The Adventure Begins

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Back in December, when my family was handing out holiday gifts, my mom gave me and my husband Dan an incredible present. About ten years ago, my mom bought this etching of a couple, rowing their boat in fast waters.

The Adventure Begins, Etching by Daniel Krakauer

At the time, she wasn’t quite sure why the painting spoke to her, but she saw it and just knew she had to have it.

The painting’s purpose, she was certain, would become known to her at some point.

This Christmas, to my thrill and surprise, my mom gave me and Dan this painting. As she presented it to us, she said the painting’s purpose had recently become clear to her.

The couple? “They,” she said, “are the two of you.” And the title? “Clearly, it’s time for your adventure to begin.”

I’ve always believed that putting out good energy into the universe means you’ll get good things in return.

So, for the next few weeks I concentrated on the exciting thought that our adventure was just beginning. And you know what? As cliché as it sounds, it worked!

Literally within days of receiving this painting, Dan and I saw clues pointing us towards our new adventure – a new and improved apartment to live in, a better work schedule for Dan, even my own growing excitement for a big birthday just weeks away.

But perhaps nothing kicked off our new adventure quite like the news I received in mid-January: a job offer from IDEO.

Back in August 2010, IDEO launched OpenIDEO, a new online social innovation community whose goal is to bring diverse people together to design solutions to some of our world’s toughest challenges. I first checked out the site last fall and was immediately hooked. Amazingly, in November a position opened up to join OpenIDEO as a community manager, and of course I jumped at the chance to apply.

As I write this I’ve just finished my first week as part of the OpenIDEO team, and all I can say is I’m thrilled. Thrilled to be part of such a dynamic and innovative company, for sure. But more than that, I’m thrilled to be part of a project that so deeply speaks to some of my biggest passions: doing good in our world, connecting people online and offline, and creating community.

Of course, there’s a long road ahead for me as I learn my new job, figure out how things work, and actually roll up my sleeves and get started.

But for now I’m also trying to enjoy the start of this brand new adventure.

As I get more and more involved in building and growing OpenIDEO, I’d love to see some familiar faces on the site. I truly believe in the potential role that this global community – already 156 countries strong – can play in changing our world for the better.

I thought I’d share a great video that talks about OpenIDEO’s purpose and vision so that you can learn a little more about what I’m working on. I hope you’ll each consider signing up and joining in – the more the merrier.

Here’s to a new adventure in 2011!

Flipping the Switch

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SwitchEveryone knows the saying, Change is Hard. And anyone who’s ever tried to lead change – whether starting a new diet at home or starting a new initiative at work – knows that it can be incredibly tough to create lasting, effective change, even on the smallest of scales.

What stinks about that, though, is the fact that change – and the need for change – is everywhere.

In many ways my life, especially over the last couple of years, has been my own personal study of change. Whether it’s starting (and finishing business school), getting married, or looking for a new job, the one constant in my life has definitely been change (I mean, even my blog is about change!)

Of course, I know I’m not unique in this regard.

CSR practitioners often talk about driving change internally or influencing others to create change within their organization. In fact, as I learned last year, one of the most crucial core competencies for CSR professionals, as identified by the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, is the ability to lead change.

After all, when we’re asking our coworkers, our bosses, or our peers to integrate sustainability or CSR values and behaviors into their routines, we’re asking them to change.

And of course, we end up right back where we started: Change is Hard.

All of these questions and issues have been on my mind a lot recently, as I think about both the changes I am going through in my personal life, as well as the changes I am undertaking professionally.

For that reason, I felt inspired almost the instant I started reading Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by brothers Dan and Chip Heath.

If Dan and Chip’s names sound familiar to you, it’s because they probably are – both are business school professors, and a few years ago they published their much-acclaimed book Made to Stick (another fantastic read that I recommend highly).

Over the course of 250 pages or so, the Heath brothers break down change into three buckets:

  • Direct the Rider
  • Motivate the Elephant
  • Shape the Path

At this point you’re probably wondering what the heck I’m talking about. So, here’s the deal:

According to Dan and Chip, inside everyone is an Elephant and its Rider.

The Elephant is our emotional side, our irrational side – the part in each of us that worries, loves, fears and acts on impulse. On the other hand, each of us also has a Rider – that is, our ability to reason, to analyze, or to look at things with black and white objectivity.

The relationship between the Elephant and the Rider is based on one simple idea: The Rider believes that through reason and logic, it can control the Elephant.

If you think about this for a second, you’ll know it’s true: how many times, for instance, have you forced yourself to sign up for that project, accept that job offer, or generally do something you didn’t really want to – just because it was The Right Thing to Do?

I know I certainly have.

The problem is, however, that the Rider exerts a ton of effort and energy in trying to control the Elephant. It’s hard work to force that Elephant to take a different path, and after a while, the Rider will inevitably lose because the Elephant – the emotion – is just too strong. At some point, emotion will trump reason and the Elephant will go wherever it wants. (One of my favorite examples in the book is the dieter trying to forget about the fresh baked cookies in the kitchen. No matter what, chocolate chips will always win against willpower!)

And this, in effect, is what happens with change.

When trying to influence change – for example, getting employees to recycle at work – you can start by appealing to people's reason. Recycling, you’ll say, is the right thing to do! It saves our office money, it reduces our contributions to landfill, and it helps us meet our sustainability reporting goals.

Sure, providing the business case or the ROI for recycling may make sense initially, but to make any lasting change in office recycling, Dan and Chip would point to the Elephant. Remember: the Rider can force the Elephant to do something for a while, but he probably won’t be successful long term. For people to adopt a change initiative for good, we must create an emotional tie or personal relevance to that activity or behavior. In short, we must motivate the Elephant.

In this case, Dan and Chip might suggest collecting all of the aluminum cans thrown out in one week – and then displaying them very visibly for everyone to see in the cafeteria. Such a clear and tangible reminder of people’s waste – that my five soda cans per week, and your five soda cans per week, really do add up – might be just the hook you need to capture the Elephant’s attention. Do that, and then add your ROI calculation to the mix. Suddenly, the Elephant and the Rider are heading in the same direction!

The third part of their theory relies on something Dan and Chip called Shape the Path; that is, rather than making people do the changing, think about how you can actually tweak the change that’s needed to so it seems more manageable and less daunting.

A great example they use in the book is getting people to eat less. We all know that overeating is unhealthy and can lead to obesity, and by extension how important portion control can be. Yet how hard is it to stop eating pizza when you have that huge pie in front of you?

The Heath brothers point to a research study that showed people ate less – but felt just as satisfied – when they were automatically given smaller portions. Instead of trying to get people to change, the researchers actually changed the portion size of the foods people were given. You certainly can’t overeat when your pizza’s been shrunk!

All in all I thought this was a fantastic book with immediately applicable lessons and ideas, and I highly recommend it for anyone implementing any kind of change, either personally or professionally.

We all know that, cliché or not, change really is hard. And yet when so much of our day at work and at home is built around creating and implementing it, knowing how to tackle that change (and people’s aversion to it), is crucially important. Switch is one book that will help you get there.

Remembering What Matters Most

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car This morning started out like any other day.

I was scheduled to attend the Communicating Sustainability conference in Santa Clara, CA, and in typical fashion, I was running a few minutes late.

Running out to my car, I didn’t notice anything amiss – at first.

But upon closer inspection, it hit me: shattered glass covered the driver’s side seat, the glove compartment was open and bare, and paper and trash littered the interior. My car had been broken into.

Practically everyone has had an experience like this – expecting your day to look one way, and in a flash, everything changes. Whether it’s getting your car broken into, or something more serious like being in an accident or being the victim of a crime – everyone knows that feeling of the pit in your stomach. How quickly things can change.

Thankfully, in my case, the story appears to end well. I didn’t have much of value in my car, and at the end of the day, all of my “stuff” is replaceable. I got lucky.

But this got me thinking.

Every day, people start their mornings expecting life to look a certain way. The community in San Bruno, for instance, who lost loved ones and saw their homes go up in flames, could never have imagined their lives would change forever, in an instant.

Today, in my own small but very real way, I was reminded how it feels to be vulnerable, like a victim. To have something happen that, no matter how random, felt intentional and hurtful. And I needed help.

As I waited for the police, my thoughts drifted to what I was missing at the conference. I looked at my watch and thought about who’d be on stage now, and what they’d be talking about.

I wondered how many of the panels and sessions today would talk not just about trends in CSR reporting, or measurement, or best practices. Instead, I wondered how many times everyone in the room would talk about the people their programs are trying to help.

Recipients, constituents, stakeholders – yes. But in many cases, the people who benefit from the “social” side of CSR work are victims. Victims of violence, of natural disaster, or even of lack of access to things like education or health care.

As someone who enjoys talking about the “business side” of CSR, I know how easy it is to get caught up in the issues of strategy, implementation and others.

But this morning reminded me the reason I fell in love with CSR in the first place: People.

At the end of the day, what I love most about CSR is the very real opportunity that the business community has to effect change and impact the lives of people who need help.

The people are what matter – in my opinion, they are what makes this work all worthwhile.

As I wait to have my window repaired and get all the glass swept up, I’m going to give myself permission to put down the CSR theory, and to stop thinking about the business behind CSR.

Instead, I’m going to spend some time remembering what matters most.

The MBA CSR Job Search

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VaultLogo Hello everyone!

I am back from my cross country road trip and happy to report I am officially based in the San Francisco Bay Area again.

I have many stories to share from the road, but before I recap my trip, I wanted to give a quick plug for my friend and fellow Twitterer Aman Singh Das, Corporate Responsibility Editor of Vault.com.

For anyone who participates in the CSR community on Twitter, Aman’s name and her work on Vault.com and the In Good Company blog will definitely ring a bell. I first met Aman a few months ago when she was interested in publishing one of my CSR job search posts.

Our paths crossed again a few weeks later when she reached out to me for an interview. Curious about how MBA graduates are faring in their CSR job search, Aman decided to write what she called an “intergenerational study” of MBAs who want to create change in business.

Included in my interview cohort were MBAs from Case Western, Marlboro College and UC Irvine (including my friend Geetanjali Singh). The unifying theme for all of the interview subjects was our interest in finding a job in corporate social responsibility.

Here’s what Aman had to say about her report:

Over the next two weeks, I will be publishing interviews with each of the graduates, providing you with in depth insights into their worlds and their progress—or lack of it—in finding employment in their chosen field. Each of the graduates left behind stable, well-paid careers—ranging from IT, programming, and nonprofit fund raising—to strike out in a field they feel truly passionate about. Will they sacrifice that passion for CSR in favor of employment? And if not, how long are they willing to search for that perfect job, and what alternatives exist in the marketplace?

I am so thrilled to have taken part in such an interesting inside look into how MBAs are finding their way in the field of corporate social responsibility. Thanks Aman for including me in your study!

Since I thought this content would be of interest to readers of The Changebase, I’ve provided links to all of Aman’s great reports, including the full transcript from her interview with me.

I hope you enjoy!

-Ashley