![]() There’s no cure on the horizon, but again Rainn has done his bit to help in a new show The Geography Of Bliss. Looking ahead, it feels understandable that an increasing number of people are coming down with the very modern affliction of eco-anxiety, or ‘a chronic fear of environmental doom’. Not all of the effects of global warming will be so severe, so quickly, but the world is changing, and the effects will become more obvious. You know, I don’t know if it’s making a difference, but I’m trying to do something a little more than send out an occasional tweet.’ ‘So I joined the board and I’ve done a bunch of activities with them. ‘I love their “take no prisoners” attitude and Dr Gail Whitman, who runs the organisation, is an incredible scientist – and science communicator. ‘They seek to amplify the science to the people in the halls of power, and I love their mission,’ he says. That revelation led to a partnership with Arctic Basecamp, a non-profit organisation which shares the message of climate change through the lens of a rapidly melting ice cap at Davos and other global assemblies, targeting global political and business leaders. ‘And I realised that, besides sending out an occasional angry tweet, I really wasn’t involved in the movement at all, and not making any impact whatsoever other than getting solar panels for my house and driving an electric car.’ Change will always be hard, but the results can be important and meaningful.As Dwight Schrute in The Office (Picture: Byron Cohen/NBCU/Getty) Maybe we need to be concentrating more on the effect and benefits of the change, rather than the change itself. The journey we took to the point in time we were asked to make the change, and the journey we make through the change, and the effect the change has on our lives. Whether the change is something deeply and inherently personal, like gender indicators, or something work and technology related, like making a post instead of sending an email.Ĭhange is not just about the new behavior, but also about the journey. Any level of change can represent a leap of faith, a change of practice, a departure from acceptable and comfortable norms. “It’s no big deal, just wear the name tag.”Īny amount of change can be difficult. Instead of keeping work to yourself and your small team, do your work in an open collaborative platform where others can be informed by your work, where others can contribute, and where you can save time and be more effective.Īnd then I heard a little voice in my head. Instead of sending an email, just make a post in your Yammer network. It really should be no big deal, I thought to myself. As I looked around the room, some people looked eager and interested while others looked upset, hostile and closed down. We would have gotten through it.Ĭhanging behaviors is hard, and I was recently thinking about my experiences at the conference when I was talking to a board of directors about using Yammer as a collaboration space for their work. Any discomfort I may have felt by the experience was probably shared by others. The unisex bathrooms, I should have reminded myself, were in fact being used by everyone. If I had worn the ribbon, maybe they would have thought that there was another person at the conference who was friendly, supportive and empathetic. For those people who identify as something other than their birth gender, the pronoun ribbon was an act of support and community. The gender pronoun ribbon was not for me to feel comfortable, but rather for other people to feel comfortable. This discomfort was completely self-imposed. I found myself uncomfortable at the prospect of sharing a bathroom with members of the opposite sex. The conference also made several of the facility bathrooms unisex. The prospect of wearing the ribbon made me feel uncomfortable, and I was not worried that someone may identify me as anything other than the middle-aged, short, bald man that I am. With my bald head and gray beard, I reasoned there could no confusion as to what gender pronoun I preferred. As our society has become more aware of and sensitive to people who identify with a gender that is not exclusively masculine or feminine, simple methods like a name tag ribbon help to provide a comfortable and safe space for everyone. I didn’t want to do it.įirst, I was asked to attach a ribbon to my conference name tag that indicated my preferred gender pronoun. But the change I was being asked to make was hard. ![]() I knew I should change my behavior, and I knew that if I made the changes I was being asked to make, positive things would happen as a result. I recently attended a conference, and they asked me to change my behavior.
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