a story
Daniel Libeskind uses 17 words to argue that architecture is a story; a story against improbability in this inspiring TED Talk.
This is a great construct for design and innovative thought. Some of the key themes which relate to the 10 City Bridge Run:
- You have to believe in the future to be a successful architecture.
- Design is visceral, not intellectual.
- Power comes from good design and through it leverage to transformation.
- It is about creating a space that has never been.
Watch the talk here:
Here are his 17 words. Listen to his description- well worth finding 19 minutes for this:
- Optimism
- Expression
- Radical
- Emotional
- Inexplicable
- Hand
- Complex
- Political
- Real
- Unexpected
- Raw
- Pointed
- Memorable
- Communicative
- Risky
- Space
- Democratic
Tinkering…Come play!
Gever Tulley teaches life lessons through tinkering on this TED Talk. Watch it here:
Tinkering…that sort of describes where I have reached this point with the 10 City Bridge Run. Here are a couple of reflections from Gever which relate to what has been my vision:
- Building is at the heart of the experience.
- Hands on.
- Failures are celebrated.
- Problems become puzzles.
- “…can become a bridge stronger than anyone could imagine.”
Starting tonight, it is time to turn much of this design work from this side of the keyboard to the the collaboration of collective action. I can’t do this on my own. I always said that my ability to act is influenced by the participation of others.
I need your help. Don’t just stand there and watch…start tinkering!
Two’s company, three’s a crowd
As I enter the final two weeks (yes, this time for real…) before commencing the running part of the 10 City Bridge Run, talking things over with other people would be really helpful.
Besides, everyone enjoys coffee. Check out this video from Sam Thompson from Single Origin:
Starting this Friday, join me somewhere around Sydney for “10 cafes in 10 days”. I haven’t worked out where all of the cafes will be, so if you think there is somewhere worth meeting drop me a line and we can add it to the list. The meet-ups don’t need to be big. After all, two’s company and three’s a crowd!
Plus gives me a chance to work out how best to use ‘bridge-cam!’ Yes, expect to be filmed.
Here is the schedule as it stands:
- Friday 29 October: Single Origin, 64 Reservoir St, Surry Hills (I will be there at 9 am…kudos to Gavin Heaton and Sydney Coffee Mornings!
- Saturday 30 October: Coogee after a morning run with friends to North Bondi and back
- Monday 1 November: Uliveto, Bayswater Road Kings Cross at 10.00 am
- Tuesday 2 November:
- Wednesday 3 November:
- Thursday 4 November:
- Friday 5 November:
- Saturday 6 November:
- Monday 8 November:
- Tuesday 9 November: Bambini Wine Room, Elizabeth Street, City (meeting of Oddfellows from 7.30 am. RSVP separately)
We failed them
Is this what we will be saying in 2015 about the millions of children under the age of five who continue to die of preventable disease in situations of extreme poverty?
This week the (Australian) Northern Territory’s Minister for Children and Families admitted he will have to tear down the system for protecting Aboriginal children from abuse and neglect and start again. He described it this way in a Sydney Morning Herald report:
“The department has been demoralised … we are now going to rebuild from scratch and we have to leave the old ideologies [of child protection] at the door.”
His was a startling admission of failure. In the three years since the biggest federal intervention in 50 years of government in the territory, agencies are struggling to come to terms with endemic mistreatment of children.
Can we as a global community really reduce child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 from a 1990 level? Is the seemingly impossible possible?
If not – if we can’t achieve this – it represents yet another “great moral challenge of our time” which we are impotent to act to change. Failure is not an option.
Charity Doesn’t Solve Anything
Can we criticise Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim (the Mexican billionaire listed by Forbes as the world’s richest man) for his perspective on what makes change happen:
The only way to fight poverty is with employment. Trillions of dollars have been given to charity in the last 50 years, and they don’t solve anything. … To give 50 percent, 40 percent, that does nothing. There is a saying that we should leave a better country to our children. But it’s more important to leave better children to our country.
His comment was in relation to the “Giving Pledge” promoted by Bill and Melinda Gates (that those with loads of money should give away half). Carlos has given a considerable amount already to the Gates Foundation. This was reported in the Wall Street Journal after Carlos’ comments in Sydney recently, and commented as a post on the blog Good by Patrick James.
I don’t think it is a simple as saying he is right or wrong, or that rich people should give more because they have more to give. Ethically, can we determine how someone should use their discretionary money any more than we should with each of our time (the one resource we all have in common).
Personally, I disagree with the proposition. We have confused the word ‘charity’ which is supposed to be a verb meaning to help others with its more contemporary use as a noun defining an organisational status. “A charity” doesn’t solve anything. People do. And how do people do this? Through charity. By being charitable, by showing love to others less fortunate than themselves. This is the only way to change the world.
Money is just a means to an end.
Get Real. Have cause marketing campaigns lost their way?
Pinkwashing. Can the pink ribbon be saved from corporate cause marketing, and actually mean something for women’s health?
This is what Mia Davis asks in her provocative article Next Year, Let’s Skip Breast Cancer Awareness Month on the blog Good.
Is it just me, or do others also think ‘awareness raising campaigns’ have lost their way as they have become all the more entwined with corporate brand and marketing. Reputation, image and market share seem to rule.
My mother has had breast cancer, so I have seen the effect it can have on a family. I have a sister as well, and am an uncle to her two young daughters. I do care about this cause.
My point is that the awareness raising missing the mark. Buying ‘pink ribbons and pink teddy-bears’ gives a chance for people to make a transaction so that they can say “I have done my bit”. Charity is sold out as a transaction. And how has that actually changed anything? Where has the money gone? Is this just another example of commodification of doing good?
A close friend whose wife has recently been diagnosed with the return of breast cancer was complaining to me about the emptiness of some cause-marketing campaigns. Where do survivors of breast cancer go to receive counselling or help?
Awareness raising can be so much more effective. How do we move forward from here?
Building Bridges 