Radical Transitions

Not sure if Ed Morrison’s taken a look at this blog or the wiki, but he’s another practitioner who’s work can be described by AIM. These are comments from a post on my blog. From Jack Ricchiuto:

What is it, Ed, that distinguishes other regions and leaders who are further ahead in green policies and structures? Are they more knowledgeable about green, are they more connected to the green professionals in the community, do they have more of a personal passion for things green? Or something else? I ask because you have a perspective on other regions that many others don’t have here in this region. Most importantly, when I happen to have the attention of a policy maker here, or someone in their first circle, what can I say or ask that can shift consciousness?

Ed Morrison replies:

Jack, thanks for the question. As usual, you have provoked me to think.

I would characterize the difference in regions as “the capacity to act”. Regions that are moving ahead with renewal have found the capacity to act. The capacity to act emerges from a widely shared responsibility to act and a an equally shared commitment to collaborate.

We’re all familiar with the “incapacity to act”. Organizations, communities, regions get stuck. Issues never seem to get resolved. Plans, often elaborate, get made but implementation fails. Action rarely follows. Worse still, we lose track of our priorities, and no one is quite able to explain why plans “sit on the shelf”.

The incapacity to act is characterized by several patterns. They include denial (we don’t have a problem), procrastination (this issue is not so important), suppression (the problem exists, but people are not able to share in finding solutions), complacency (leaders recognize the problem, but nobody believes it will change, so nothing is done), confusion (leaders are unable to pick among many competing priorities), blame (we tried our best, but someone else undercut our efforts)…

What questions are you asking that provoke transitions?