It's all over...

They recently cut open the human brain to look at why we do the things we do, what drives humans, for many years this has been studied through careful observation and experimentation, but now they have chopped it open and looked at the brain behind all those decisions.  So what did they learn?  What are we driven by?

We are driven by four emotional needs:

·         Drive to acquire (obtain scarce goods including intangibles such as social status)

·         Bond (form connections with individuals and groups)

·         Comprehend (satisfy our curiosity and master the world around us)

·         Defend (protect against external threats and promote justice)

So What - well this is the answer to my question, if all I have is all I need then why is all I ever want is more?  Why?  Because I have been hard wired through years of our evolving brain to want more.  The Harvard article states we are driven to acquire, stuff, food, toys and also status, travel and experiences.  We also want to compare to our neighbours, to base our success on what they have, because more is relative and the bottom line we have an insatiable desire for more.

So what if the finite planet can't handle our endless desire for more?  Are we able to re-evolve the mind and actually want less?  Are we able to desire and want a sustainable lifestyle?  a bright future for our children, other species and future generations?

Maybe, also in the article they discuss our other psychological (emotional) wants and these are to Comprehend, to Bond, and to Defend.  What this means is that we are also hard wired to want to understand science, our world, how things work, etc.  Which has lead us to a deeper understanding of almost everything, including our planet and its constraints on more.  At the same time we are driven to defend, this includes ourselves and direct threats to us and our family but it also includes our neighbours, our communities our friends, our workplaces, organisations and society as a whole.  Finally we are driven to bond, to get along and interact and be friendly with one another and seek social interaction and engagement.  So to sum it all up, if we are driven to learn that our finite planet needs us (comprehend) to be better stewards, and that sharing that planet more equitably would help us all get along better (bond) and that we can help the planet and its people (defend) then I think we can overcome our insatiable appetite for more, I think!  I'm sure a poet could have more luck at making this all sound more poetic...  

enjoy the article as I have, the journey to learn why is all I ever want is more is somewhat over, but I think I will keep blogging, because I have grown to like it, at least a little!!

http://www.opragroup.com/images/opra/pdf/assess/employee%20motivation%20article%20-%20hbr.pdf

Plan de Vida

After reading some great books on the secrets to happiness and long life.  The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner who traveled the world and interviewed those who are living the longest.  One of his key findings was that 'Plan de Vida' in knowing what your life purpose is, is one of the secrets/keys to living a long, healthy and happy life.  So on the subject of plan de vida, I have a few themes in my head today.

I can't help but feeling like we (Canadians, Saskatchewanians, most of the people that I know) are living like kings and queens used to live.  The store shelves are full, the fridge is never empty, we have fast cars, often multiple, computers, smart phones, running water, on demand electricity, great vacations, etc etc etc.  I feel so privileged to be leading the life I live.  I want to partner this thought with one that the Ontario yogi Michael Stone speaks and writes about.  To Serve.  I agree that To Serve is an important piece of this Plan de Vida, now how to put it into action...

You only live once.  I think that with privilege you have the benefit of time and money to think about this concept that you only live once.  You are able to get out of the daily grind of survival, long enough to think about what you want to do, how you will lead your one precious life, these are very privileged thoughts.  If you are just getting by you don't really have the time to consider your options.  Well you only live once has often lead to excitement, pleasure, fun and freedom for myself, doing things that I really enjoy, but that maybe a little or even a lot selfish.  So why do I do them?  You only live once...

Share your passion.  It's fun to do and it feels good.  This can be a tricky balance as often the best way to engage is to ask questions not to share what you love.  But finding ways to share your passion can be rewarding and of course fun.  Why not share the things you love with others who are willing.

So, I don't know why I am blogging this, the rider game is hardly worth watching and I wanted to get a few thoughts on paper.  To Serve, Privilege. You Only Live Once. Share Your Passion.  My philosophy for the day.

cd

Why do we travel???

Why do we travel?

The endless pursuit of happiness, to meet people and learn about new places, because we can, to share our stories with others, to do things (ie. Kite/surf) that we can’t do at home, again because we can we believe we work so hard and do deserve extravagant vacations, to learn language and try new foods, to tell stories to our friends and families, to make life more interesting, relax, I really don’t know the answer, it’s probably a bit of all of the above.  When did travel become engrained in our culture?  When did we start deserving to travel?  Don’t get me wrong I do love it, but I think maybe for reasons that are not obvious.  I think I loved speaking broken Portuguese with the kids and practicing Yoga and Capoeira (Brazilian karate) with them in the front yard at night more than actually kiting their most amazing beaches and steady winds…  In Hatterass I think I enjoyed spending time with 60 other crazy kiters high on life more than actually spending time on the water connected to kite and board… 

I just finished reading two excellent books which I highly recommend.  The Indian Creek Chronicles about a young lad (21ish) a complete outdoors novice who spends 7 months basically alone in a canvas tent in the mountains of Montana.  It a great tale of wilderness and silence and being alone and taking the time to think and reflect and really enjoying nature.  He talks of his college friends and until recently himself in the pursuit of fun without thinking.  I wonder how much of that goes on in our pursuit of travel and holidays…  Fun without thinking.  If I think about it, I think I do this all the time.  The story ends in a great paradox where all the while he is craving the end of winter when the loneliness will end and he will get to go back to civilization, when it finally comes he misses the lonely forest with all the animals and the way of life he has come to love…

The other book was A Brave New World by Huxley.  A Utopia or Dystopia where civilization has advanced to the point where women no longer give birth to babies and there is no sorrow in society.  People live in constant happiness, everyone belongs to everyone, there are multiple lovers but no sole love, you don’t get to connected to anyone, they enjoy sex, drugs and recreation all the time.  Everyone knows there role in the world and plays it.  It sounds idyllic but is it? 

My roommate recently said there comes a point when there is a marginal return on fun.  Where you have maximized your enjoyment out of holidaying or kiting or partying and you need to get back to doing something that you may not really enjoy if only to really enjoy all that other stuff again. 

So arriving home from Brazil and what did I learn?  

On Green Teams

Thinking about Green Teams and the work we have been doing at my head office lately (rooftop garden, green building video, lunch and learns, print reduction presentation and strategy, newsletter, research, making friends, sharing stories and information, electronic phone books and the e-Leader Post, telework pilot, etc etc)

I recognize that we won't solve all the world's or even our own problems.
I recognize these are difficult problems to solve (reducing our environmental footprint).

I believe and have experienced using a grassroots team to work on seemingly small things can be a beautiful experience!!!

I believe Henry David Thorough wrote "small is beautiful" however Wikipedia will not confirm those, nor will Google, it could easily have been someone else.  I leave you with that, small is beautiful!!  Love Learn Live or something like that!

cd

Malcolm Gladwell

This man is absolutely genius at summarizing psychological studies on what it means to be human, why we do the things we do and the book I most recently read, why do social epidemics tip (go viral).  Gladwell teaches us 3 main lessons in the book based on both the psychology studies surrounding the issues and many real life examples.  For a Social epidemic to occur you need one of three things to happen and they are based on these Laws.

The Law of the Few - there are a handful of people out there who have the ability to make or break your product.  With Air-walk it was the first cool skateboarder kids who wanted a really good shoe.  The Boston Tea Party was tipped off by a horseback ride by a man named Paul Revere who was a connector and seemed to know everyone as he spread the message in the night that the British were going to invade the next day and that they should come and support.  Basically Gladwell argues there are Connectors (people who know people) and make it their ambition/goal to meet people and build social capital and relationships.  There are Mavins, these are the people intricately focused on details of a product they are guru's on restaurants, cars, soap or any number of things.  They test and study and compare prices, products, quality, etc and then they will tell people about it, if you are making a poor product or charging too much these people will expose it, but they can also play in your favour if you can get them on board and service their needs in a product/social epidemic.  Salesman - these are the charismatic people in our lives who are able to have a conversation and share there thoughts, feelings and emotions without saying a word sometimes, you trust these people and believe what they are selling.

The Stickiness Factor - the message is critical.  Sesame Street studied what makes sense to kids and what confuses them and what they enjoyed and what lost their attention.  They then based their wildly popular show on this principal, making it sticky for viewers (kids).  Blues Clues went one step further recognizing that kids feel self worth and happy if they can answer questions as the show moves along, telling simple stories and connecting the pieces of the puzzle through clues in the show.  To make it even more sticky they repeated their show 5 days in a row for kids to get better and better at solving the puzzle as the week progressed.

The Law of Context - finally the importance of context cannot be overlooked.  New York was able to substantially 80% reduce crime in their city in the late 1990's and early 2000's.   How?  By paying attention to the little things.  The concept is called Broken Windows and is based on the fact that your surroundings influence your decisions and actions.  Basically they got tough on graffiti, petty crime, fare beating at the subway and started cleaning up the perception of the city, this amazingly led to a dramatic decrease in all levels of crime.

Well its a fascinating read, very well written, I know that I have not done it justice in these three short paragraphs.  I encourage you to give it a read, especially if you are interested in starting a social or environmental movement  or marketing in any way.

cheers,

cd

A million dollar question

What is the answer to the man who I just walked by asking for change on the street corner?

I love the stuff that Kiva does, is that what we need in Regina?  Microloans?  Jobs?  Better social programs?

What is the answer, I think I may go back and ask him...

Critical Thinking

I recently took a course at Royal Roads University on critical thinking.  Critical thinking is the act of thinking critically and reflectively about a subject.  Wikipedia defines it as: "Critical thinking has been described as “reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.”^[2] It has also been described as "thinking about thinking.""  I like to do this when I make big decisions, I do this through the rigor required in my Masters studies, I like this definition and see the value of more of it in our society.  For example making critical decisions on infrastructure, vehicles, housing, emissions control, neighbourhood design, energy infrastructure (coal, nuclear, solar, etc), forestry management, all environmental resource management for that matter, etc is valuable and necessary for us to minimize our impacts on the planet and hopefully maximize both human and ecosystem benefits.  


So why am I writing this post??  Well, I have a problem with critical thinking when it is simply being critical.  I feel like this in the workplace, when reviewing others work, or when asked for feedback or when asking for feedback on a project we jump at the opportunity to be critical.  Many times the conversation goes straight to critical "why we can't do something", rather than a team let's solve this mentality or here's how we "can do" this project... this wears on a person, its like constantly hitting a roadblock, a barrier, I didn't realize it until tonight it hit me.  I recently handed in a draft project for review, and I was afraid to check my email, I didn't want to find another critical message in my inbox... maybe I need to practice more critical thinking, maybe this is just a lot of fluff, but I am asking you to think critically, be constructive, and support your coworkers, friends and family in their pursuits as positively as you can muster, it may mean a lot to them, it probably does and the opposite can just get tiring.


cd