Sunday 12 June 2011

Is it time to be unreasonable?

Two of my heroes are Muhammad Yunus, perhaps the greatest living social entreprenuer, and John Elkington, the originator of the Triple Bottom Line concept, so it will come as no surprise to you that my recommended reading includes books by both.

In Elkington’s case his co-author is Pamela Hartigan, who at the time of writing was the Managing Director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. The book is The Power of Unreasonable People. I highly recommend it to you. It contains many examples of co-builders of our new world. As a result of reading it I have decided to become more unreasonable.

In Yunus’ Creating a world without poverty he introduces the concept of social businesses. The book is full of great insights, inspiration, and ideas.

I was inspired by Yunus’ wish list for his dream world, for it describes beautifully how I see our new world. Here is my shortened in part version of Mr Yunus’ list:

There will be no poor people, no beggars, no homeless people, no street children

There will be no passports and no visas

There will be no war, no war preparations, and no military establishments

There will be no incurable diseases

There will be a global education system accessible to all from anywhere in the world

The global economic system will encourage sharing of prosperity. Unemployment and welfare will be unheard of

Social business will be a substantial part of the business world

There will only be one global currency

All people will be committed to a sustainable lifestyle

There will be no discrimination of any kind

There will be no need for paper and therefore no need to cut down trees

Basic connectivity will be wireless and nearly costless

All cultures, ethnic groups, and religions will flourish to their full beauty and creativity

All people will share a world of peace, harmony, and friendship


I am an idealist and a dreamer and proud to be both. I am also a pragmatist. I am doing my bit everyday to co-build a new world. Our current world still has much about it that is broken as the recent financial crisis has vividly demonstrated.

How unreasonable are you being? Are you a real difference maker?

The good news, as the above mentioned books and the others I recommend clearly show, there are many co-builders of our new world.

Soon we will reach a tipping point and finally be able to assign the old world to the history books, perhaps a museum as Yunus suggests, as a reminder that greed, lack of accountability, fools in positions of power, war as a solution to our challenges, and other hallmarks, should never happen again. We have screwed up big time economically, emotionally, environmentally, and spiritually, and the time has come for ordinary people to stand up and take extraordinary action.

Are you a co-builder of our new world or are you hanging onto the old one by your fingertips?

Is it time to be unreasonable?


Please download my list of the top 21 books I recommend you read here.

My full list is here.

My own written contribution is my book Changing What's Normal which contains 58 sparkenations to change yourself, your relationships, and your organisation.
I created 'sparkenation' to describe a spark that ignites passion that leads to action that changes what's normal

You can purchase my book and 24/7 access to the companion online vault that contains downloadable files, references, links, tools, tips, techniques, templates, for just $30 here if you buy before 18th June.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community
The Change Master™ - catalyst for changing what’s normal inside organisations for the good of people, our planet, and for profit.

Sign-up here for my monthly changing what’s normal newsletter, and get your complimentary copy of my ebook Differencemakers - how doing good is great for business

No comments: