Final Project Presentations and Reflections

Final Project Presentations

I found Catherine Carmichael’s presentation regarding her work with Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to be relevant to the work that I am doing at the Whistler Waldorf School. Her interactions and experiences seemed to be similar to mine in many aspects. Like Whistler Waldorf, WHOI is an institution that embraces environmental sustainability as a philosophy, as is reflected in its environmental oceanographic research, but does not sufficiently embrace environmentally sustainable practices. The disconnect between philosophy and practice is what makes our projects likely to be embraced by our organizations, and provides a strong foundation for us to build on. Catherine and I have little authority at our institutions and are not in leadership positions, so engaging key stakeholders was one of the most important early steps for both of us. Catherine was fortunate enough to be able to reinstate a defunct sustainability task force by including both former members and recruiting new ones, but while I am starting from scratch, I have strong support from key faculty, staff and parents who will embrace the idea of a sustainability task force at the school. We both appear to be breaking new ground at out organizations and so must take great care to foster positive relationships, and practice our communication and facilitation skills. What I appreciated most from Catherine’s project presentation, and would like to adopt for my own project, was the idea of creating standard monthly meetings to ensure continued engagement and communication between task force members, in an effort to explore and share new ideas. This will be a perfect fit for my zero-waste lunch program and further sustainable initiatives at the Whistler Waldorf School, and will help me practice and improve my meeting facilitation skills.

David Gibson’s project Stepping Back to Step Forward is one that I would like to continue to be updated on. His commitment to volunteerism and providing aid to underprivileged communities is humbling, and his ability to share his personal contributions and overarching vision with clarity of purpose and contagious enthusiasm is inspirational. I have no personal experience with working with underprivileged communities and am very interested in continuing to hear about his challenges and successes.

As an artist myself, I am also very interested in Karen Ogden’s project with respect to LED lighting in an art Gallery. I would love to follow her research on different bulbs and fixture combinations and how they effect initial and operating costs, as well as what seems to work well with paintings and framed photographs and the extent to which color represents accurately.

Reflections for the Next “Generation” of E117

The biggest shift in my understanding of what it is to be a change agent is the relationship between leadership and agency. Coming in to this course, it was my belief that a change agent was a leader who fearlessly fought to put their agenda in the forefront of their chosen organizations operation plans, but I have since learned that we are a gentle force, enticing others to follow our vision and to compliment our ‘true north’ with their own visions. An important lesson for me was to embrace the possibility of initiating change without ever receiving the credit for my work. It is a small but important lesson to learn, for when we release ourselves from any desire or expectation for personal reward in the form of recognition, we are able to focus on our true overall vision, and simply initiate change for the change alone, and open ourselves to possibilities that may never have revealed themselves otherwise.

In the beginning I felt as though my project was far too insignificant compared to those being undertaken by my classmates, and was skeptical that a small project was sufficient for the purpose of this course. I was happy to learn and to eventually experience that a small pilot project is perfectly suited for this course. Many classmates also initiated large projects that were equally suited. In the end, it is the experience of interacting with a community or members of an organization, facilitating meetings, exploring social dynamics and developing interpersonal communication skills that is at the core of this learning experience, with initiating environmentally sustainable change as the motivation. One aspect that surprised me was the length of time that is actually required to build momentum. I believed at the outset that my project would be easily implemented by the end of semester, only to learn later that it really won’t even begin until long after this course has ended. Instead the time was spent laying groundwork and engaging key supporters.

I enjoyed the social dynamics and interpersonal psychology aspects of the course. As a psychology student, and being particularly interested in the psychology of change, this course provided me with a unique opportunity to develop change agency skills, and apply them as well. There was a surprising amount of spiritual philosophy discussed throughout this course that was unexpected, but a welcome addition to a topic that aims to bring a certain level of consciousness to organizations that traditionally may not consider such things.

Another course concept that had an impact on me that I shared in our class review, but also feel it is important to include here, is the APT framework.  It outlined the simple fact that using a pilot project as a sub-goal within your overall vision is not only an acceptable practice, but in fact one of the best ways to ensure success and mitigate unwanted failures or dramatic losses; both financial losses, and social currency and ability to leverage relationships at a later date. But I see the APT framework as being something that can be applied in much more than just the sustainable growth of an organization, it extends to so many aspects of growth both organizationally and societally. In fact it can be distilled down to the individual level and applied towards one’s own personal growth goals; awake, pioneer, transform. That truly is how all lasting-change happens.

Progress Reports

Maria’s project

Maria has recognized that she has reached a pivotal point in her project, and has vocalized that she believes it is necessary to change her whole strategy in order to move forward. What is key here is that she is cognizant of the exact challenge that has surfaced; she must embrace a lower status position to alleviate any defensiveness that has taken root in her primary contact at her chosen institution.

I think that this, while obviously frustrating, is exactly the type of challenge we need to master as change agents. We must be able to reflect back to our contacts, the type of relationship they need to feel comfortable with. We have to be a kind of shape-shifter, able to match the energy of our champions and our adversaries, free of attachment to our own status or power, in order to progress forward with our overall vision. I think Maria has a wonderful opportunity to practice just that.

Maria indicated that she is concerned she has not been putting herself “in their shoes”, but I believe she has illustrated a capacity to do so by being sensitive to the internal relationships and social dynamics of her chosen institution. I believe she will continue to stretch her skill set in this regard as she experiments with power and status dynamics with respect to some of the key stakeholders.

She has shown great commitment to her project and has had no issues with initiating contact and meetings with management. Maria has proven to have an vast understanding of the social dynamic concepts we have studied in this course and will be applying them in a new and challenging way as she attempts to win back a champion that seems to have veered off course a bit. I am excited to see how her next meeting unfolds. My only suggestion would be to inquire on how “she” could get back on track with her contact’s overall sustainable vision, rather than suggesting in any way that he has veered off course from her original proposal. While it may indeed be a shift on his part, the inquiry framed as Maria wanting to find her way back into a synergistic relationship with her contact, may likely make him reflect on his own behavior and hopefully nudge him back toward a middle ground from which to start moving forward again. This is how I would proceed with the next meeting.

This shift in the manager’s behavior has uncovered the biggest barrier to change for Maria to help overcome. There is not yet an understanding within the institution that they have an unsustainable culture within the company that needs to be addressed before they can be empowered to better project that culture outwardly to their clients.

I feel that this attitudinal shift on the managers part has exposed a fear that may not have been visible before, so Maria has an exciting opportunity to craft a way to reduce the risk and fear of organizational change in order allow the company to break through their own sustainable limitations and project a confident sustainable framework for their clients to emulate.

 

Melissa’s Project

Melissa suggested that a clear challenge to the success of her project is “getting everybody together in a room” to do a residential building symposium, and hopefuly “getting [some sort of] consensus on going forward”. Everybody, referring to key stakeholders and champions that can help get this project off the ground. She feels that if only a few people show up, the project may be over before it starts, so garnering enough interest for people to engage at the introductory symposium level may be key to her overall success.

I have seen Melissa truly stretch herself with respect to letting go of ownership of the project and letting it grow organically, while still being intently involved in shaping its progress. This is not an easy task, but it is evident that she is up to the challenge. There will be many people trying to take ownership and credit of certain aspects of the project, and she is willing to let them have it as long as it does not endanger the overarching goal of a sustainable and educational space that can be used by the entire community.

Melissa is self motivating by nature, and has done an excellent job with her real world interaction. She indicated that she has re-discovered how few people actually meet or talk in person any more, and is seeing how effective that personal contact can be in both engaging others, and uncovering useful information that may otherwise have gone unshared. A great example is when she uncovered that there already are some sustainable projects going on within the community such as solar power at the landfill sight but it is not really being communicated to the public.

Melissa has discovered how powerful leveraging the support of one champion to engage others is. Using the support of the County Supervisor to engage an otherwise unresponsive town supervisor is a great example of her use of leverage, and a testament to her ability to identify key players within the community. This is exactly the type of social dynamics we discussed in detail at the residency and I am pleased  to hear of her success with this technique.

Melissa has also been able to refine her true north goal by letting detaching from a specific end-product, but retaining a goal of sustainable community space, in any community, in any space.

I feel that a valuable addition to her work that could be done at this point, is to obtain public and vocal support from one of the politicians she has engaged. This could really be the time to leverage even further to kick-start the public interest and support for a symposium.

I truly appreciated her final comment before she concluded her progress report. “Success for me will be measured by the public” she said, “they will demand the sustainability showcase so that people can have a mechanism in place to understand how to investigate new ideas, or an information center that says we looked at [these processes] and this is why they work, or why they don’t”. This is exactly the kind of ‘true north’ that this course has taught us to embrace within ourselves.

 

 Jon’s Project 

Through Jon, I had the chance to experience the frustration that can result from bureaucratic red tape.  This is Jon’s core challenge. But he refused to be stifled by it, and instead used it to refine his vision and truly begin to build a pilot program rather than a blanket reform. This is also where I see Jon has stretched himself. He said that he “learned about the question, when do you know when you’ve got success?” He answered this question with, “you learn you can simplify by getting a little support from key places, you can refine, reduce and focus to narrow it down, and only then can you go forward.”

Jon has big questions and big goals, and I have no doubt he can achieve them, but the narrowing of scope to four of Harvard’s schools has allowed him to start working on a more pilot project level, and I wonder if narrowing to just one school or even one department at first may offer some unseen advantages during the piloting process.

Jon has been impressive in his ability to approach Deans and Associate Deans, as well as directors of various schools within Harvard. He has proven his self initiative in arranging these meetings as well as being adaptive by ‘placing himself’ in front of their assistants at the right time to ask for spontaneous face-time. He has really been able to capitalize on the value of meeting with these key stakeholders.

Jon used active listening as one of his core strategies when meeting with people who are extremely busy and hold significant status and power. He always had every question prepared in advance, listened to their concerns, and followed up immediately with emails to reinforce some of the concepts discussed and to address any concerns. He further wants to investigate and engage students in any of Harvard’s green committees to help with social marketing of his pilot programs.

We discussed the value of perhaps approaching the Harvard Sustainability Department and begin to investigate if they have conducted any research in e-waste and hopefully engage and potentially leverage their support of the project. I think this could be a significant connection to make, and perhaps the next step I would encourage Jon to take.

Jon has asked some great questions such as “where do our computers go to die” and “what are we doing with e-waste, and what are the metrics we use to measure success?” This has spawned a fascinating investigation that can lead him in many as-of-yet undiscovered directions. He has recognized he is engaging with people who hold powerful positions, and have a high level of status within their organization. This provides him with an opportunity to refine his social dynamic skills, and, if successful, leverage that power and status to propel his pilot project to success in an effort to eventually solve the e-waste problem campus-wide.

Reflections on Backcasting

Part One

The backcasting activity is a very effective tool for illuminating areas of the project that need extra attention in contrast to those that seem to be moving along organically.  When completing the task, I was able to see a clearer picture of some of the possible roadblocks that require specific focus. For example, I will have to focus my attention on the details associated with year round composting in a region that receives an average yearly snowfall of upwards of 39 feet, and winter temperatures below 12 degrees Fahrenheit. I have to ensure sufficient and reliable composting facilities are on site in order to adequately deal with food that is not consumed.

The activity also brought to light many new ideas, which revealed themselves as I worked through each exercise. One of these new ideas is to provide each family with a zero-lunch-waste pledge, that they are to sign, outlining their commitment to the challenge. This will help solidify support and each family’s commitment, as well as provide opportunities for feedback and dialogue.

Another idea that revealed itself was a possibility of getting a local market involved, creating a section or endcap that provides the full home-portioning lunch kit for families, and ensuring a good assortment of bulk–buy items specifically selected with the lunch program in mind. This would be a great opportunity to involve local media, and having the support of our local market would help parents with the transition.

Part Two

I think one of the key factors in making this a success is getting a pledge drafted and signed by families as mentioned above. This, combined with an official policy regarding lunch waste could really go a long way in ensuring the longevity of the project and creating a model that can be rolled out at other educational institutions later.

The parents are key to making this project a success, so providing a sufficient presentation prior to the pledge being presented to them is paramount. I will have to make sure they have adequate information regarding current waste production, and how we are going to get to ‘goal zero-waste’, by ensuring they have access to affordable alternatives to pre-packaged food.

I think any blindspots have now been uncovered with respect to this issue. By beginning a dialogue with a local market, I may be able to find a way to have a specific area within the store, to aide parents in their shopping decisions.

I still have work to do with regards to engaging the champions of this project, being the high school aged students, and I intend on having a detailed meeting with them next week. Essential faculty and administration members are in full support of the spirit of the project, so after I have met with the students we will present our final outline of what is required to the appropriate administrative personnel.

While this project will require some alterations of shopping habits and some initial minor investment in portioning materials by each individual stakeholder, this is less of a financial project than a behavioral one. Institutional investment and resource capital is not required for the success of this program for anything other than a composting program. Faculty has already expressed to me that an adequate composting program has been on the school’s radar for quite some time and would love to see it become a reality. Once I have established the costs associated with composting in our climate, I will approach administration to see if there is a budgeting allowance for this, or if a fundraising event will be required.

Residency Reflections – Blog Assignment #1

I expected and had planned for a full day of rest and recuperation after travelling and working at such a pace as was required for the residency portion of the ENVR E-117 course. I assumed I would sleep-in late and have a tough time getting to work the following morning. But that was not the case at all. After finally arriving home and getting to bed at 2am, I could barely squeeze 5 hours of sleep in until I was up and wandering around the house looking for something to do. I was lost. I wanted to be getting ready to come to class and get the discussions started. I actually missed the mind-numbing slides and thinking, as we flew through them, “oh-oh.. this is going to hurt come exam time”. I expected to be wiped out, but instead I was energized, realizing and remembering that, peppered across the globe, there are people well into their pledge to leave there environment a little better than they found it, inspiring myself and others to do the same.

The portions of the course that easily resonated with me pertained to the psychological and social aspects, as well as some of the eastern philosophies that managed to work their way into the lectures and discussions about how to hold the space for ideas to bloom rather than force something to grow inorganically, which, in essence correlates with my ideas and mission as a change agent.

One of the topics that came to light over the three-day residency was how important it is to recruit champions for my cause, rather than carrying the burden of implementing change from a leadership standpoint. It was even suggested that sometimes you can do such a good job as an agent of change, that the stakeholders may not even know that the project was your idea to begin with. This was homologous to my particular project, as I had already considered the idea that zero-lunch-waste program would be designed as a student-run initiative, rather than a top-down directive from the organization itself.  The importance of this step in my project management has now been fully grasped, thanks to my time at the residency.  I have now identified that the change required for this program is very much a behavioral one that requires participation from the entire organization, rather than one of infrastructure, where change could be successfully implemented without full engagement from the stakeholders. This realization, I have learned, will also force me to examine how to engage people with differing backgrounds, beliefs and biases, rather than simply presenting the cost-benefits approach to proposing the project.

Another realization that this residency had brought to light, was how scalable a project like mine is. It can be implemented as a pilot project for one class, scaled to the entire school, and then rolled out as a program for the municipality, school district and beyond. The feedback and overall consensus from my peers at the residency was clear. “When you’ve ironed out the bugs let me know and we can roll it out in my town.” The thought that the zero-waste-lunch program could have positive implications that reach far beyond the lunch-boxes of my family and friends is inspiring to say the least, and will force me to always consider the scalability of every move we make, while the students and I unpack the information required to make this idea a reality. I realize now that this project is not just about changing the waste produced by one small group of students at lunch time, but instead about changing the way they and their families perceive their impact as consumers, altering what they accept as appropriate packaging, and shedding new light on what can be considered wasteful disregard.

In closing, I just want to reflect on something Ulrich said in passing to me a couple of times. While I know was meant as a sentiment rather than a statement of fact, it resonated with my overall belief of what is required at my organization, and what I believe is possible to achieve. He said, “In Zurich we don’t talk about becoming green, you don’t hear the word any more, we just are.”  I have decided to keep that as my guiding philosophy as I approach this and every other sustainable project in the future. I aim to foster an environment in which ‘green’ is our natural state of being, rather than an ideology that requires a sales pitch.