Bringing about Change?

An observation of news and happenings in and around societies, calls for urgent changes to be brought about in our society. Let me try you list a few situations, which may have appeared in the press or you may also have observed:

1.??????The number of POSCO cases going up and how the survivors are left to fend for themselves. Society has initial sympathy but no lasting support or preventive mechanisms.

2.??????Children are now being induced into drugs and made carriers by drug cartels.

3.??????How discrimination based on race, gender, religion, political leanings, etc. are leading to violent crimes. How local panchayat/khap comes up with weird rulings?

4.??????There is a huge fan following and appreciation for the Japanese football team members and their supporters during the in going FIFA cup in Qatar because they cleaned the stadiums and their locker rooms after their game and expressed their gratitude by putting up a thank you note. Their coach bowed before the fans to thank them after they lost to Croatia in the knockout stage of FIFA 22. Can we adopt and learn?

5.??????You go to a very historic site and find graffiti scribbled all over and waste thrown all over the place defacing the historic sanctity and glory of the site.??

6.??????You go to the toilet on a flight and find the toilet absolutely messy within a half hour, with passengers throwing tissue paper in the wash basin, and floor and choking the drains!! People who can afford to travel by air are not usually poor or very uneducated but yet again…

7.??????You go to a classy restaurant during peak hour and find the wash basins strewn with food material !! it is not poor or uneducated but yet again….

8.??????You find people throwing food waste out of their car as they drive on the road?? They drive expensive cars but yet again…

9.??????You go pay and use the toilet, but they are still pathetic,yet again, do you have a choice??

10.??Everyone knows the harmful effects of pan masala but nearly every other auto driver and cab driver can be found spitting everywhere –streets, roads, office buildings, and corridors….

11.??Streets lettered with garbage and men urinating on the street corners in some parts of cities can be seen.

The list can go on and one wonders, who should be facilitating the changes required in our society?? Government, Schools, parents, activists?

Bringing about such mindset changes in our society requires a large movement, which can be facilitated by all –government, schools, parents, activists, and professional management associations.

A societal cultural change requires engagement and participation by all. Some are issues are to be dealt with at the personal level, some at the group level, and some at the community level.

What are your views? how do we attempt transformation at the personal level, group level, Organizational level, and societal level? What types of interventions are most effective? Should cultural transformation interventions start at the individual level or group level or Societal level first ?? Should transformation at the societal level be created as a movement involving every individual at the grass route level or by Executive order from the top?? Should focus on such values begin at home? Do schools and teachers have a role in molding and setting appropriate cultural standards among young minds?? Should there be a political leadership or a minister given charge of behavioral transformation in our society??

Should HR and professional bodies take up the onus of bringing about cultural transformation ???

?The other day one of the HR professional groups was discussing animatedly the role of HR professionals in bringing about facilitating Organizational culture. This is appropriate, but for larger Societal changes, who would be able to help? Can Corporate Managers work along with local governments, administrations, schools, and parents to create campaigns to facilitate and bring about such changes?? ?Should CSR funds be used to bring about such cultural changes in our society??