aiden choles

I facilitated a workshop recently that used the issue of Climate Change as an example of how to create invitations for change within teams, organisations and communities. We watched Al Gore's acclaimed An Inconvenient Truth as a way of looking at how to go about creating an invitation for change. After the viewing, the group seemed to have some mixed reactions to the issue of climate change. I decided to share a story that Graeme tells about his daughter, Hannah.

Driving one day to school, they got caught up behind a truck that, when it accelerated, it let out a huge plume of black diesel smoke. As it engulfed the car, Hannah exclaimed, "Yuck!" (she about 6 years old). She then asked her dad to pull up alongside the truck to see which company it belonged to. They did so, and Hannah duly told Graeme that their family must not buy the company's product ... "they don't play fair." And so, the family now has a list of abut 10 companies they boycott because they don't play it fair with the environment.

This little anecdote seemed to shift something in the group. The proverbial lights went on. They had just watched a powerful documentary on the subject, but weren't entirely convinced of what they could do as individuals to make a change. Until they heard the story, they had very little idea of what to do.

Again, never underestimate what a little story can do. Graeme now uses the story in a presentation, Hannah's Rules, when speaking of climate change and how the Millennial Generation are "getting it".

Photo courtesy of Jeff Kubina