The Four Personas of Change - # 1

I think there are four types of people that make change happen.  All of these Little Ideas I am writing about in my book must apply to every single person in the world and I think it does because I believe everyone can put themselves into one or more of these categories. So over the next few days I will share these 4 categories with you.  See where you and your friends might fit in.  I should point out that no category is more superior than the other.  Each plays a role and one without the other makes change difficult or less likely to happen.

1-            Innovators – There are people who are just excellent creators of new ideas, concepts and philosophies.  Sometimes these are ideas that seem far out and sometimes they really are ahead of their time by years, decades and even centuries.  Sometimes they have ideas that can be implemented right now, except this group that innovates are not always the ones to initiate the idea.  In fact they rarely ever do and that’s okay because there is another group that is very good at that.

The Four Personas of Change - # 4 - The Silent Majority

The Fourth Persona of Change is usually the one that gets the least press.  They are the group where no individual usually stands out.  They are the Silent Majority!

4-               Participators – This much larger group lends their labour, their love and their passion to the cause that was conceived by The Innovator and created by The Initiator.  For an Idea to have massive impact it must be conceived, created, then inspire the majority who will power it.  Most of The Silent Majority that I write about are in this group.  They want to do something.  They want to help and in many cases they just don’t know how.  Maybe they haven’t been exposed to a great motivator.  Maybe they have the ability to do something small but the motivator berates then for not doing enough or not thinking big enough. This group doesn’t have to think big. Their collective actions are so big they can power the impact our world needs.

I am really hoping that The 52 Little Ideas WITH Big Consequences book will showcase enough Innovators and Initiators and the book itself will serve as a motivator to inspire the participators that whatever little they can do and do consistently they can affect great change.

The Four Personas of Change - # 2 & 3

In my last post I wrote that there are 4 different personas that involved with change.  One without the other makes change very difficult to achieve.  So here are Personas # 2 & 3:

2-            Initiators – These are people that are excellent at taking an idea and putting it into action.  They have the connections, the resources and the expertise to get projects from the drawing board to reality.  These people may not be the most creative bunch but without them we would never get any of those great ideas started.

3-            

         Motivators – These are the people who get excited by an idea that has now been put into action.  They are the ones that have that special knack to fire up a crowd with their compelling words in writing or in speech to join them.  The really great motivators know how to take an idea that is now in action and turn it into a movement.  They know how to get the masses to participate.

      

Can you pass on your Starbucks Latte?

There is something awesome out there called Crowd Funding.  And I am working on getting the creation of my book (52 Little Ideas with Big Consequences) - Crowd Funded.

The whole idea behind Crowd Funding is that a number of people come together to contribute maybe $5 or $10 or more - money they would normally spend on a couple of Lattes or a Pizza and they get to participate in something they believe in.

Can you pass on your Starbucks Latte? I know it sounds almost sacrilegious to ask that! However, I could use your help with this very important project for humanity.  You can also read more about it on this blog off course and on my site.

Finally a Huge Thank You to Janette for getting things started with her contribution.  I hope that it inspires many others to help out.

The Silent Majority

I have lost count of how many times I have had people say to me “I am just an ordinary person. What can I do that could change the world?”  And so I really started to think about these people.  Like the single mother with two kids, struggling to provide for her family.  Like the little old couple who live on their meager pension and still give a little bit here and there but wish they could do more.  Or what about the socially conscious college kids who are so busy at school but wish they could do more?

What if each of them could cause a little ripple in the sea of humanity?  And what if enough of this silent majority in playing their small part were part of a Tsunami of change that swept over humanity?  THAT is when The Shift happens.

We still need the Big Thinkers to Act on the Big Ideas but there is also plenty of room for The Silent Majority to Act.  They only need to know what to do, how to do it and preferably it should not hurt them financially.  In fact, my belief is that the best Little Ideas are those that can help both the giver and the receiver financially as well as spiritually and emotionally.

The Tipping Point

I discovered this idea about putting together a book of Little Ideas that would inspire ordinary people everywhere to take simple ordinary actions every day that would give their lives more meaning.  And when combined with all the other ordinary actions taken by people all over the world could have a profound effect on our planet and humanity.

Shortly after I started working on this idea and keeping a blog on it I discovered the book The Tipping Point which has served to confirm my belief that if enough people tap into these Little Ideas we could reach The Tipping Point of The Shift everyone is talking about.

Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point says “We need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that sometimes big changes follow from small events, and that sometimes these changes can happen very quickly.”  In fact he goes on to say “change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment.”  Mr Gladwell refers to a number of studies and a lot of scientific research in his book and in one case while referring to two studies he writes, “...little things can, apparently, make as much of a difference as big things.”

Actually, if you really think about it, this Little Idea philosophy is quite radical in a world where we have been encouraged to Think Big or as one slogan says Go Big or Go Home.  In fact this thinking is not that new because I remember reading a book at least ten years ago that was published in 1959 called The Magic of Thinking Big. 

While the Big Thinkers have served us well I think there is a vast majority that do not have the resources or maybe even the inclination to follow through even if they did think big.  In my next post I will write about these people – The Silent Majority – who I believe will be the Real Force, The Tipping Point of humanity towards The Shift.

The Marketing Genius of Doing Good

The really smart and savvy businesses have already realized that there is tremendous profit in Doing Good.  In my last post I wrote about what Starbucks has done in Rwanda but what you should also know is what Rwanda coffee has done for Starbucks profits.  The company started selling coffee from Rwanda in mid 2009.  2nd quarter profits in 2010 were an eight fold increase and the company has posted four consecutive quarters of profit now.

So what if everyone with a small or home-based business started to use this model?  If you are already in business here are 3 things you can do to become a Philanthro-Capitalist.

1-    Decide what portion of your gross sales or profits you can give to charity without hurting your business.  I know companies that have raised prices slightly so that they can give more away and they have done very well.  Look at the higher prices we pay for organic foods for example.
2-    Pick a charity to support.  You can even include your most loyal customers and supporters of your business in making that choice.
3-    Don’t just give the money to the charity.  Get involved and get your customers involved.  For example if your donations are going to support the local homeless shelter you might decide that the portion of your sales or profits that you are donating will go towards buying enough food for a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal for the homeless.  This is where you can include your customers to volunteer to do the cooking and serving of the food.  I know what happens and the feeling your customers will have because I have led such initiatives. This 3rd step will turn your customers into evangelists of you and your business driving more customers to you who will want to not just buy your products but be part of the experience.

Now imagine how much good you can do if you initiated this little idea in your business.  And as more businesses follow this model, the more money charities will have to do all the good work they do.  And if you include your customers it will raise volunteerism in our country and this is what I have learned about what happens to a person that is doing good.  They feel better about themselves and as they do their relationships get better and they do better at home and at work.  They make more money, they are happier and their lives are lifted because they lifted others up.

One trap you will need to avoid here is that there will be detractors that will tell you that this model will not work.  I have seen it work and I am seeing examples of it in businesses big and small.  However, there will always be those who discourage you and one of the arguments they use is: “what happens when other businesses start doing what you are doing with charities”. They argue that the competitive edge you enjoyed is now gone.

I encourage you not to think about the competitive edge you win or lose with other businesses but instead think about the collaborative edge you give to the world as all businesses join forces to change the world.

Philanthro-Capitalism

Some call it Social Business and others call it Social Enterprise and I have even heard the term Compassionate Commerce to describe businesses who profit while doing good.

I call it Philanthro-Capitalism – Doing Well while Doing Good.  While I may have come up with the term Philanthro-Capitalism, the phrase ‘Doing Well while Doing Good’ was originated by Spryte Loriano, one of the founders of Humanity Unites Brilliance.

Having been a Venture Capitalist or a Vulture Capitalist as some would say, it is much more satisfying to the spirit to find a way to give while you get.

One just has to look at what companies like Starbucks has done in Rwanda which was racked by tribal warfare and bloodshed beyond comprehension not very long ago. Today that country is doing extremely well as Starbucks has led the way in fair trade with the people there.

Humanity Unites Brilliance is another company that has a Global Marketplace where they sell fair trade products produced in Kenya and other African countries.  As the company grows there will be products from India and South America.

And recently I heard about a company called Ethical Ocean that through its vendors on the site sell ethical products that people can feel good using.

One Little Idea is that each of us can change little things we do to change the world a little bit at a time.  The next time you give a gift why not purchase an ethical or fair trade product?  You would feel good; the person receiving the gift would feel good and the people who benefit from your purchase live a little bit better.  If each time you give a gift, you give a lift to someone in greater need than you, that little change multiplied can have massive consequences.

Here is the magic that changes the world.  Each person whose quality of life gets better raises our quality of life.  As they begin to fend for themselves not only does their self esteem rise but the amount of aid they require is far less.  That aid can then be turned inward within our own countries to solve problems our societies face like homelessness, abused women and children and a myriad of other issues.  A rising tide raises all boats so don’t ever let anyone tell you that if they do better we will do worse. No way!