Comments on "Words of Magnificence" by Andrew!: Sustainability. Are We Really Sustainabilitized? Y...

Andy, Andy, Andy...still trying to save the world,...

2010-02-04T00:06:56.647-08:00

Andy, Andy, Andy...still trying to save the world, huh? :) Well, good for you! A little bird told me you were asking about me. How the heck are ya? I don't Facebook, but my husband does and I saw you had a blog. So do I...just WAY different purposes, I guess. :) Sounds like you are doing well, hope you are enjoying the possibilities of your new position. You can take a look and see the activities the fill my life now. :) Can't believe that Clark was a DECADE ago...makes me feel old. :) Take care!

Thank you, Mr. Gandhi! That was almost a direct qu...

2009-12-22T18:05:17.437-08:00

Thank you, Mr. Gandhi! That was almost a direct quote!

I thought that was what I was alluding to, but perhaps my writing got in the way? Anyway, you're right about the Green Team members - they are volunteers, for whatever reason. But the Sustainability Coordinator is a job in and of itself. I want to use that position to be a beacon of leadership - and I'm taking smalls steps towards that, as fast as is currently possible.

Perhaps I was a bit too negative in my criticisms, but if an organization is just now starting to recycle paper and turn the lights off when they leave the office, then they are quite simply way behind the times.

Your friend with the pithy comment about meetings ...

2009-12-22T13:53:11.247-08:00

Your friend with the pithy comment about meetings has some ignorance. Can he swing a hammer? Try telling him that the only thing a hammer is good for is bruising your thumb! Just because HE doesn't know how to use a tool doesn't mean it's useless.

I think your key take-away from these "shocking" realizations is this: people just don't freaking care! The presenters you were so unimpressed with are lawyers and office workers and parents. They have their own lives and careers, and only signed up to be their group's Sustainability Coordinator for a extra bullet point on their annual review. It may even have been an assignment they didn't ask for. At best, they signed up with good intentions and then found they had no time to devote to the project, or that management wouldn't support any drastic changes.

If you want to drive real change, you have to stop being shocked by massive ignorance and bone-deep indifference. Those same people are your work force, and you'll never find a better one. Meetings, as futile as they can be, are your only real tool - the single, clumsy lever you have to engage the gummy, stripped gears of group action.

You'll never find a good reception by speaking poorly of their current efforts. Blog posts like this one will sideline you, and prevent you from accomplishing anything. If you really want to the kind of changes you're talking about, YOU have to become Super Effective Meeting Guy, and lead it.

A guy who complains without doing anything constructive is still less detestable than the guy who complains about others' attempts to be constructive.