Fwd: [Ailist] Sustainability and Apprecitiaive Questions

Wed Sep 10 21:09:15 MDT 2008

In my PhD I looked at how CEOs who deal well with sustainability issues do it so well.  What I discovered may not fit with AI principles. http://intergon.net/phd

What these CEOs do is establish the rule that sustainability is an issue that will be dealt with in an appreciative way and then they pay attention throughout the organisation for recalcitrants.  When they find recalcitrants they tell them to either accept the new way or find another place to work.  Of course, they are appreciative and don't quite phrase it things quite so harshly, but as one petrochemical CEO told me, "the biggest mistake I made in my career was not get rid of the wrong people soon enough".  He went on to say that this would be the last step after all other avenues of appreciatively trying to sort them out.

Some people think they are too special to be sustainable.  This is the problem -- "oh, we are too liberal", or "Oh, we are too conservative" or "gee, it would cost me too much personally and I would not be able to afford enough food to keep me so plump and drunk".  They need a little attitude adjustment.  I am sure there is an appreciative way to do this, but we cannot consider ourselves so special that we do not deal with people who insist on sustaining recalcitrance in the face of disaster.

It is an interesting dilemma.  I don't think humanity has the collective will to behave sustainably.  There are too many fundamentalist conservatives and liberals who want to remain plump and drunk.

If you really care then stop having children and stop consuming natural resources and don't be so selfish.  Look in the mirror and ask yourself if I am being outrageous - if I am I apologise.

Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au
Graduate School of Business
"I like action - moral courage is much less common than intelligence"
Prof Major Charles Boxer, Lincolnshire Regiment
The Sustainable Way: http://intergon.net/tsw
>>> <Helen6451 at aol.com> 11/09/08 10:21 AM >>>
Hello, Ray. 

What an interesting dilemma!  

I can understand your frustration and also want to find ways for people  of 
all "stripes" can come together to ensure that the generation of our  
grandchildren everywhere on this earth and their grandchildren have a  world that is 
fit to live in, whatever that means to each of us.  While  some of us would 
blame materialism and others would blame greed, and others  would think it is just 
being unconsciously doing what we have always done with  our rugged 
individualism which creates the tragedy of the commons, I believe  you and others of us 
are seeking a way to increase reflection and awareness of  what is possible, 
and direct our attention (and thus our energy) to what we  want to create 
here, without blame or judgment about how we might have come to  this place.

I realize how in working with Native American Elders and listening to  their 
stories, I have come to appreciate how much we think in linear terms,  and in 
doing so, find our conversations limited by our own notions of what  solutions 
might look like.  And so many times those solution formulations  are the 
outgrowth of our beliefs and assumptions about how we got here.   For me the 
endless debate about the science of how much humankind, and  particularly the 
developed world, is responsible for the conditions that seem  to be accelerating 
climate change, now seems to be a huge diversion from the  reality that many 
millions and perhaps billions of people are already and will  increasingly be 
impacted by the changing climate trends, and that we need to  do something about 
the near and long term situation, no matter how we got  here.

On a political level, I wonder how much of this was just a delaying  tactic 
of those in power who support big business, and then I think, what  really 
matters is what we can agree to do now, as individuals and in  communities. 

When I get to this point, I find myself reminded of the quote from Br.  David 
Steindhal-Rast, the Catholic theologian, who I met at the 1993  Parliament of 
the World's Religions:  Ethics is how we behave when we  decide we belong 
together.    The questions shift when I use  this as a lens for viewing the 
current situation and how to engage others in  the conversation.  Questions emerge 
for me like, how do I/you see  our actions in the present creating the future 
we want for our  grandchildren and the grandchildren all over the world?  What 
does our  world look like when we behave as if we decide we belong together?  
How  would we/I behave if this were so?  What would enable us/you to decide  
that we all belong together? 

We here have been wrestling with the questions of local self-sufficiency  
rather than the more global terminology of sustainability.  And we also  have 
come to the conclusion that we don't all have to do everything possible,  but 
rather we each have to do something that represents a shift in  awareness.

So if you can find a way to first engage in asking a question of  everyone 
that evokes a description of the future they want, no matter which  part of the 
political spectrum they live in, and listen intently, then perhaps  something 
different becomes possible...

Helen  Spector
Spector & Associates
Organizational Process  Consulting
9601 NW Leahy Road #309
Portland OR 97229
1.503.296.7248  voice
1.510.701.4035 cell
1.503.296.7243 fax 

In a message dated 9/10/2008 8:20:06 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
raywells at wellbeing-systems.com writes:

I  run a strength-based leadership development program for a large portion  of
our county in suburban Philadelphia.  As part of our launch and,  in
preparation for the development of an agenda for local change efforts,  I ask
participants to have an appreciative interview with community  leaders.

Recently I have developed a strong commitment to building  sustainable
communities.  As I raised this in a recent meeting with  our board, there was
a strong reaction for and against integrating  sustainability into the
program, with people seemingly separated by party  lines in this increasingly
divisive political year .  Some saw it as  a liberal issue.  Others saw it as
I tend to see it, a critical and  integral part of the future of good 'ol
Planet Earth. 

I'm looking  for good appreciative questions that walk middle ground for
thinking  global, yet setting the stage for local action.  I'd appreciate  any
help folks could offer.

Thanks!  

Ray

Ray  Wells, PhD
President, Wellbeing Systems,  Inc.
raywells at wellbeing-systems.com
PO Box 612, Abington,  PA   19001
Phone - 215-884-4887

"Serving  Organizations by 
Capturing EVERYONE'S  Energy"

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