A Call To Transform
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 09:33AM We live at a time when—more than ever before—all citizens of earth must act strongly to transform our entire way of life on this planet. Everything we know, all that we’re skilled at doing, must now actively serve this urgent collective request for personal, social, and economic change on a global scale. Every aspect of our personal and professional lives must now be transformed to operate in greater synergy with and support for the planet on which we live – with all its amazing living systems and astonishingly beautiful forms of life. As a global population, we must rapidly shift from users to stewards, from consumers to conservers, from indifferent and mindless action to conscious intentional preservation—passionately nurturing the planet that sustains our lives today and that must continue doing so for endless generations to come.
Does this threaten business as usual? Absolutely! If it’s to be effective at all, it must - especially in the west where little or nothing about our lifestyle over the last century has been remotely close to being sustainable. Yet, at the same time, each and every one of us must also meet the needs we share for sustaining our everyday lives with at least a basic measure of abundance and plentitude. The entire global economy cannot be sustained by government programs or operate like a nonprofit – depending only on the donations of others. We must all produce to survive.
As business people—for-profit or non-profit—we must learn and work together to transform our enterprises so that they operate in full alignment with these earth-centered and human-centered values, and still efficiently meet the needs of all forms of life living on this planet from today forward.
Clearly, this level of complete and total transformation is a tall, tall order. It requires racing forward while simultaneously rethinking, reinventing, retooling and relearning everything about our lives. And doing this at the same time we’re responding to the strident demands of a global operating system which is woefully out of balance and in dire need of massive repairs: increasingly breaking down, wrecking large scale havoc, belching smoke and gas and leaking deadly toxic fluids—more and more acting like it’s preparing to self-destruct. Tall order indeed. Especially in light of the fact that this earth and this planetary operating system has no back up—for better or worse what we have is all we’ve got.
Transformation is change at warp speed and full scale, which pretty well sums up what’s required from all of us today, if we’re to meet the challenges we face as a global community. Embracing this level of change means everything is up for grabs and no one has all the answers. This scale of effort requires collectively crafting a system-wide, globally-scaled learning community capable of learning at the speed of light through bold and continuous trial and error; constantly sharing innovation and information while racing forward.
Change, especially at this level, is both an outer and inner process. Inner skill and personal change and growth are just as vital to this effort as anything we might attempt outwardly. Without the ability to think and see our problems differently, manage our internal reactions better, find balance in action and peace in stressful times, and constantly nurture and support each other in the process; nothing of value or consequence will ever be achieved. Helping our human family to move though this period in a caring compassionate way while learning new internal tools, mindsets, and attitudes is both the indicator of true civilization and the single greatest factor that will determine our ability to succeed – if not survive.
We must care for each other, leave no person behind, and let no one go hungry or be ignored or suffer unnecessarily. We must learn to communicate and share and actively and tirelessly support one another—even when we fail miserably even on a grand scale. This is the expression of the unique combination of strength and fragility that best expresses humanity’s priceless gifts and exquisite beauty. At no time in the evolution of our species have these qualities been more called forth from so many at one time than they are today. We can succeed, we can survive and even thrive in the face of challenging times, but to do so every one of us must fully participate, giving everything we’ve got. Such are the times we live in.
Reader Comments (3)
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