Rogier Noort - Page 27 of 40 - welcome to the 21st century

Climate change: You are the problem

Climate change: You are the porblem Here we go.., way off topic from our usual broadcast. My tribemate Geoff Livingston wrote a post titled “Not Shying Away from Our Great Crisis“. It triggered me to also address this issue.., or problem.

Geoff is right. This is the one problem, the one challenge every Earth citizen will have to face sooner or later in one form or another. As a blogger I have a certain platform and, as far as I’m concerned, a responsibility to address this problem.
In fact.., I believe that every TV station, news outlet, blog, artist.., anybody and anything that has some sort of audience should address this problem. It is that big and that profound.

So, every first Friday of the month I write an article dedicated to this change we all face. And I hope other bloggers will follow suit, regardless of their niche.

You Are The Problem

I’m not going to argue the validity of climate change (maybe in another post), if you haven’t noticed our climate is changing or if you believe that we are not responsible or that it just isn’t true.., all I can say (or scream) is wake up and get scared, quickly.

Why are you the problem? I noticed that most solutions offered always use the words “we” and “ours” and very popular one “the government”.
It’s always the herd that needs to change direction.., but if you leave it to the herd.., nothing will change.

People, like many other animals, find safety in numbers. This absolves us of our individual responsibilities.

I literately had people say to me that they didn’t need to do anything to ‘save the planet’ because I was already doing it, at the time I drove a hybrid and watched my electrical usage in the house.

The only way for us, as a species, to find some way to limit the change of our new climate (because the changes will come and they will be permanent), is if we all do our bit, no exceptions.

That means you! You need to use (a lot) less fossil fuels, you need to eat (a lot) less meat, you need to find alternative energy sources, you need to invest in cleaner energy, you need to buy less stuff (or buy quality stuff that lasts longer), you need to convince your neighbours, you need to grow your own food, you need to talk to your local government and get them to adopt changes.., you need to change.

The few fighters we have, the few who are aware of the possible devastation in our food supply’s, the coming shortage of fresh water, the rising sea levels.., we are too few. We can only do so much.

We need to change before we are forced to change. What do you do?

What about those that don’t want to?

How do we get those who actively resist on board?

There are a lot of people who just do their job. Nothing more, nothing less. They show up at work, do what they need to do and leave. And that’s OK.

But, the premise for social business is that everybody gets involved (or needs to be). That the basic philosophy of the company changes, along with the way employees are being evaluated.
Meaning that we evaluate employees on the level of engagement, contact with others and content created and shared. Or even the likes they’ve gotten over the year.

So what about those that don’t want to do that, those that do not have a Facebook or Twitter account.., do not believe in social media at all?

“Count Schnauzer is Reluctant” by spinnerdisc

Uncovertible vs. Unwilling

I did write a post about converting the unconvertable, but that was about people who were just reluctant, or didn’t quite get it, but were willing to listen. Not about active naysayers.

It goes beyond social media marketing practices because there you focus on those that do connect.., not on the ones that refuse and do not want to engage.
It’s also just a bit more than regular change management because it calls for a more of a behavioural change as opposed to just organisational.
Even HR would get lost here because for them it’s usually about procedures, forms and recruitment.

I must admit.., when I started this post, I was a bit stumped. I couldn’t straight away figure out how we would go about it.

Putting It To Google+

I decided to put the question to my recently discovered Social Business community at Google+ (created and moderated by Paul Simbeck-Hampson).

Bernd Nurnberger: “It is about building trust, find out what is needed and wanted, share ideas or goals, and strike a deal if both may have a benefit.”

Paul Simbeck-Hampson: “To get them on board create the best possible conditions for them to engage, then get out of the way. Be ready to support when they are ready. In the meantime foster those who do want to play; the more momentum they create, the more others will be attracted.”

Jay Cross: “You could post the stats on the non-participants and let the true believers convince them.”

Josh Chandler: “Be the facilitator rather then the dictator.”

Joachim Stroh: “Just like at beginning of the 20th century we picked up the phone and started calling, pick up your blog/stream/space and start sharing openly.”

Amrith Das: “Assuming they are valuable, offering naysayers a compelling reason (faster, cheaper, better) for getting work that matters to them done, socially.”

In Conclusion

Personally I do not like peer pressure. I would not reward those with a high score and punish those with a low score. This will create too much friction and division.., we aim to achieve quite the opposite.

What we need to do then is implement the changes without being intrusive. Offer benefits and help them achieve their goals with minimum effort from their side.

Create an environment where doubters can take their time and observe before they engage.