Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson - In Love With Climate Solutions.

Ok, so admittedly I am very late to the game here. I finally have begun listening to and following the work of Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson , marine biologist, author, and co-founder of the non-profit think tank Urban Ocean Lab . HT to Professor Scott Galloway for having her on his pod recently.

Dr Johnson speaks like no other climate scientist I have ever heard. Calm, light, assured, with a presense in her voice as she unpacks the ways we can re-think about our own role, and act about the climate crisis. She describes herself as “not an optimist”, more a realist, scientist, and doesn’t sugar coat the place we are in, and the near future. But there is something so different in her way is talking about what is coming next for us. And while she talks about the upcoming tragedies, I feel a strange sense of optimism.

"So I find the best way to cope with this is to avoid dwelling on the terrifying scientific projections, and instead pivot quickly to solutions" - Dr Johnson, via her TED TALK

Now, I am no eco-warrior, but I try to do my part. And because of my role as a strategist, I have a pretty good collection of Venn diagrams. But the Climate Action Venn diagram that Dr. Johnson provides is possibly the most important one I have seen in recent years. What she did is something I have been thinking about for years, well, three or four years anyway - What can I do about the climate crisis. And it’s rather simple, and so obvious, which is most likely why I missed it.?She introduces the idea of Joy and the Japanese construct of Ikigai, or finding purpose.

The Climate Action Venn Diagram

"All too rarely are we asked to contribute our special talents, our superpowers, to climate solutions. And what a failing, for that would actually enable the radical changes we need. So, where do we each begin? Here is my best answer - a Venn diagram"

Like most Venn diagrams, the three overlapping circles are there to help answer three questions, and then find the overlap in this equation.

What am I good at?

This gets me thinking about what I can bring to the table. Me. Is it ideas, which I love? Is it my network, which is loaded with really smart people (like yourself, dear reader). Is it my experience as a strategist, a creative, a photographer, a speaker? Maybe it's my ability to see, through data, and find other ways of thinking...?

What brings me joy?

Circle two is the one that really surprised me. “What brings you joy?” Never have I ever thought about this when thinking about my role in the climate criss, and this is where I think Dr. Johnson’s diagram is so important. What brings me joy is also what gets me out of bed in the morning. It’s what lets me put my feet up at night, satisfied with a well fought day. I never thought about the climate fight, or my role in it, from a place of joy, or satisfaction, only “Fuuuuuuck, are we in for a world of hurt.” I get a rush out of finding answers, connecting dots, watching the light go on in people’s eyes when they see the things I see, even if it’s just in the earliest conceptual stages. And I love to tell stories, written and visual. So I write this into circle two. Not the Fuuuuuuck part, the other bits.

What work needs to be done?

Circle three is interesting. “What work needs to be done?” On the pod with Scott Galloway, she said the most profound thing I have ever heard in the climate discussion, and I am not sure why I haven’t heard this from someone, anyone before. (Well, profound for me, and I know that in my network, which has some pretty deep thinkers about climate and impact, you will be rolling your eyes right now with a DUH, expression…)

She references Jigar Shah , a Director at the US Dept of Energy… “We are always going to need a mix” of ideas, technologies, actions, interventions. There is not, and will never be, a small handful of solutions. One single approach to clean energy, one single approach to recycling, or carbon, or greenhouse gasses. We need variety and lots of it. Every idea or action that leads to some sort of reduction in some sort of metric is a good thing, additively. Every idea could lead to something great, big or small, as long as it leads forward. And Ideas are what I am great at, get excited about, and is needed in this space.

This simple statement - “We are always going to need a mix”, gives me hope, and gets me leaning in even more to my role in the climate crisis, whatever that may be. It gives me license to not be a chemical engineer, or a marine biologist, or environmental policy lobbyist, and still make a difference. It gives me permission to apply my strengths and my passions to pretty much anything and everything in the climate crisis equation. And it feels so different than when people tell you that if you manage your own household recycling, you will make a difference. It feels grander than that, bolder, more invigorating. And to be honest, it’s exactly what I needed to hear. (More on this later, and why it’s important)

What to do next.

Look, spend a few minutes with the Venn diagram. Ok, more than a few minutes. I am not suggesting you quit your job and become a climate crusader. Quite the opposite. But I would think you are in your current role because of the amazing thing, or things, that you bring to the table. Use that experience and expertise as a starting point to considering the diagram. When you finally get to that overlap, that trinity of talent, joy, and focus, you might just have a light bulb moment on doing more than splitting your household waste into two bins.?

"Averting climate catastrophes. This is the work of our lifetimes. - Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson"

Also listen to the pod. (Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/382kent6 orApple: https://tinyurl.com/39rnmdt4 ). Read her work . Watch the TED TALK . Buy her book "What If We Get It Right?", and read it, don't just stack it. Share your Venn diagram with me. I would be really interested to know what that middle overlap is, and maybe together we can find a way to fulfil that.?