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Driving Change

In a recent Sunday New York Times I read an article that provided additional insight, perspective, and validation to my previous blogs; The Imperative of Trust and The Pursuit of Happiness. Thomas Friedman, a vigorous proponent of green technology, policy and solutions to climate change and political and social conflict, wrote in his column, Yes, They Could. So They Did, of a chance meeting he had in New Delhi, India. It came about when he accepted a ride from two young women, Yale graduates, along with one of their mothers in a plug-in electric car fitted with solar panels for additional power. Freidman says, Its refreshing to know that the world keeps minting idealistic young people who are not waiting for government to act, but are starting their own projects and driving innovation. They arrived in New Delhi having just finished a climate caravan through India that highlighted solutions to global warming being developed by Indian companies and innovators. In a short ride around town, they passed the US and Chinese Embassies and pointed out that the roof of the US Embassy was littered with antennae and listening gear while the Chinese Embassy was fitted with solar panels. In The Imperative of Trust I conclude that that the traditional hierarchical leaders, e.g. governments and large corporations, can no longer lead the way in creating solutions to global climate issues, as well as other critical problems intimately connected to sustaining a healthy planet. The primary reason is that their trust bank accounts are in the red. Solutions and change must and will be driven from the ground up. It will be driven by 23 year old women, with their mothers, driving electric solar powered vehicles in foreign countries. Its telling that the US Embassy was devoid of solar panels, but not listening devices. The US continues to be divided on environmental issues, with some major corporate and government leaders in denial and trying to eliminate funding for green initiatives even at this late hour. The level of mistrust in the US, internally and externally, hinders our ability to innovate and lead in a time when the planet needs us the most. Although the Chinese Embassy may have their own listening devices, unseen, their trust issues are not preventing them from advancing and

capitalizing on science, innovation and leading. As we fiddle with our antennas to get a better listening advantage, the planet is burning. There was another critical point from this article that involves how the brain in all of its majesty and complexity actually works against our ability to be innovative. The comment was made by one of the girls when explaining why and how this tour came about. Well the world needs crazy ideas to change things, because the conventional way of thinking is not working anymore. This comment describes a process called repetition suppression, in which our brains strive for energy efficiency. When repeatedly presented with the same stimuli, the brains neurons respond with decreasing vigor. Repetition leads to smaller neural responses, thereby decreasing our brains capacity for creativity and innovation. The result is we become conventional thinkers and resist new perspectives; all to save energy! Our opportunity for finding and implementing solutions to global problems will only come about as a result of breaking out of the brains natural process of repetition suppression. It is difficult enough to fight individually, but when re-enforced by organizational and group cultures that fear change and the loss of control, the process becomes monumental. The leaders who are best suited to meet the challenge will be the curious and courageous, young and old, daughters and mothers, who are willing, literally and figuratively, to create new neural pathways by traveling around India in electric and solar powered cars. Iconoclasts break molds, and they are able to it because they dont allow their brains to get into ruts. By remaining open to new and different experiences, we can literally jolt our brains creative and innovative capabilities. Remember I mentioned that this blog was tied to both blogs: The Imperative of Trust and The Pursuit of Happiness? Lets agree that a tour of India to highlight solutions to global climate issues is a pursuit; now for the happiness part. One of the main points in the blog is that we have become infatuated with pleasuring ourselves under the illusion that we would find the fountain of eternal happiness. What we have experienced is that our pleasuring is spoiling our planet and leaving us unsatisfied. Meaningful and lasting happiness is derived from contributing to something that is beyond our self-interest. So why did these women engage in this pursuit? We wanted to find a way to bring people together around existing solutions to inspire more action and more innovation. Theres no time left to just talk about the problem. Its not about them; its about making a contribution. And in their pursuit Im willing to bet that they found happiness.

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