Three things I came across this week lead me to believe that we are sitting on the verge of, or perhaps even in the midst of, a Revolution.
The first thing I noted was the advertising-for-art ‘vandalism’ act that took place in downtown Toronto on Monday, August 23. A group of activists decided to take the advertising engine and its deemed intrusive presence into their own hands, and replace it with what they believe is more valuable in today’s society and to today’s inhabitants of that society: Art. Called the Public Ad Campaign, the initiative is “committed to reclaiming public space from what the campaign contends are illegal advertisers, and filling it with guerilla art.” An article in the Toronto Star notes, “Pedestrians marveled at the pieces of artwork.”
Next I stumbled across an article in the Globe and Mail Business Magazine referencing an interesting new Masters Program offered by the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD): Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation. This course program aims to educate professionals on the kind of human-centered design thinking required to create a socially, emotionally and ecologically supportive and sustainable environment: physically, professionally and culturally (my mouthful, not theirs). The course program strives to educate via the theories, philosophies and practical thinking models that will help individuals create working and community systems that can achieve that kind of balance. This also seemed to signal new priorities for a new society.
And finally, fascinatingly, an article in Now Toronto, titled Nature is Genius, literally jumped off the page and grabbed my attention. The article asserts the importance of understanding and being guided by the principles of what I refer to as ‘Divine Design’. Divine Design is a concept that has enthralled me for years. In my definition, it honors the simple incredible brilliantness of natural biology: the way the human body is built and works, the way the natural plant and animal kingdoms function, adapt and thrive. If you stop and think about it, it’s simply spectacular. Biomimicry is the coined term for the area of study that embraces this, aiming to look to the magic of Divine Design as a source of knowledge for our own societal survival and growth. With the subtitle: “Bring on nature’s design firm”, the article also notes, “In this philosophy, nature is the mentor and model, we are the students.”
These three encounters converged for me this week, and pointed to the emergence of a set of new values and priorities for society and its inhabitants today.
We are coming off an extended period, since perhaps the 1850’s, where these have not been the topics of conversation or concern. We're coming off times of assembly lines, labour systems, and mass production, where people have been tools and output has been tangible. We're coming off the Industrial Revolution.
Times have changed. Dramatically. Now is a time of the global village, common wealth, and sustainability, where people are instruments of change and the output is multi-faceted, experiential and idea-oriented.
Now is a time of Human Revolution, and it is in direct contrast to the Industrial Revolution. Where that was a Revolution characterized by machination, intellect, and industry, the Human Revolution is characterized by humanity, emotional, social, and ecological experiences, art and design.
It's very exciting.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Item #27: Life Opportunity Costs
When I was in university, I started out as an Economics major (that changed very quickly, but that’s another story). A concept that intrigued me and has stuck with me since those classes, is that of Opportunity Cost; it’s an economic concept, but, for me, it has always been just as much a life concept.
'Opportunity Cost' technically refers to the actual ‘cost’ of one decision over another. So if you have $1000 and you decide to spend it instead of save it, you lose the interest you would have acquired had you saved it.
Opportunity Costs, however, are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of output forgone, lost time, pleasure or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered opportunity costs. (wikipedia.org)
In my mind, these are the more important (more life, less economics) components of Opportunity Costs: the qualitative ones, the emotional, personal costs.
Here’s how Life Opportunity Costs work:
▪ You have $1000. You can decide to spend it or not. There is an opportunity cost with every decision, worth evaluating.
▪ Let’s say you decide to spend it. Well that’s $1000 gone, money that could’ve been saved. Had it been saved, you would’ve accrued interest. That’s the obvious monetary opportunity cost.
▪ But had you saved it, you might have felt a bit more responsible for having made the restrained choice. Had you saved it, you’d have lived through denying yourself immediate gratification, which may or may not give you a sense of personal satisfaction. Had you saved it, you would’ve had a nest egg in event of emergency need. You might’ve felt an increased sense of life comfort knowing you have that nest egg. This nest egg might have made you feel more liberated in your workplace, a little less constrained by the power of the paycheque. This feeling of liberation might’ve given you more confidence, might’ve helped you take more risks at work. Those risks might have made the difference between careful work and brilliant work. That nest egg might’ve grown to eventually tide you through a period as you made a great big professional leap to something new and wonderful.
▪ The Opportunity Cost of the decision to spend that money is: cost of lost interest, yes, but also, cost of lost potential sense of greater responsibility, cost of lost potential personal growth experience of denying immediate gratification, cost of lost nest egg, cost of lost potential sense of comfort. The cost of behaving differently at work and potentially shaping a different professional path.
Here’s another way that Life Opportunity Costs work:
• You have a job and you have a dream. You have to decide whether to be happy with the job or chase the dream. There is an opportunity cost with every decision, worth evaluating.
• Let’s say you decide to stay at the job, be thankful for what you have and work hard. You like your job, it pays you well, you know the people, and it’s close to home. You let the dream go in favour of keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground. There doesn’t initially appear to be much opportunity cost here, but there is always an opportunity cost with any decision.
• So even though staying with the job seems like the decision with the least financial opportunity cost, what is the opportunity cost in giving up a dream? Will you be able to happily progress through this life, pleased with your grounded choice? Or will the dream gnaw away at your insides, eventually stripping your face and your step from the smile and the spring that the pursuit of the dream might have inspired? Will the denial of the dream make you cranky and even incompetent in said job with time? Will the things you once thought you could enjoy in life (friends, family, neighbours, sunshine) come to carry with them the tarnish of an abandoned dream? Will it colour your glasses with a grey film that filters over every aspect of your life?
I’m not suggesting any of these outcomes would be the outcome of an evaluation for everyone, or for you. But every decision in life, big or small, has Life Opportunity Costs, worth evaluating.
Think relationships: What’s the opportunity cost of abandoning a relationship i.e.: if I leave it, what is lost? Of sticking with it i.e.: if I stay, what is lost? Think parenting: What’s the opportunity cost of this parenting decision i.e.: if I 'discipline' now, what is the cost? If I don’t 'discipline' now, what is the cost? (*discipline not meant to suggest punitive behaviour, only respectful guidance.)
This is the ‘Life Opportunity Costs Model of Decision-Making’. Let me know if you try it.
'Opportunity Cost' technically refers to the actual ‘cost’ of one decision over another. So if you have $1000 and you decide to spend it instead of save it, you lose the interest you would have acquired had you saved it.
Opportunity Costs, however, are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of output forgone, lost time, pleasure or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered opportunity costs. (wikipedia.org)
In my mind, these are the more important (more life, less economics) components of Opportunity Costs: the qualitative ones, the emotional, personal costs.
Here’s how Life Opportunity Costs work:
▪ You have $1000. You can decide to spend it or not. There is an opportunity cost with every decision, worth evaluating.
▪ Let’s say you decide to spend it. Well that’s $1000 gone, money that could’ve been saved. Had it been saved, you would’ve accrued interest. That’s the obvious monetary opportunity cost.
▪ But had you saved it, you might have felt a bit more responsible for having made the restrained choice. Had you saved it, you’d have lived through denying yourself immediate gratification, which may or may not give you a sense of personal satisfaction. Had you saved it, you would’ve had a nest egg in event of emergency need. You might’ve felt an increased sense of life comfort knowing you have that nest egg. This nest egg might have made you feel more liberated in your workplace, a little less constrained by the power of the paycheque. This feeling of liberation might’ve given you more confidence, might’ve helped you take more risks at work. Those risks might have made the difference between careful work and brilliant work. That nest egg might’ve grown to eventually tide you through a period as you made a great big professional leap to something new and wonderful.
▪ The Opportunity Cost of the decision to spend that money is: cost of lost interest, yes, but also, cost of lost potential sense of greater responsibility, cost of lost potential personal growth experience of denying immediate gratification, cost of lost nest egg, cost of lost potential sense of comfort. The cost of behaving differently at work and potentially shaping a different professional path.
Here’s another way that Life Opportunity Costs work:
• You have a job and you have a dream. You have to decide whether to be happy with the job or chase the dream. There is an opportunity cost with every decision, worth evaluating.
• Let’s say you decide to stay at the job, be thankful for what you have and work hard. You like your job, it pays you well, you know the people, and it’s close to home. You let the dream go in favour of keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground. There doesn’t initially appear to be much opportunity cost here, but there is always an opportunity cost with any decision.
• So even though staying with the job seems like the decision with the least financial opportunity cost, what is the opportunity cost in giving up a dream? Will you be able to happily progress through this life, pleased with your grounded choice? Or will the dream gnaw away at your insides, eventually stripping your face and your step from the smile and the spring that the pursuit of the dream might have inspired? Will the denial of the dream make you cranky and even incompetent in said job with time? Will the things you once thought you could enjoy in life (friends, family, neighbours, sunshine) come to carry with them the tarnish of an abandoned dream? Will it colour your glasses with a grey film that filters over every aspect of your life?
I’m not suggesting any of these outcomes would be the outcome of an evaluation for everyone, or for you. But every decision in life, big or small, has Life Opportunity Costs, worth evaluating.
Think relationships: What’s the opportunity cost of abandoning a relationship i.e.: if I leave it, what is lost? Of sticking with it i.e.: if I stay, what is lost? Think parenting: What’s the opportunity cost of this parenting decision i.e.: if I 'discipline' now, what is the cost? If I don’t 'discipline' now, what is the cost? (*discipline not meant to suggest punitive behaviour, only respectful guidance.)
This is the ‘Life Opportunity Costs Model of Decision-Making’. Let me know if you try it.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Item #26: The World Mirror
The other day, someone told me “the world holds a mirror up to us”. It sounded important and profound but I was confused. What did that mean? “The world holds up a mirror to us.”
After obsessively wondering for the last 48 hours, here’s what I think this person meant:
First, I think by “the world”, she actually meant people. People hold mirrors up to us. Many people hold many different mirrors and that all comes together to form the world mirror. In each of those mirrors, and hence the collective mirror is a reflection back to us of the kind of person we are and the value we have.
This led me to wonder specifically about the mirrors that are held up to me in my life:
I have about a dozen colleagues I work with most closely and most regularly at work. They hold mirrors up to me. Mirror #1 through #11: “I value you as a team member because I think you contribute to making our work better.” Mirror #12: “I’m glad you are here because I know the team values you but I’m not sure how I feel about you personally.”
I have a huge family who I spend a lot of time with and think the world of. They hold up mirrors to me. Mirror #1 through #8: “You are fun, funny, and considerate and I love you to pieces.” Mirror #9: “I love you to pieces, especially when you are doing things the way I think they should be done.”
I also have a large group of friends, many who I’ve known for more than 20 years. They hold mirrors up to me as well. Mirror #1 through #15: “You always take a different path, one I never quite understand, and I think you are a bit crazy because of that. But I like you a lot nonetheless.” Mirror #16 through #18: “You are ambitious, a bit wild, and you live life large; I love it, and I love you for doing it.”
Going through this wondering process, I realized two things:
1) It’s true, if we stop and think about it, all the people in our lives do send messages to us about the kind of person we are and the value we have: they do “hold a mirror up to us”. They reflect back their opinion about us, and we hear it, whether we are aware of it or not. We may believe it and internalize or we may not. It may be a good idea to hear it, or it may not.
2) I also found through this wondering that there are remarkably similar reflections often held up by many people, and then possibly a subset group, or subset single person holding up a different reflection.
All told, I think this person’s message to me was indeed important and profound. I think she wanted me to be aware of the fact that the world does holds up a mirror to us and to understand what’s in that reflection. I guess the opportunity then is to evaluate it critically: Which parts of the mirror are real and true? Which parts do I want to accept and embrace and which parts do I want to ignore?
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