Beyond sustainability – the REGENERATION game just levelled up
If you think that climate solutions is for governments and sustainability is boring – think again. Because you’re missing out on a life of regeneration…
What “should” you do about global warming?
An expert, informed opinion is always useful – so here’s one I discovered recently. Paul Hawken has been working on deeply sustainable business since the 1990s. His list of achievements is massive. His most recent project was the first ever research into REVERSING global warming with existing, scalable technology. At the end of a detailed (and awesome) podcast about the …
Meet the bottom up revolutionaries of Yackandandah
An emerging regenerative region In country Victoria, near the split city of Albury/Wodonga, sits the electorate of Indi. Within it is the rural village of Yackandandah. I know “Yack” because I have family there – it’s a small community, but it’s a community with a capital “C”. This isn’t a secret or something particularly new – it’s well known in …
Othering, opportunity and Project Drawdown
Yes, another post about Drawdown – but this time about the fundamental mindset Paul Hawken brings to the challenge. Here’s someone who’s been working on solutions for 40 years – and who is still constructive, positive, engaging and inspiring.
Drawdown is coming
Update 28 April 2017: Well worth the investment, just for a cogent explanation of key issues and options. Biggest surprise (so far): How high up the list Refrigerant Management sits. I’ve loved Paul Hawken’s work ever since I read both Natural Capitalism and The Ecology of Commerce alongside Ray Anderson’s Mid Course Correction. (In sustainability units of a Graduate Diploma.) …
Sapiens, sustainability and the power of fiction
Yuval Noah Harari’s recent book “Sapiens” is a fascinating insight into human history and how humans use language. “…the truly unique feature of our language is … the ability to transmit information about things that do not exist at all. As far as we know, only Sapiens can talk about entire kinds of entities that they have never seen, touched …
6 ways to screw up any sustainability message
Not getting the results you want? Maybe there’s a reason. I’m repeatedly amazed at how little many (extremely smart) sustainability advocates seem know about the art and craft of influencing. Poorly crafted sustainability messages are as destructive as any other form of junk mail. How many of these screw-ups have you seen recently? 1. Only talk about the bad news …
Revisiting ‘the cycle of hope’…
Early in my sustainability journey I came across The Better World Handbook . The wisdom in its introduction empowered me to manage some of my emotions about “the tough stuff” and whether this sustainability thing was for me. As I sat down to do some planning for the coming year it seemed a good time to share the Cycle of Hope …
A quick "body hack" for sustainability change-makers…
Changing your body will change your effectiveness. I found Amy Cuddy’s TED talk about this last week, then was reminded in a training session the other day that 93% of human communication is non-verbal: 7% what you say 38% tonality 55% body language So what your body says is the most powerful part of your communication – and it’s surprisingly …
Could you help generate the next Ray Anderson?
More and more people these days know who Ray Anderson was – one of the great global entrepreneurs, and a world leader in regenerative business. It’s tempting to just accept the 20th century’s “super hero” assumption – but there was more to it than just inspiration. Ray got inspired because he had to be inspiring – giving a kick-off speech …
Inspirations from Cradle to Cradle…
One of the early books that hooked me into Regenerative Business was “Cradle to Cradle” by Michael Braungart and Bill McDonough. I loved it – not just for the cool plastic “paper” it was printed on, but for the exciting ideas inside it. I tried to share it with some of my executive coaching clients, but they handed it back …
Need an energy recharge?
The most important thing we can do for ourselves and for sustainability is stay positive. When we get stressed, anxious and resentful then we physiologically lose access to the most strategic and creative parts of our brains. It’s not an optional extra to be able to be optimistic – it’s an essential learned skill for designing and implementing a regenerative economy. …
Blue wrens on Bourke Street?
Sitting in Kinfolk community cafe talking about Regenerative Business recently with a Melbourne Hubber, we got to the topic of creating positive visions. What would a regenerative City of Melbourne look like? How would we know a deep and significant shift had occurred? What small, tangible thing would we be seeing differently? Maybe a truly regenerative Melbourne would be …
Cloning Ray Anderson
Interface Flooring is regularly quoted as the company internationally that has fully integrated sustainability into its business strategy. A sustainable planet will need a lot more fully integrated sustainability businesses, so the question that comes to my mind is “How can we create more Interfaces?” What happened??? In his book “Mid Course Correction”, Interface CEO (at the time) Ray Anderson says he was asked to give a talk …