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People
While much of the sustainability work has focused on technical solutions,
the most significant barriers to sustainability are social. We have included
resources to assist those who are interested in understanding how human
behavior figures into the triple bottom line of economy, ecology, and
society.
Peter M. Senge, et. al., The
Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, Currency/Doubleday, 1994. - This book
is a great resource, and has a really good section on Mental Models, which
are the images, assumptions, and stories we carry in our minds about ourselves,
other people, and every aspect of the world. We use them to make sense
of complexity, and like a pane of glass framing and subtly distorting
our vision, mental models determine what we see. Human beings cannot navigate
through the complex environments of our world without cognitive maps,
and all of these mental maps, by definition, are flawed in some way.
Malcolm Gladwell, The
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Little,
Brown & Co., 2000. - A short and engaging introduction to what it takes
to get an idea to tip that helps us understand how social fads go from
fringe to mainstream. Explains the archetypes that drive culture. If this
book is interesting but leaves you with more questions than answers, then
follow it up with the Diffusion of Innovations.
Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion
of Innovations, Free Press, 1995. - So how do you spread a new
idea? This book is a sobering and comprehensive survey of the factors
at play in diffusing innovation. Competitive advantage is not enough to
get your idea to tip. Read this book if you want to learn more about compatibility,
trialability, affordability, observability. Start with the case studies
to get momentum.
Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey, How
The Way We Talk Can Change The Way We Work, Jossey-Bass, 2001.
- This short and helpful book delves right into the gray territory of
human interaction and provides a methodology for revealing contradictory
beliefs, explaining some of the complexity of human behavior.
Jeffrey Pfeffer, The
Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First, Harvard
Business School Press, 1998. - An example that touches upon all cost dimensions
associated with workplace conditions is the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California,
a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota. Begun in 1982, NUMMI
was the first joint venture of its kind, run according to Japanese manufacturing
principles that emphasize teams, employee involvement and inventory reduction.
The results were quite staggering: compared with the original GM plant,
NUMMI experienced a 48% increase in productivity per employee and a similar
reduction in defects, as well as drastically reduced legal costs.
Doug McKenzie-Mohr and William Smith, Fostering
Sustainable Behavior, New Society Publishers, 1999. - If you want
to put together a campaign, this book is a must read. Provides a clear
guide for how to create a successful campaign, and an introduction to
community-based social marketing. Also see related web site, http://www.cbsm.com
George Orwell, Animal
Farm, Signet Classic, 1996. - Originally published in 1946, George
Orwell's fable of a workers' revolution gone wrong is a nearly perfect
piece of writing, both an engaging story and an allegory that actually
works. The story elegantly reveals the challenges of educating large groups
of people and the pitfalls of a "revolution" where "everything"
changes.
"Illuminating the Blind Spot." http://www.dialogonleadership.org/WhitePapertoc.html
- This paper summarizes the insights of leading thinkers on the topic
of effective leadership for current conditions. Use the paper to introduce
yourself to the site, which is a rich resource.
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