Quagma: Blog posts

Impact Two - Leadership
Sunday, January 24, 2010 06:55 PM

"One person can make a difference..." - John F. Kennedy.

Undoubtedly, we've all debated this quote at one time or another. It's not profound, and it's not insightful. It may be inspiring. But is it true?

Of course it's true. Martin Luther King Jr. Mahatma Gandhi. Isaac Newton. And "difference" doesn't necessarily imply "good". Hitler. Julius Caesar. Osama bin Laden.

The question, we instead derive, is "Can I make a positive difference?" And I do contend, JFK's perspective holds true.

It seems magnitude is the largest deterrent in believing the power of our own decisions. Neglecting extremism, individual impact is questioned; the ability to develop the morals of one person or impact the nickles and dimes of one company's bottom line seems isolated. However I would contend individual impact makes more difference than measurable, and perhaps noticeable; as the true magnitude of impact is driven through influence and education. And I would further contend there are effectively three levels of impact we can all provide, each important, to grow a movement from a good idea to a global change. These levels include Doing, Influencing, and Perpetuating.

Doing
Any change requires action. If one dislikes the way a particular gas company, food distributor, or news syndicate operates, he or she can make numerous decisions to support or combat them. A person can choose which vendors to patronize, to whom to write commentaries, and how to vote. In the age of social technology, options to "side with the good guys" increase exponentially. Impact is essentially delivered by "doing"; hopefully aggregated by many people "doing".

Influencing
While "doing" provides the impact, any single person may perceive little ability to make a global change. It may take years, in my case 30, to truly realize the importance of organics and locally-grown food. What about the majority of folks who don't perform the same research, who can't contribute more of their money towards food, or who simply don't care or even agree? Any single person can easily be overshadowed by a majority.

If "doing" provides the fundamentals for impact, then "influencing" provides the ability to aggregate that impact. All the books and websites in the world won't end up changing the way we run our lives. Instead, the second level of impact provides the groundwork for helping people turn into "do'ers". Influencing includes educating friends, family, co-workers, whomever appropriate on the impact you're trying to achieve; in other words, promoting change. Choosing to buy gas from Station B instead of Station A is important; getting others to understand why it's important to buy gas from Station B instead of Station A further develops that importance and influence.

Perpetuating
A cause fueled by "doing" may go far, and one that includes a contingent that influences do'ers may build the momentum to go even further. However, how does change continue to grow once those providing influence stop? How does change grow at an exponential-enough rate to provide true impact?

Perpetuation. It's a matter of educating people who will in turn educate others. Or perhaps more accurately, educating people who will educate others to educate. It's leading by creating leaders. In the end, most ideas seem to fail because those pushing change end up running out of steam. To change the way we live, we need to create the ability to perpetuate not just the steam, but the engine.

Martin Luther King changed the world through perpetuation. He didn't solely manage the civil rights movement, he inspired others to lead, and in turn, inspire their own leaders (who in turn inspired their own leaders, and so on).

A change that misses perpetuation will probably end, and a change that doesn't include "doing" has no aggregate impact. However a change that leverages the powers of these three levels has no ceiling.

I make this distinction not to belittle the impact of those who change their own lives, but rather to reinforce the impact and longevity of their decisions. Most notably, if you're in fact "doing", you may realize you're influencing others as well. And perhaps, those folks may be in-turn influencing others, perpetuating your cause. Never underestimate the interest of others in making a difference, nor your or their abilities to spread the difference. And while your decision to buy fair trade coffee probably makes more of an impact than you may realize, telling your friends why it's important to buy fair trade coffee may perpetuate a chain of education that aggregates to a big difference, without you ever having to realize the positive change you just made by striking up a conversation, buying someone a book, or joining a Facebook group.

Posted by Tom in category Everyday Life.
Tags: Impact, Doing, Influencing, Perpetuating, Leading, Fair Trade

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