Communicating Sustainability... it's a journey

It's 4:45 am and I just opened my eyes.

I should have got up fifteen minutes ago but my body decided against it.

Outside is light already, which helps.

I brew myself an espresso with one eye closed, switch on my computer and the day starts.

I'm a woman of discipline. That's what I do well. When I commit to something and I think it's necessary, if I say I'll wake up at 4:30 (ish) am to write, I do it.

This morning I've done the same. A couple of weeks ago I picked up from its ashes the idea of a book focused on a practical method to communicate sustainability.

I'm convinced we don't need new technologies or the carbon-sucking devices of tomorrow. We just need to bring people on board what we have right now. The solutions that we have already developed, the methods and paradigms we already know work to save ourselves from climate collapse.

How?

By communicating well the advantages, the urgency, the consequences of a sustainable shift. Technical sustainability experts are generally more in love with data than people - forgive me for putting everyone in the same pot - and that means they might not be great at communicating its advantages beyond:

"Isn't it obvious??"

So this is why the world of sustainability needs this book.

I have been in this industry long enough to have seen patterns of behaviour repeating endlessly, and I think I have found a way to overcome the barriers and communicate the sustainability message so that it gets heard.

It's based less on technical bits and bobs, and more on collaboration and emotional intelligence.

But mostly, I realised it's a journey.

This morning I spent one and a half hours mind-mapping the elements of the influencing and communication method that will be the backbone of the book.

That's the beauty of mind mapping: it generates more ideas than you can ever imagine. The last thing that popped into my mind as a consequence of mind mapping was the connection between the GROW coaching model (Goal/Reality/Options/Way Forward) and communicating sustainability. I didn't set out to make that connection. It happens via this wonderful method.

And it made me realise it's a journey.

You can't start a date with a marriage proposal, and in the same way, you cannot influence others to buy into your ideas by just blurting them out to people, who very likely do not share the same values as you.

It's about investing the time and effort to build the relationship and trust, understanding at a deep level who you got in front of you and why they behave in a certain way, working through the obstacles and establishing a way forward.

Now back to the rest of the day...

and if you want to follow me as I develop this book and its ideas, click the bell next to my name and (hopefully) you'll get notified when I post something...

Until next time, my friend.