Be the Shark - the Rise of the Conscious Global Citizen

The purpose of the following article is to create a dialogue and a positive conversation on what we can do, rather than focusing on what isn’t currently being undertaken.

Balance what?


Working in the field of executive coaching I often come across the view that we have to find a balance between work and life. If I’m honest, I find this concept slightly bemusing, the assertion that on some level we feel that they are separated rather than work being an integral part of the joy, richness and learning experiences that we have in our life journey.



Its all connected....right?

In many ways I feel that same bemusement when considering ethics, business and sustainability. Taking a systemic view of the world we live in; if it fails to have a strong ethical framework and if we fail to ensure that the planet we live on is nurtured and farmed in a sustainable way, then eventually the prevailing belief and emerging scientific evidence suggesting that the Human Tribe and therefore business may eventually become instinct, could become reality.

I hope, as many of us do, that this worst case scenario will never befall our future generations; that human ingenuity, conscious global citizenship, ethical business leadership and globally focused politics will ensure that this isn’t the final destination for the human tribe and our planet. In the meantime, each of us has to take a stand and start leading the change, not simply being the change. We have to champion ethical and sustainable behaviours in our home, community, work and personal lives.

The current reality is that cultures are being damaged in many regions of the world with some corporations abusing their powerful positions, whilst less developed governments are turning a blind eye to activities that are unacceptable. On the majority of scientific measures we are increasingly destroying the ecological system that underpins the earth. At Penna we recently developed a film that highlighted some of these challenges (http://www.pennatribe.com/). The bottom line is that we are unsustainable and have to take action now.

However, it’s not all bad news. YES, statistics clearly highlight the need to raise our consciousness and change our behaviours. YES, we have seen in financially centred communities the almost devastating effects of a lack of ethical or long term sustainable thinking. And YES, here in the UK we have seen the foundations of our political systems shaken to the core, as political integrity and ethics have been shown to be lacking (in some cases). As with a small child learning to grow and develop, now is the time for us to individually and collectively, start to build momentum towards living our lives in a more sustainable way.



YES!

Part of what has made the human species so devastatingly successful is human ingenuity, innovation and entrepreneurship - the drive to utilise the earth’s resources for the human advancement the world over. The coaching industry has a central role to play in shifting the focus from gaining meaning and purpose through the acquisition of external validation to one that explores the inner world of meaning, purpose and a focus on deeply held values (ethics).

I’m not an idealist, and I don’t believe that people in the developing world and corporations should suddenly stop growing or live a subsistence lifestyle. Everyone will have their own way of taking a meaningful stance in becoming part of the solution. However, if no significant global change is made then at the current rate of consumption, the planet’s resources will not be able to support a population of 10 Billion people by the end of the century.

Thought & political leaders like Al Gore, Barrack Obama, Gordon Brown, Richard Branson, Lester Brown, Richard Cohen, Adam Werbach, John Whitmore and even a very insightful wombat http://www.global-mindshift.org/memes/wombat.swf have been increasing their personal volume on this issue over the past few years. They have also begun demonstrating the required behaviours (respecting that eating a metaphorical elephant is often best done one chunk at a time), each looking to influence the world and their communities to make change happen. The tipping point on this issue will be when the majority of us as everyday citizens start voting with our consumer purchases, political voice and social consciousness; when we start choosing organisations whose stated values and behaviours match our own personal values.

Be a Shark in the fish tank - The Fishing Story The Japanese love fresh fish. However, the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went further than ever. The further the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price.So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish.So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan? If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend?To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged.

So what?

I know the sad irony of using this story as fish populations across the world are being depleted to potentially unrecoverable levels. But I think the message is an important one. It’s a call to action for all of us to see ourselves as empowered to start adapting our behaviours and to start positively influencing the communities that we operate in as conscious global citizens, concerned parents, active corporate citizens, executives or corporations. As Adam Werback of Saatchi says “it’s no longer a green agenda, it’s now about blue” http://saatchis.com/birthofblue/.

How to learn more?

If like me you are only just awakening to the challenges we face as a human species and want to learn how to become a conscious global corporation/citizen, then I would recommend the following resources:

Our choice, a plan to solve the climate crisis, Al Gore
Strategy for sustainability, a business manifesto, Adam Werbach
The Dilemma of Growth, prosperity without growth, UK social development commission paper
Plan B, Lester Brown

The best action all of us can take is to become consciously incompetent. To realise that we are burying our heads in the proverbial sand before then putting on our backpack and going on the adventure of a lifetime, to identify the small and significant gestures we can all make to neutralise our personal impact on the earth. The old Chinese proverb says “a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step”. It is time we look at ourselves and ask what I can do to influence this agenda and go beyond simply being the change, and take courageous steps to leading the change.



Darren is the Director of Innovation for Penna’s Board and Executive Partnership – HR Consulting and is responsible for working with leaders, executives and teams. He has developed a number of market leading initiatives including the mindset of the CEO and the Penna Tribe http://www.pennatribe.com/.
Darren is on the Global Board of the Association for Coaching http://www.associationforcoaching.com/ and is the Director of Strategy, Innovation and Partnerships and leads the AC’s Global Social Innovation initiative. He has a clear vision to support the Global Coaching community in collaborating to positively impact its first Billion people by 2020. He is establishing relationships with a diverse range of charities, not-for-profit and social organisations across the world. Darren received the AC Honorary Award for Influencing the Coaching Profession in 2006 and is an honorary lifetime fellow.

Be a Shark in the Global Fish Tank

Be a Shark in the Global Fish Tank

The Japanese love fresh fish. However, the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went further than ever. The further the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/london/

To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price.So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive.

Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish.

So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan? If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend?To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state.

Result - the fish are challenged.

We Humans are a bit like the fish in this story, we often find it easier to fall into common patterns of thinking - group think. To stop questioning the purpose of our lives and to forget that we are the authors of our own destiny. This blog has been created to act as a shark in our global fishtank, to ask some simple questions, to stir up conversation, connect with other creatives and to identify individuals, communities, organisations and leading thinkers who are interested in being a shark in the fish tank!