HER LEED

I never considered myself fortunate to live in what has been coined earthquake country. In 1989 the Bay Area shook and rolled to a 7.0 magnitude quake during rush hour traffic.  Buildings swayed, many collapsed, the Bay Bridge and adjacent freeways failed and some 60 people lost their lives.  But the quake that so many of us experienced and can still tell you where we were when it happened, did not cause the same level of devastation that Haiti is experiencing after their 7.0 shaker.

From the banking crisis and bailout to the worst recession since the great depression, America has certainly been in the spotlight as a failing empire.  For all our faults, at least we are a country that has an infrastructure.

Why Haiti’s destruction occurred comes from the fringes of faith and science. Evangelical Pat Robertson said that the Haitians had it coming and should not have made a pack with the devil.  Actor Danny Glover postulated that science points to more frequent and severe natural disasters as a factor of global warming.

Whatever school of thought you buy into, we as a nation haven’t been in a situation where we had to pull ourselves out of misery just to get back to poverty.

Why we flourish while others parish is not a result of faith or science, it’s geography, natural resources and the distribution of wealth that has reinforced our infrastructure.

As money and aid flow into Haiti we see their suffering displayed daily in our news media and we are reminded that these human beings live in a different earthquake country.  How long will it be before we forget?  I check the news everyday to assure myself the that the media still rates this story as above the fold.

Money and aid will lift many people out of misery but it will not buy them an infrastructure made for earthquake country.

The first Monday of the year 2010 was not the glorious day that my imagination had invented.  My two-hour job search led to nothing but frustration and the realization that the only thing that had changed was the calendar year and my perception of what that meant as a job seeker.

The President continually speaks of the jobs that will be created through energy efficient upgrades but so far he has been unable to will it into existence through his words.  My home state of California is faced with a 20 billion dollar deficit and a request for federal aid to rescue its failing social services means that there may soon be more government workers trolling for jobs.

We, the recession refugees, are left to wander and click through job sites and wait in various states of economic insecurity as the market stumbles along.  I for one have grown weary of the constant talk of job creation and my hope is that as oil prices reach $80 a barrel our society, which is motivated by cash and consumables, will be shocked by scarcity and employers and innovators will get the incentives they need to put the motivated and capable back to work.

Until some form of crisis strikes the pocketbook or the homeland, I expect that I will be perusing job sites into the unforeseeable future.  Optimism, the attitude of entry into this year 2010 has been tested in its first week.  Yet this is the place I choose to stand.  Like the President who believes his rhetoric in the face of enormous opposition, so too must we, the recession refugees believe in ourselves.

As part of an NPR prime time commute segment, I was subjected to over a half hour of silliness.  From George Stephanopoulous’ move to Good Morning America to a chef’s “must have” perfect cookie maker (apparently it measures the cookie dough for you, so that the little morsels cook evenly).

Meanwhile the real news is also absurd but unfortunately, real.  China’s top climate negotiator was denied access into the International Climate Summit; an over-site that China’s deputy head negotiator, Su Wei, calls ‘unacceptable’ and ‘intolerable’. Let’s hope that China’s position to greenhouse gas emissions doesn’t have other nations mumbling the same thing.

The most solution oriented story this week comes from environmental entrepreneur Nicholas Eisenberger who proposed carbon negative options as a conversation starter in Copenhagen.  Action; the operative word that takes time to implement is really at the crux our climate issue and discussing, negotiating and ultimately cooperating the actions that slow results to a crawl. Until the constant barrage of ego stroking, posturing and hubris diminishes, than I’m afraid the only solution we will see is acquiring an evenly baked cookie!

In this new economy there seems to be one type of worker in two scenarios; those who are wearing multiple hats, juggling several assignments at a frenetic pace and those who are doing the same exact things but aren’t getting paid for it.  Volunteering in a down job market has many rewarding aspects, it allows you to test drive an industry and its process.  It’s an opportunity to contribute and be creative.  This form of  involuntary entrepreneurship can open many doors into a world of consulting.  The employer is grateful but often wears a look that says, it’s a pity we can’t pay you.

As we stumble back to life from the global financial meltdown, large oligopolies will continue to be a major influence on setting the price of goods but their customers are more educated after being swindled by an unregulated market, and they’re demanding that corporations behave more responsibly.

As illustrated by Jared Diamond three of the biggies: Wal-mart, Coco-Cola and Chevron are taking on sustainable business practices.  They are listening to their customers and are implementing more adaptive business models where social goals are taken into account along side of business and economic goals. In essence, they are replacing the bankrupt ideology of  profit-at-any-cost with a whole systems approach to capitalism.

That the whole is more than the sum of its parts is not a new concept but application of this simple observation is often over-looked by professionals focused on their tasks at hand without pause to take in the larger picture.

A model of consulting that begins with a systems approach will continue to gain momentum in the coming year. Specialization in multiple areas and personalized service will still distinguish the leaders, but now, just like volunteer workers, consultants too need to be motivated just to contribute.

The great recession, as its been called, has the 12% unemployed in California jockeying for a competitive advantage; small business owners have to make those painful choices of who will stay on the payroll, while they take whatever work is rewarded regardless of conditions. Too much bad news can cause a person to feel like nothing more than a pawn in a game controlled by somebody else.

Understanding that there is a cyclical nature to our economy can be hard to remember when these holidays of consumption roll toward us, but gratitude for the opportunity to connect with others puts things in perspective.

At a party I attended Saturday evening, a gentlemen that had my ear during dinner reminded me that every conversation is an opportunity.  So many of us who read blogs about environmental protection and preservation have a shared belief that it is only through collaborative effort that momentous change can occur.  Those conversations that have happened or have yet to will be the force that moves our sustainability goals forward.

As my former professor Robert Reich reminded me last week, we, the educated, innovative, thinkers will have a place when capital flows back into the system, until then, “be patient.”