The dialogue has continued, leaving us with more questions than answers. We renewed our commitment to vegetarianism – something that had slipped while I was pregnant due to carnivorous cravings, and continued to slide once our son was born because I was just too exhausted to put in the effort. Raised on meat and potatoes, vegetarianism – not just eating pasta and processed soy products, but proper vegetarian eating where you get all of the nutrients your body needs – is not second nature and takes much more effort for me. The first few days of the week went well, but by Friday night I found myself already sweeping this internal dialogue under the carpet, reaching for the emergency frozen pizza stash, and heading back to my comfort zone to engage in another of our favorite Friday night activities – watching TED Talks.

First on the agenda was Bill Gates’ vision for the world’s energy future, describing the need for an all out effort to create “miracles” to reach zero carbon emissions globally by 2050 – the goal he says is necessary to avoid planetary catastrophe. WHAM! – no room for complacency (let alone packaged, processed frozen pizza) in our generation. How are we going to achieve this monumental goal, and how can I, as a non-scientist, even begin to make a contribution that matters? Furthermore, with such huge shifts needed, aren’t my minor changes in eating habits insignificant?

Next on the agenda, Jamie Oliver’s passionate speech about the obesity-related health epidemic in North America and Europe. Double WHAM! My pizza stuck in my throat. Just to be clear, my husband and I are nowhere near obese and eat quite healthfully overall. This talk, however, brought back all of the information that I have – the stuff that I bury when I want to have pizza and coke – on just how damaging it is not only to our bodies but to our environment to eat “mindlessly” from the highly-processed, highly-transported, and highly-chemical-infused products that are now standard in most people’s diets.

Then on Saturday morning I opened my e-mail to read the latest post from a good friend of mine, Laura Mack, on honesty as a core issue in parenting her teenage son. She provided some very sobering statistics about the state of honesty – or lack thereof – with our youth. The thing that was perhaps the most troubling, was that despite the fact that they admit to a high degree of dishonesty the youth in the survey still saw themselves as being ethical and more honest than a majority of their peers.

It would be easy to be shocked at “today’s youth”, but I had to question how different I really am. While I do not lie, cheat and steal in some of the obvious ways these surveys are asking about, like a majority of our society, I lie to myself. While this might seem far less harmful, I am struggling with the dawning realization that this type of lying is perhaps the most harmful of all. It is harmful because the lies I tell myself – or the information I conveniently choose not to see or understand – are what keep me doing what is easy, what is comfortable, what I have always done, and what everyone else is doing. But it is clear from the sources above and many many more that we need to change – that I need to change. Like the woman in The Age of Stupid, (who, after winning the fight AGAINST having wind turbines put in her rural British community because they would ruin the view, enthusiastically proclaimed,  ”of course we must do all we can to reduce global warming!”) I am often unwilling to see my own hypocrisy. She wants to avoid global warming, but not if it ruins her view. I want to help preserve our planet for future generations, but not if it means I have to put more effort into what I cook for dinner.

Perhaps the biggest lie I tell myself is that I don’t know what to do. This is an easy one for abdicating responsibility. I see it in my coaching clients all of the time. When they say “I don’t know”, it is a flag that somewhere, underneath their denial, and buried deep within their fears of change and their desire to stay in their comfort zone, there is a dawning awareness of what they do want and what they do need to do. Saying they don’t know keeps them safe because it gives them an excuse not to act. If they are busy trying to figure out what they want or what they “should” do, they can preserve the illusion of productive action without really engaging in any. So despite my internal voice screaming loudly that I don’t know what to do, that my non-scientist talents are not really going to make a difference, and that the actions of my non-famous self can have nowhere near the impact of Jamie and Bill, I cannot hide beneath the “I don’t know” comfort blanket and still feel good about myself.

So what can I do? One thing I can do is write about it. This, at least, is a start. Maybe, in the same way that this information has inspired me to question myself and renew my commitment to being part of the solution, it will inspire others to do the same. We can’t all be Bill Gates or Jamie Oliver, but we can all do our part. Maybe your part is to find that solution that can take us to zero carbon emissions by 2055. Maybe you will send this link to someone you know and it will give them that little extra bit of insight they needed for the breakthrough. While I am not going to be personally responsible for solving the energy crisis, I can take responsibility for solving my own energy crisis. I can start having the courage to stop burying the truth beneath my comfort zone. I can plug the energy leaks that occur when my actions are not in integrity with who I want to be and what I know I need to do.

This kind of honesty can be hard and sometimes painful on all sides, but what I do know from experience, is that when I have faced the truth, spoken my truth, and been willing to look openly at the truths others are presenting to me, it has paved the way for increased energy, aliveness, creativity, and abundance for everyone involved. I also know that seemingly insignificant actions can spark massive change. Just as Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger on the bus became an important symbol of the modern Civil Rights Movement, everything that I say and do, no matter how small, has the power to provide the spark or the tipping point for massive change. As Margaret Mead is famous for saying, ”Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

I would love to have you join me in my quest to live with eyes wide open and head out of the sand and, ultimately to create the “miracles” we need to build a world where we all can thrive. I hope that in sharing our stories – both the challenges and the triumphs – that we will give each other the strength, hope and the inspiration to continue doing our part.

The time has come to unshackle myself from the past. My fears of being misunderstood, of being seen as flaky, of having to struggle to get my message out – these are all in the past. What’s more, I can now see that these challenges were rooted in others’ limitations, not in my own. They could not or did not want to hear my message. “Getting it” would have meant reframing their universe and transforming profoundly their ways of being, doing and having in the world. Those who are ready, willing and eager to be transformed are thirsting for messages and living models of having the courage to be personal, spiritual and fully authentic – the only true source of lasting personal, business and planetary sustainability. It is time to stop being “secretly me” and to begin sharing my work – both the work I do at a personal level and the work I do with businesses – on a wider scale.

It occurs to me that perhaps an even more important question to ask myself is how ready, willing, able and eager I am to be transformed by my own work. What is stopping me from fully engaging in my own work to profoundly shift my ways of doing, being and having in the world?

There are two pieces.

One is my fear of being misunderstood. The other is the reality that I am far from being a perfect example of practicing the principles of kyosei and life-work integrity™ that I teach. These two fears work together most obviously in my writing to block me. My fear of being misunderstood fuels my drive for perfection in my writing. This drive for perfection saps my energy as I scramble to try to figure out how to do it right the first time. It stops me from releasing my message out into the world. (Case in point – the three books I have in the wings – 75% written but languishing in electronic purgatory while I attempt to “figure out” the best way to position them in the market.) If I can release my fear of being misunderstood, I can let go of the need for perfection, thus freeing up enormous reservoirs of energy and passion that I have buried in trying to figure out how to get it right.

Of course this is all tied into the need to strive for achievement, recognition, power and status that is the dominant modus operandi of our society. Because we are so ingrained with this belief that more and faster is better, we live in a constant state of not enough (or not good enough) despite the abundance that surrounds us and, in reality, is threatening to bury us. I know from experience that when I manage to step out of this dominant ethic that drives me to push myself to do more, be more and have more I am more at peace. I begin to allow myself the time to re-connect with myself, with nature, and with the wisdom of the universe that is wanting to flow through me to heal people, business and the planet. I let go of my belief that this work is something I “must” do, and open up to it as something that is being done through me. Not only does this drive productivity (as it makes it easier to step into the flow of actions and priorities in each and every moment), it creates more of the results I was seeking (power, recognition, achievement and yes, money) without all the negative side effects.

So, fellow travellers on the path to fostering lifestyles and businesses that offer sustainable health, vitality and prosperity for all, henceforth you shall find on my blog a more balanced mix of my personal/spiritual musings posted alongside the more “professional” ones. I look forward with curiosity to witness the results in my life and my business of no longer being “secretly me”.

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments about the above, and would especially like to hear any success stories (and challenges!) you have had regarding your own journey of expressing your authentic self in your life and work.

While it is difficult to attach numbers to exactly how much these intangibles impact the bottom line, the evidence that they do can be seen in the fact that all too many businesses, once sold, fail to live up to the performance expectations anticipated prior to the sale. For this reason, many purchasers insist on the owner and other key staff staying on for anywhere from one to three years after the sale.

It can also – as in the case of a colleague of mine with a very successful consulting business – be what limits you from selling your business at all. Despite annual revenues of $1 million, he discovered that his clients were resistant to working with anyone but him as he began exploring selling his business to an associate.

The bottom line is that, whether or not you ever intend to sell your company, understanding and maximizing intangible assets is critical to building a business that is not dependent upon you or any other specific individual in it – the mark of a truly successful business.

An example of this are two good friends of mine, Lawrence and Lori-Ann Keenan, who run a very successful ESL school here in Vancouver. They began the business as a couple, doing almost all of the work – from teaching the classes to marketing the school and everything in between – themselves. After just 10 years, she now works only one day a week, and his involvement with the business is negligible, save for focusing on investing their profits.

What has allowed them to have such freedom is that they have created and continue to refine written systems for everything they do. The importance of creating systems is understood by most business owners, but generally they focus on creating bare-bones systems that reflect simply the “how to” rather than the “how we do it here.” What sets my friends’ business apart and allows their success to continue to grow despite less and less involvement from them are the systems they have developed for instilling a distinct culture and personality into the school.

The school is very much centred around Lori-Ann’s personality. Like her, it is high-energy and fun with a no-nonsense professionalism and a passion for excellence in customer service. An example of one of the systems that sustains this is a weekly high-energy graduation ceremony at which all students are present. This event involves plenty of clapping, singing and general fanfare. Back in the staff room there may be some rolling eyes in the anticipation of this weekly ritual, but once staff step into the limelight to play their part in the celebration, they find it hard not to be caught up in the simplicity and energy of the familiar routine.

Companies like Google have systematized a culture of innovation by requiring employees to spend 20 percent of their time on side projects not related to their daily work. West Jet systematizes fun with their pre-landing jokes – no matter how corny they may be. Nordstrom has systematized customer service excellence through rigorous and ongoing training programs on empowerment and customer service excellence. Southwest Airlines systematizes its culture by training all of its staff in “Living the Southwest Way,” by practicing the three characteristics of having a Warrior Spirit, a Servant’s Heart and a Fun-LUVing Attitude.

All of these are examples of how to build those intangibles into the core operating systems, principles and standards of your business. Not only will these types of systems make your business more attractive to potential buyers in the long run, they will make it more attractive to those employees who are best equipped to deliver on your brand promise, thus attracting and keeping loyal customers. Ultimately these intangibles are not only what drives a strong bottom line, but sustains it over the long term. They are, at the end of the day, where the true value of a business lies and what helps any business owner to realize the full value of the business they have built – whether they sell it or not.

-Andrea Jacques aka. Kyoseigirl

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In lay terms, open source software gives the public free access to source code for redistribution, modification and creation of derivative works as long as any changes are made available to others to use. The speed at which this allows evolution to occur is astonishing compared to the slow pace of conventional software development in closed proprietary systems.

What is most thought provoking, however, is that open-source offerings have grown (and continue to do so) primarily through a pool of passionate volunteers who freely contribute their time to improving the source code. In the 21st century knowledge economy (where speed to market and the ability to harness the full creativity, commitment and intellectual capacity of one’s workforce has been identified as a key driver of business success and sustainability) understanding what has inspired so many to contribute so much without financial compensation bears examination.

Three Keys to the Success of Open Source

1) Leaving a Legacy of Excellence and Social Responsibility

More than anything else, the open-source community is focused on making great products. It is difficult to get people excited about mediocrity. While many businesses today are built on the strategy that releasing products that have “bugs,” or will eventually wear out ensures an ongoing market for their “consumable” products, it goes against the natural desire of the human spirit to strive for excellence and leave a legacy. As both customers and employees become increasingly aware of how the “planned obsolescence” business strategy is filling landfills and polluting the environment, people are increasingly motivated and inspired by a sense of noble purpose. They are far less motivated to contribute to a company that places its own interests ahead of the common good. On a more basic level, many simply recognize logically that it is a waste of their time, energy, and the earth’s resources.

2) The Opportunity to Express Passions and Develop Talents

Another key reason the open source initiative has been able to garner an ever-increasing pool of people to contribute their time and intellectual resources is because it aligns with their passion for programming.

Open source provides programmers an opportunity to use, challenge and develop their talents. Research on employee engagement and high-performance workplaces also supports the idea that people who are able to use their preferred talents are more productive, more loyal, and contribute more to bottom-line results.

To tap into the creativity and commitment similar to that which is freely invested in open source, leaders must learn to identify the talents and passions of their people and adapt roles to allow them to focus almost exclusively on what they love most and do best.

3) Shared Leadership

A final key element of the success of open-source initiatives is shared leadership. The very nature of open source is that it evolves based on reviews and revisions by a team of one’s peers. This shared leadership by a group of peers is made possible by the fact that there is a strong set of common precedents or operating principles for what works and what doesn’t. These values and standards are universally understood and accepted because they are created by, and evolve with, the community that uses them to guide decisions and contributions. Rather than being enforced by leaders, the simplicity, logic and universal acceptance of these standards allows them to be strictly enforced, when necessary, by a community of peers.

-Andrea Jacques (aka. kyoseigirl)

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Old equipment is kept running as long as possible and broken machines are scavenged for parts and recycled back into the market. Every part of an animal is used for food. While some of the things they ate challenged my western palate, I certainly admired their ability to follow the principle of “waste not, want not” to its utmost degree.

I contrast this with the five years I spent in Japan where regular dai gomi or “big garbage” days saw some streets near my home piled two feet high for a full block with ‘fridges, stoves, stereos, televisions, dishes, desks, kitchen tables, chairs and even computer equipment that was in perfect working condition.

While my other gaijin (or western) friends and I did our best to liberate as much of this merchandise from the landfill as we could, by giving select pieces a new home in our apartments, we barely made a dent in the piles. In this process we discovered an important idea that mainstream businesses are finally beginning to embrace: that recycling (and energy conservation) can, and does, have a positive effect on the bottom line. We saved money, while diverting some of the “garbage” from the landfill.

Although the population density of Japan made the wastefulness of an industrialized society painfully evident, I was aware that back in Canada our per capita waste was likely equal, or not far behind.

It was the juxtaposition of these images of affluence and wastefulness in Japan that led me to enroll in graduate courses in sustainable business and economic development that first exposed me to a different way of thinking about the fundamentals of doing business.

While I recognize that new technology can benefit us in our lives and work, the “planned obsolescence” that is a central part of the profit models of many businesses today, is no longer sustainable.

The following statistics on cell phones and computers – two now indispensable but seemingly infinitely disposable business tools – gives reason for concern.

• Between 1997 and 2004, 315 million computers worldwide are expected to be ready for disposal, potentially ejecting 550 million kilograms of lead, 900,000 kilograms of cadmium and 180,000 kilograms of mercury into the environment.

• Producing the average PC uses 10 times its weight in materials, chemicals and fossil fuels before it even leaves the factory (BAN 2004).

• An estimated 130 million cell phones will be discarded in the United States by the year 2005, resulting in 65,000 tonnes of cell-phone waste.

In studying how to build a truly restorative economy, I have discovered that there are many alternatives to our traditional thinking – ways we can create profit without wreaking havoc on our health and our planet.

Models such as ‘product stewardship’ and ‘closed-loop manufacturing’ are two core concepts that are shifting the thinking of leading businesses today.

Product stewardship calls for all parties involved in designing, manufacturing, selling and using a product to take responsibility for environmental impacts at every stage of that product’s life.

Closed-loop manufacturing refers to reengineering the manufacturing process so that it eliminates all forms of waste in the manufacturing cycle. This might involve using different chemicals that do not give off toxins, or looking at the waste products generated and finding ways to use those waste products in further production.

Recycling is a part of both of these models, but it is no longer seen solely as the mandate of the end user. If companies learn to manufacture their products in ways that consider how they will be re-used or recycled most efficiently from the outset, it makes the end-user’s role more effective and also generates possibilities for the company to profit from such redesign. These models involve organizations taking responsibility for eliminating waste and dramatically reducing environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of their product.

A traditional bottom-line view sees this process as an added cost in the manufacturing process. There are many companies today, however, who are turning this outdated perspective on its head: where creativity in reducing waste and using non-toxic materials is actually generating profits.

Interface, an Atlanta-based company that is the largest commercial carpet manufacturer in the world, applied the principles of product stewardship and closed-loop manufacturing to create Solenium, a carpet that lasts four times longer than conventional ones, uses 40 percent less material than ordinary carpets, is free of toxic materials, virtually stainproof, and easily cleaned with water. This product is so superior for endusers that the company doesn’t even bother to market it specifically as an environmental product. This and similar waste elimination activities have resulted in a cumulative global savings of over $231 million since 1995.

Taking this thinking one step further, Interface has also shifted its business model from selling and installing carpets to providing floor covering services. They launched this product as the Evergreen Lease which provides a floor-covering service for a monthly fee, complete with monthly inspections to detect and replace worn carpet tiles. As 20 percent of the carpet area gets 80 percent of the wear, this method minimizes waste as well as the disruption necessary to replace whole carpets, and provides the tax benefits of leasing versus owning.

No matter what industry you are in, you can tap into your creativity and rethink your organization, both for increased profits and for the common good, by being willing to question the assumptions you make in your everyday endeavours.

Andrea Jacques (aka. kyoseigirl)

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