Diagnosing a F(l)ailing Movement

After 2+ decades of creating transformation across 6 continents, my most common brief is diagnosing why change falls short of expectations or outright fails. I invite you to join me for a mini-series that conducts a “wellness check” on the global green movement!My last post addressed how one can build a movement that changes the world, aka the “holy grail” of all the change/transformation buzz and a two-sided coin: knowing how to build an effective movement from scratch allows us to troubleshoot an existing one. Applying all this theory to an actual movement will also, I hope, help ground what can otherwise be rather complex and esoteric content.Why now?On September 20, I have the honor of helping Jason McLennan — the Founder of The Living Building Challenge and a remarkable transformation leader — deliver the Death & Life of Green Building Movement Summit on Bainbridge Island, WA. While the afternoon will focus on “where to from here,” we’ve designed the morning a bit like the “morbidity and mortality” conferences that medical doctors and researchers use to accelerate experiential learning. Given that designing, launching, and scaling transformational change is why most of you subscribe to this Substack, I thought we could deepen this reflection around the world if I extended my insight beyond the 50-odd people joining the summit itself. Image credit: Gerd Altmann from PixabayWhat is the green building movement?Human history is increasingly that of altering the natural environment. While indigenous people tended to acknowledge and honor their symbiosis with the land, industrialization threw all that to the wind because we could extract, build, pollute, import, and move on as needed.The “green building” movement has been reimagining our built environment — the buildings, homes, roads, bridges, and all the dug, paved, and planted things that connect them — in an effort to bring this run-away dynamic into harmony with our planet. In its scope, the green building movement directly affects the real estate, construction, utilities (energy, water, and waste), and professional services industries (especially the design professions). However, it is hard to imagine a sector it does not touch, be that education, healthcare, transport, agriculture, or even fast-moving consumer goods.4 variables define a transformational movementTransformational movements are not the same. So, how do we begin matching strategies that might work? I’d like to share with you the four criteria I have developed over two decades of this work; criteria that allows me to broadly qualify what kind of movement I’m dealing with. * Timeframe – Y/NSome movements are time-bound. Whatever movement you activate is fueled by and useful within its built-in expiry date. If you only have until such a date to sell enough product for a cause, there’s a deadline. Same with elections. No.While there have been milestones, the green building movement is not time-bound.* Outcome – Y/N Some movements are outcome-bound. Rights to vote. Curing cancer. Halting climate change. Movements like these might tie themselves to milestones, but results are the only thing that ultimately matters. A lay person often knows whether they’ve succeeded or not.Yes.However, the green building movement hasn’t effectively articulated its goals.* Targeted impact – out of 10 While some movements target a contained issue, others aim to reimagine global systems of power, information, and material flows.10 / 10Given how prolific buildings and infrastructure are, the green building movement targets profound change at every level of nearly every system in the world. No small feat!* Number of disparate people required – out of 10Some movements can be accomplished by a single person or a small, committed band. Other movements demand the expertise, influence, and behavioral change from people unlikely to even meet outside of such a movement.10 / 10The global green building movement is as complex as it gets: to make a meaningful difference, regulators, consumers, and everybody adjacent and in between needs to act in alignment.The next post has come out! It identifies what is and isn’t working in favor of the global green building movement across the three vital dynamics of transformation: catalytic, nurturing, and recalibrating. Changemakers’ Substack is an audience-supported publication. To access all posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit changemakershandbook.substack.com/subscribe