Change Hearts

Be careful of the "grown ups." Seriously. They think they have figured it out. Be careful of anyone who claims to have figured it out.

Now think about it, when have you changed?

How have you changed?

What made you change?

It was either trauma or epiphany. It was either a broken heart or a flood of love and light. Our hearts change, then we change. We become more open or we become more afraid. And that's how we move ahead. We are either hopeful or hobbled by mistrust.

I voted for Bernie Sanders, but this to me is not about him. I am inspired by how Bill McKibben' speaks of  change when looking at the presidential campaign:

These pundits couldn't be more wrong about where change comes from. And neither could Hillary Clinton. Here's how she put it a few months ago, backstage at a tense and fascinating little confrontation with Black Lives Matter activists:

"I don't believe you change hearts. I believe you change laws, you change allocation of resources, you change the way systems operate."

That sounds sensible, grown-up, wise. It's what Washington pundits always say -- they said it over and over again when we launched, say, the fight to stop the Keystone pipeline. But in fact it's completely backwards.

Change comes precisely when you do change hearts -- and once that change has come, then the laws and the "allocation of resources," and the "way systems operate" follow pretty easily.

Much like McKibben I too believe that there are times when good managers are needed. There are times to stay to course. Not our times. These are times for leadership. True leadership is about places where we have not gone before. Visionary leadership is what leads to breakthrough.

I am all for sober rigor. But rigor in the context of creative experimentation, of trying things that have not been done before. I am not looking for technical change. I am looking for adaptive change. Adaptive change happens at the level of values, beliefs and assumptions. Adaptive change stirs the heart. It is fueled by our passion. It opens our minds and the will of our hands.

It doesn't get more real than this. The species can crash or the species can leap. Evolutionary Leadership is what we need.