Small groups changing big groups

Sustainable development requires transforming existing institutions to appropriately adapt to changing times - and doing so in a way that takes into account survival needs (which for most of us is profit), people and planet. This is true at every level of organisation in every country around the world. The question quickly becomes, how do you change institutions?

I generally feel there are four main ways change can happen within organisations. One: Outside forces create change. Government creates new regulations, awareness that nuclear destruction is simply not-ok changes the nuclear industry in the 1940s, etc. Two: Inside - top down change - leadership decides it wants change and finds ways of enforcing it. This is not usually easy - especially these days. There are countless ways of heel-dragging and procrastination and simple non-compliance to what the 'leadership' wants. Three - Conversion. a small group decides it wants to change the organisation and builds partnerships, leverages, lobbies, and works with other parts of the organisation (and outside the organisation) to create change. Four: the process of systemic-self-reflection which leads to transformational change. This is rare and precious, requiring bold, innovative leadership, phenomenal facilitation, and a lot of courage on the part of all employees. It tends to be profound and very effective, which might be part of why it is so rare. All can lead to sustainable development, none are necessarily easy - or necessarily difficult.

There have been many unexpected outcomes from the Conference of Parties at Copenhagen - you know, that big Climate Change Summit-sh'ding - and for me personally and for the world in general. One of them was meeting and joining up with a very small group of other people - just 4-5 of us who are part of the same constituency. We are now working to influence some 'large' - or at least long standing - institutions that are reluctant to change. We are inspired by stories and experiences of other small groups, often volunteers, who worked closely with boards of NGOs to convince the leadership as well as key players within the organisation to bring the organisation to change its ways - in this case, around sustainability and climate change. So now we are trying our hand at it. So far, I'm amazed at how receptive people are within the organisation (we are part of their constituency, so that makes a difference) at our interest and our desire to find ways to support their change. It is very exciting - they want to change, but they don't know how, or what it really means in practice, and don't have the resources or, at the moment, the clear mandate to invest in figuring out how to do so. It's the kind of work I wouldn't want to do alone, and the kind of work that is best with a small group - at least for now.

Photo credit: Good