From Big Promises to Baby Steps

In one of the all-time great children's books, Joe Lasker tells of a little boy who runs away from home because his family doesn't seem to need his help with anything. Once he gets out in that proverbial "real world," he finds lots of kindly folks who value his work... Back at the apogee of the climate change conversation last year (aka COP15), the major climate movements faced criticism for not doing anything but proselytize. Governments faced criticism for not doing anything but pussyfoot. Activists faced criticism for not doing anything but banter. Scientists faced criticism for not doing anything but theorize. And meanwhile the "family" of global citizens was waiting, breathless, for (some of) these groups to lead - i.e. do something courageously on all of our behalves and start to right this ship. Was anyone waiting for business? We just sent out a survey to the Hopenhagen community and heard back from 6,600 of its citizens. When asked which entities give them the clearest vision of the road to a sustainable economy, two-thirds of respondents (we had 6,600 in total) ranked business leaders last, saying they offer no clear vision of the road to a sustainable economy, while two-thirds said that NGOs and climate campaigns gave them a very clear vision. When asked which entities offered the most compelling ideas about how to live sustainably, nearly 40% ranked business leaders last (45% ranked governments last), while the same number ranked NGOs and climate campaigns first. These representatives of the global "family" are clearly not waiting for businesses to lead. And a number of businesses will likely take this as a cue to run away, say "nuts to them," and/or perhaps correctly presume that the fam isn’t expecting its Mac & Cheese or its bed linens or its internet-provider to inspire or contribute to a new sustainable way of life. But that's the short-sighted approach to these low expectations. IBM has a better one: get out in the world and prove mettle. Demonstrate that you’ve got immediately-actionable solutions, and that you’re not waiting for a mandate; you’re taking the leadership mantle of your own accord. The family can’t help but be impressed when you come back from your do-something day with a picture from the White House and a blueprint for a Smarter City, which you already started building. (Check out the fruits of IBM’s do-something day here.) Low expectations do not give businesses an excuse to justify them. On the contrary, they should give us the gusto we need to leap over them. While not all of us are going to have the panoply of tech tools required to actually rebuild the city when we decide to venture forth and prove greater worth, we can all do something. And when we do, oh, what a day that will be.