Where is all the wealth?

A healthy world would undoubtedly have sufficient resources to feed every person, to provide health care and to give each individual a decent living. But success continues to elude the global community.

The situation of poverty in many countries is deplorable and expecting impoverished countries to get themselves out of poverty is an extremely unlikely scenario simply because there is a causal loop. Poverty removes the possiblity of adequate education, health care and proper nutrition for billions. Each of these factors reduces the probability that children of the next generation will have incomes sufficient to allow them to pay taxes. WIthout taxes, the governments are unable to pay back billions in loans that have accumulated over the years. While they strive to provide security and a minimal form of governance, they are saddled with crippling  interest payments on loans of prior generations.

How should wealth be re-distributed?

Many, throughout decades have called upon the World Bank to cancel the loans and the World Bank has refused arguing that it could not based on its own  laws. If the World Bank is unable to cancel the loans, and donor nations seriously want to help, they must give sufficient amounts to help the countries pay off their loans. But donor nations themselves are also struggling with debt, leading back to the original question, where is all the wealth?

It occurred to me that the one place where wealth accumulates is with families in the upper echelon of society. When we think about the reality that being born into this life is a random process, there is no one individual who deserves to be born into wealth any more than another. As such, the passing of wealth to new generations gives an unfair advantage to those who were lucky enough to be born into wealthy families. While ensuring the future of our children is a reasonable goal, it is in no one’s best interest to have vast accumulations for some while other starve.

Some families recognize this injustice and choose to create trusts through which the money is redistributed to charitable causes. This is laudable and a reasonable form of monetary redistribution. However, for those that choose to keep the money in their families, the following generations continue to be advantaged in every way and the money and wealth continues to accumulate in the form of stocks, bonds, businesses and properties. But children of the wealthy aren’t any more deserving than the poorest child.

Should extreme amounts wealth be allowed to pass from one generation to the next? Is this fair?

While it may not be politically popular with the few that have unearned wealth passed to them, or those who have vast amounts that they wish to pass to their children through inheritances, it seems fitting that some share of inherited wealth should be used to create a more equitable life for all children. Redistribution through higher estate taxes would be one of the fairest forms of taxation to raise money. Once a person has lived their life and has had a fair and reasonable opportunity to use the wealth they’ve earned, it seems only fair that more of the money should be re-distributed after their passing.  Funds raised in this way could then be used to meet current donor commitments to impoverished nations.

This would benefit the greater good both within a country and and globally.

While I’m not necessarily suggesting that every family be subject to the same percentage tax, it would be reasonable in the case of estates in the billions to be heavily taxed after each generation has passed. Exemptions could be made in the event that a Charitable Trust has been formed, provided that such trust are confirmed to be genuine. By passing more of the assets of wealthy individuals back to the state, a redistribution of wealth would be possible and donor countries could then begin to look at increasing their commitments to impoverished states to the degree necesssary to meet the Millenium Development Goals. Similarly, it would also be reasonable to formalize legal liabilities for nations to ensure the redistribution from one nation to another to ensure that no country suffers excessive poverty while others benefit.

At very least, it would be interesting to model this approach of wealth redistribution to see how it might impact society as a whole. Far from making countries or people worse off, it is has been proven that equitable wealth distribution benefits rich and poor alike. (Click to see a TED video on inequity)

One might look at donor money as priming the pump of an economy. As long as there is insufficient money in the economy, it is unable to effectively create its own wealth. Insisting on payments of past debt cuts off the priming impact of donor money.

Other possibilities exist.

If the World Bank is unable to cancel the loans, then perhaps they might at least consider cancelling all interest and payments for several generations, long enough for these societies to recover. Once an economy is producing sufficient income through taxation it may be able to pay its debt.

Assessments have also identified tax evation by multinationals as being a major drain on poor nations. Global regulation of multinatoinals needs to ensure proper distribution of taxes to the various countries as well as maintaining standards for environmental sustainability and the rights of workers. (Click here for more information)

The issue of Governance and Corruption

While it may be true that impoverished nations have governance challenges, one might question the source of such challenges. If a police officer, responsible for enforcing laws, is unable to earn a living wage, how can they be expected to do their job? If they are hungry, how will they be able to make sound decisions and keep their emotions in check? While corruption is far from desirable, its likelihood increases when survival is threatened. The sooner the underlying causes of poverty are addressed, the more likely that corruption will be minimized.

Since arriving here, I have also had the great privilege of participating with and offering my assistance to a wonderful organization called Partners for Prosperity which I’ll speak more about later and provide a link to for those who are interested in learning more.

It is said that when you set an intention, pray to God, and put your intention out to the world, in some mysterious way it the world assists you to achieve your goals. For me, my personal goal in life is this; that in my work and in my personal activities, in my building of relationships with people of capacity (and all have capacity), in my prayers and in the depths of my soul, that my focus may continue to be on bridging gaps in understanding; between people and organizations, between countries and leadership, between those who find themselves in conflict who are unable to resolve issues on their own, between those who are privileged in the material sense and those who, though needing assistance, share their own wisdom and the hope of a peaceful and prosperous world, between those who believe the world is crashing down with issues related to sustainability and those who see the marvelous possibilities of the future. My efforts to connect with business, community and religious leaders, my personal studies which range from social and economic development to research papers on practical application of high tech solutions to current human challenges, my future aspirations of a Masters Degree in Human Security and Peace building, my recent visit to Vietnam and my earlier visit to India to develop business relations and link foreign opportunities with North American businesses, my keynote presentations to various organizations on developing a culture of Sustainability, my service on various Non-Profit boards aimed at building business, spiritual and community capacity, my aspirations of sharing knowledge and learning through my services, my work with organizations aimed at building a culture of learning and development of leadership capacity, my continued goal of linking those who are involved in business and community leadership and those who are involved in social development, my desire to connect good hearted privileged individuals with those who would benefit from their assistance; all these efforts are aimed at developing human capacity and building a more peaceful and prosperous world. 

My intention is to continue learning, growing and sharing by offer my services (keynotes, workshops, facilitation, training, building connections and coaching) to business, community and social development leaders, or anyone else who would like better understand the forces that are shifting a rapidly evolving world, whether they share in this vision of the world or are simply curious and want to gain a greater understanding from my experience and the experience of the many people that I’ve met along the way.

Now that my own intentions are “out there”, I’ll say a little more about Partners for Prosperity.

Partners for Prosperity is an organization the is in the business of building partnerships. Whenever a need is perceived, be they local or overseas, Partners for Prosperity begins the process of engaging their growing list of partners who are able to share expertise, learning, experience, material goods, and, in some cases, funding. Partners for Prosperity isn’t just another NGO or Charity. They are somehow a little different than any organization I’ve seen before. They’re like glue to Social Development in the world.

They see a very specific need in development. There are literally hundreds of thousands of aid organizations in the world who are spending billions of dollars; funds which are provided by government and business partnerships, but which often end up in “traditional” aid efforts. In other words, the organizations fly in, do their work, consume their funds and eventually leave. As much as their work is necessary and valued by the recipients, it often leaves the beneficiaries in a situation, which though better off than before, have little in the means of capacity for creating a sustainable future. They end up dependent on future aid.

Partners for Prosperity seeks to build capacity of the aid recipients so that they are able to support themselves.

How do they do this? They find organizations who have a very specific approach which are already building capacity on the ground, who have specific experience in developing the local skills and talents. These organizations are deeply involved in educating people not only from a material perspective but from a whole life perspective, building intellectual, spiritual, emotional and material capacities used in community development and infrastructure, agricultural development, commerce and business development. Once they find organizations who are successfully building the capacities of local people and communities, they find out what their needs are and then look for other partners who might benefit from supporting them and who will also benefit by learning from them. They facilitate the conversation, share knowledge through providing direct connections, hold conferences on building capacity and venture out to find new projects, new partnerships and new opportunities for sharing experience. Partners for Prosperity is like glue that helps social development organizations to become less necessary and more beneficial by helping the local communities to become more self sufficient. If you want to contribute to a long lasting solution, either financially or by offering skills, services, expertise or material goods, Partners for Prosperity may be one of your best choices.

Please share this article and blog site with friends, family, business associates, community members and others you feel might benefit.

All the best,

Garth Schmalenberg
http://hbi-leadership.com

Among the many brilliant presenters was a young lady who is working on her PhD thesis whose presentation was entitled “What Can Justify Duties of Global Economic Justice? Individual Responsibility, Human Consciousness, and the Oneness of Humankind”. Her name is Shahrzad Sabet. In asking the question, she began by sharing with us the globally accepted UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights. She the began to dissect the responsibilities for the implementation of these rights. To be fair to Shahrzad, I will state that the remaining text is my perhaps feeble understanding of the arguments she so simply and brilliantly presented and perhaps, at some point, I will have a chance to speak with her further to clarify or to refer on-line to her thesis work, but I can only say that after hearing what she had to say, I was completely overwhelmed by her convincing arguments recognizing that there really isn’t a minute to lose in beginning to bring this argument forward on a wide basis, and I am also quite convinced that someday this young lady will be amongst the Nobel Peace Prize winners because these same arguments will force all nations and all people of conscience to take action. Such action will come in the form of adopting laws and practices which will require all citizens of the world (or at least those who have the freedom to vote or make buying decisions), all business leaders and all government leaders to act forcefully in upholding these Human Rights by taking practical, direct and personal responsibility for implementing Global Economic Justice through their votes for responsible government representatives, those who will make the necessary revisions in government institutions, and in turn, through laws which will require all people to make these Human Rights a reality.

In nations such as Pakistan, Haiti, India, Indonesia and many others, billions suffer under the oppression of poverty, the lack of a suitable infrastructure, and through catastophic environmental impacts, while much of the world continues to enjoy their freedoms without paying much attention and governments pay immense amounts of money towards military spending and the expansion of environmentally destructive practices which only serve to further human suffering.

Her arguement goes something like this:

The majority of all nations on earth have accepted the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

A “Right” as opposed to something else (e.g. an idea or a privilege) is essentially the entrenched global and national liability of society to provide something to each individual. As the majority of nations, and their electorate, having elected their representatives, have accepted that this right exists, then the responsibility to implement this right also exists.

She then asks the question “whose responsibility is it to implement these Human Rights?”

Since it is ultimately the responsibility of global agreement and therefore global and national institutions, including national, (as well as regional and local governments) and global (as well as national and local) businesses, and since those government and business institutions are made up of individuals who have power to vote, to make their voices heard, to individually make decisions within businesses, and to take actions such as deciding what goods to purchase and what institutions to purchase from, thereby supporting and upholding these institutions, we also must understand that as individuals we have a legal liability to make decisions which support Global Human Rights (including our own).

While I may not do full justice to her argument, it was too powerful to ignore. And, while it would certainly be better to hear this argument directly from her, owing to the fact that, while my statement of the argument probably has holes in it, she covered off these holes masterfully and it is a message that needs to be heard by everyone and it needs to be heard now, especially by business and government leaders who have yet to act on this responsibility. Any human being who enjoys these essential Human Rights must also acknowledge that if, for some reason, they lost the benefits which are bestowed by these fundamental Rights, they would very quickly be calling for own government to impose laws and regulations to restore them. Since these institutions are the result of our personal choices, we also have the legal and ethical responsibility to make the appropriates choices on behalf of those who have not had the benefit of these Human Rights.

Practical Applications

In writing this article, I am making an appeal that all readers contemplate what they are reading to the depths of their heart, with full consiousness, to recognize their own nobility of spirit and to understand the very real obligation it imposes on them. The responsibility for Global Human Justice is as much yours as it is mine.

What might our actions be?

For one, we can all be making these responsibilities known to every elected government official that we know by writing to them, by speaking to them, by holding sessions with them and by educating them. We can tell them that we expect them to implement these rights Globally. How otherwise can we truely protect our own Human Rights? We can simply present the same arguments to them as were presented to us. The implication of this responsiblity is profound. It would require that all Governments meet together, not just about global economics and not just about global security as in G8 and G20 meetings, but about informing all citizens of the world about their legal responsibilities. Our Government officials would be morally obliged tell the world’s electorate that they are also ethically responsible to vote for those who are best suited to implement these Human Rights regardless of which party affiliation they may hold. The elected officials might in-turn, take efforts to share these concepts with their fellow officials, and to encourage the position of their respective governements to also begin making these Global Human Right their top priority and to initiate a global discussion on how to most effectively implement them.

We might also invite our neighbors to share this message so that each person has the opportunity to deeply understand the implications and to begin to take action on addressing this liability and acting with ethical responsibility. We can do so using all our resources, in our homes, our schools, our government council halls, our churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other centres of faith.

For those who have the skills to do so, we can speak in public or in business gatherings inviting consultation on the implications for each of us individually and collectively. For those who have the skill to invite, we can invite others and host meetings. We can call upon our business leaders to invite speakers to speak about this approach to every employee.

We might begin to insist that our tax dollars be spent on the reconstruction of our global society by first addressing the most serious Global Human Rights infringements. After all, some day those infringements may be against us. As I am currently sitting on Vancouver Island, which is beautiful but which at some point is destined to experience a severe earth quake, I can only contemplate the rights which have been denied the people of Haiti as a result of a similar force or, perhaps more potently, the Human Rights denied the millions that have suffered at the hands of climate change, and for which we all share the burden of responsibility. What would it mean if all the world’s available resources were spent in solving the most grievious problems first? How quickly would we be able to address our relatively minor local concerns if the world’s government and business leaders would learn how to work together? And at the same time, rather than placing the responsiblity of our relatively minor local concerns on our elected officials, we could work together as neighbors to begin to address our local concerns in service of each other, and encourage our elected leaders to think globally to address the most serious of our personal legal liabilities (i.e. the oppression and poverty of countless millions) on our behalf.

We might insist that our elected officials vote on laws that require our countries’ taxes to be diverted away from military spending, to require that military only serve the purpose of implementing Global Human Rights rather than causing violations of Human Rights. Imagine, for example, that only 50% of global military expenditures went directly into implementation of these legal responsiblities to relieve Human suffering, provide education, protection of personal rights, provide the right to work and to provide adequate food and shelter. How quickly would things change? And in finding global agreement on our personal resposibilities, how quickly would governments be able to jointly resolve issues such as terrorism?

We might ensure that, until these rights are imparted in action to every citizen in the world, we would continue to insist that this be top priority for all governments and businesses that we support.

We might take some time to educate ourselves on the causes and sources of these violations and expose sources that we are aware of (e.g. environmental and other violators of human rights), not for the purpose of condemning them, but for the purpose of raising the awareness of those involved in either actions or through neglect of action, that they (and we) are responsible and help them to make the necessary decisions, providing all assistance we can muster, to rapidly revise their course of action. It is not so much that people wish to do harm, rather that due to human weaknesses, a lack of awareness of the harm we cause, and a lack of discipline (i.e. the lower part of human nature), that we fail to make the efforts required of our higher nature (read that again, it is “required” of our higher nature for what is is after all to be “Human”?)

This is a very deep topic and, I can only hope that others will go deeper than I have and present this arguement with more accuteness and more forcefully than me. I am deeply hopeful and recognize that inside each of us is seed of a higher nature which can grow and which through our collective efforts will grow into a fruitful and beautiful tree bearing many fruits.

I’d love to hear your comments and questions.

Please spread this message in any way you can, by e-mail, by your voice, by inviting people, by speaking on it, by letters, by referal.
Please call if you have any questions.
Please invite me to speak to your group or organization on this vital subject.
Please keep your eyes open for the brilliant potential of the higher human nature wherever it may arise.

My best wishes to you all,
Garth Schmalenberg

http://hbi-leadership.com
http://twitter.com/gschmalenberg
Ph: 416-919-6598

My current home is in Bolton, Ontario which, for those who have not visited,  is a great place to live. Ontario has been a wonderful home to me and my family most of my life after starting off in Saskatchewan. In fact, if you have lived in any part of Canada, you know that you’ve been blessed.

But British Columbia, for many reasons, is where my heart is. This is where my parents are, as well as my sisters and their families, and it is difficult to express with the limited words of the English language the intense love I feel for them all.  B.C. is also where my entire family, including my brothers (one from China and the other also from Ontario) gather when we have family get-togethers. One of my brothers is also here right now. And I have some very dear friends here as well.

But there’s much more to British Columbia than family, as the many hundreds of thousands if not millions of annual visitors will attest. British Columbia is rich in resources; forests, mountains, clear glacial waters, fisheries, minerals, and the most spectacular scenary you will find anywhere on earth with it’s blend of rich green forests, majestic grey snowpeaked mountains and jagged coast lines reaching into the green-blue oceans all filled with life. The Okanogan region is a fertile ground for growing fruits of many varieties and the climate is temperate and ideally suited for vegetation and farming. It’s incredibly rich with green growth everywhere along the coastlines and in the valleys. They have old growth forests that boast some of the tallest trees in the world and rainforests in the northern regions of Vancouver Island that are rich in wildlife and biodiversity.  

More than just a pretty place, British Columbia also celebrates the many cultures that share this amazing province in the arts, crafts, music and lifestyles including the adoption of some of the wisdom and contributions of its indigenous peoples and the abundance of festivals of every kind. Everywhere I have traveled in British Columbia, and I preface this by acknowledging my sister Celia for introducing me to her incredibly wide circle of friends, the people of British Columbia seem somehow in harmony with their home, respectful of the place in which they live, many striving for a sustainable living while acknowledging and enjoying the bounties of the land with which they have been gifted. With no salt on winter roads, their cars remain intact for a considerable length of time and many take full advantage of this bounty by driving much older cars, a common sight in B.C. There seems to be, at least based on my limited observations, less of a sense of trying to keep up with the neighbors and more a sense of enjoying what is. Most of the new friends I’ve met are satisfied to drive a 10 or 15 year old car as long as it still works. And it isn’t just about cars. Many of the British Columbians I’ve spoken to are keenly aware of the damage that rampant consumerism can cause and strive to live a lifestyle which is more focused on values, developing friendships, enjoying the arts and nature, and providing services rather than focusing quite so much on material pursuits. The pace of life, at least on the island is just a little slower than other places in Canada. My other sister, Joy, described the complex recycling regime which she goes through in order to maximize the amount of recycled goods and minimize the waste going to the landfill and yet she tells me that there are many British Columbians who are happy to share in this recycling ritual just for the sake of preserving what they have.

To simply share the good of British Columbia would, of course, be a little inaccurate. British Columbia, like every place on earth has it’s challenges. One is that it happens to sit on a fault line that is shared with the entire west coast and it anticipates one of the biggest earthquakes the world has seen. Many studies are being done on earthquake detection, earthquake resistant structures, and sunami warning systems to minimize the impact, but when it hits, they will definitely be in for a shake that will stress the hearts and spirit s and test the ability of British Columbians to pull together and befriend each other through extreme hardship. We don’t know when it will happen, perhaps not in this lifetime.

British Columbia is also suffering along with the remainder of an ailing planet from environmental damage. Invasive species such as giant hog weed which competes well in open areas, pine beetles that ravage vast areas of the forest and which now survive the milder winters, raging forest fires caused by a extreme dought, landslides from extreme rain events, toxicity in farmed fish, coastal areas which have suffered from oil spills and pollution, and fisheries which are suddenly coming up short of various species, are just a few of the challenges they face. In it’s cities, it suffers from traffic conjestion and pollution (especially from those old cars which lack polution controls and burn oil), even though they are fortunate to have the ocean breezes which periodically cleanse the air.

Britsh Columbia has so much to offer but it has even more to protect. It’s vast resources are here to be used and even shared, but managing those resources to ensure sustainability is essential. Thoughtful and reflective planning which adopts the attitude shared by our indigenous friends and neighbors, that the earth is one country, that we are part of the environment, not separate from it, will help us to develop an attitude of service and reverence for our home (i.e. this planet) that will prevent us from claiming it to be our own and believing that we can exploit or abuse it’s resources without limits.

If you’ve never been to British Columbia, visit, you will not be disappointed.

Garth Schmalenberg

P.S. Feel free to share this article with your friends and neighbors by e-mail or by directing them to this site.

Benefits of Carpooling

What are the other benefits of carpooling? First, you make friends, get to meet someone new and get to know them well because you see them on a regular basis. Second, you get to share costs of commuting. If you still have a car, at very least you save on gas. If not, you may get to save on repairs, insurance and other costs. Third, if you’re riding with someone else, you may get a little more time to sleep before getting to work. Fourth, in many cities you save time because you get to use designated carpool lanes. Fifth, if your company supports carpooling, you get to leave at a regularly scheduled time(and for reasons I’ll explain later, this is also good for the company). Sixth, you help to save the planet. In the battle against climate change, you get to reduce carbon emissions by sharing a ride directly (more riders is better) and by reducing average commute time for everyone, you help every vehicle on the road because all of them enjoy a slightly shorter commute time. Yes, as even one car comes off the road, there is just a little less congestion and every other car benefits a little and contributes a little less carbon.

Getting your Company Involved

There are many ways to participate in car-pooling and there are many direct and indirect benefits to the company for doing so, not the least of which is your company’s contribution to reducing CO2. But before you roll-out a carpool plan, it is like many other projects, you need think about how to inform staff and management on the benefits to them and to others. Following are a few steps to consider:

1. Have a sustainability speaker come in to do lunch and learns.
   (Most of us who are involved in developing Future Oriented Leadership and Sustainable Cultures would love to speak to your organization)
2. Have a sustainability speaker at a sustainability program roll-out meeting 
3. Find other ways to educate employees on the urgency of reducing their CO2 contribution, and guide and encourage employees to activitely participate.
4. Have a means to measure and report on impact so that you can promote the benefits to others.
5. As with all other organizational changes, this change is behavioural and requires some adjustment. Train managers ahead on the benefits to the organization and to the planet so they will support the plan and deal with any minor inconveniences appropriately (e.g. like having to let employees go home at scheduled times in order to meet their rides). Employees benefit from less stress commuting so are more productive during working hours. Managers benefit from being more organized and respecting their employee’s time rather than randomly overworking them.
6. Speak to other businesses who have successfully implemented Carpooling plans.
7. Post your own carpool sign-up lists and promote car-pooling internally.
8. Promote car-pooling by giving incentives such as prefered parking spots to those individuals who make the effort.
9. Sign your company up on a Carpooling site.

Businesses who are interested in the environment can sign-up on one or more of these software packages including the one offered by the local communities (in Toronto and surrounding area, Smart Commute) and make their offices as destination points, making it easier for willing riders to find each other.

Getting Involved as an Individual

Many Cities including Toronto and surrounding communities make carpooling software available for free to users. You can sign-up and get matched to someone with a similar route and time automatically. If you live in the extended GTA or Hamilton area, you can sign-up for free through http://www.smartcommute.ca. For individuals in other locations, it is well worth your time to do a little searching to find carpooling web-sites.

If you’ve never done it before, give carpooling a try. You may actually enjoy it.

A few other ideas for reducing carbon related to communiting.

For some companies, another easy option for contributing to carbon reduction is by permitting flex hours, which allows employees to drive at non-peak communing hours, thereby reducing congestion, travel times and CO2 emissions.

Tele-commuting is an even better option which gets cars off the road entirely. As with all other changes in employment practices, implementing tele-commuting will require some thought and possibly new equipment and tools but it can work very effectively with side benefits for employees and it can also be a tremendous retention tool for keeping forward thinking employees.

Encourage biking to work. This is not only good for reducing carbon, it can help to promote health of employees. Providing showering and change facilities is helpful but not always required. Definitely providing a safe place to lock bikes is helpful.

Government Involvement

For Governments, besides providing access to carpooling software, they can consider implementing tax breaks for companies that can demonstrate CO2 reduction by either actively working towards helping employees travel at non-peak hours, engage in carpooling, promoting carpooling plans and enabling telecommuting.

Some governments have also paid individuals for traveling at non-peak hours by charging other commuters congestion charges for traveling during peak hours.

Many governments have created special lanes for carpooling and of course for bicycles.

The Car Pooling experience

Not everyone who tries car-pooling has a great experience, but most do. At this momemt, most of my work is done at off-peak hours or from my home, However, every car pooling experience I’ve had has been very positive and well worth the effort. If you haven’t tried it, make the effort. In almost all cases, the benefits easily outweigh the negatives.

All the best,

Garth Schmalenberg
web:  http://www.hbi-leadership.com
e-mail: garth@hbi-leadership.com
Phone: 416-919-6598
twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gschmalenberg

If you find these idesas valuable, please share them through your favorite bookmarking site or by e-mail. Also , please share your comments and any links to carpool web-sites that you’ve found helpful.

Bertieg Consulting is run in a way that is more sustainable and quite different than most organizations.  It is based on a methodology called Open Agile, developed by the company, and which is implemented and continuously evolving within their organization.

Open Agile is a new method of Organizational management based on Agile principles but which are adapted for Organizational activity. One part of the process which is very different from traditional Organizational methodologies is the systematization of reflective learning which is much deeper and more consistent than with traditional approaches.

Learning about the methodology is one thing, becoming a skilled practioner is something else.

As an advocate of continuous and systematized learning, I congratulate the Bertieg team for their accomplishments and have offered to contribute to them in their efforts to evolve their process.

For business leaders interested in creating sustainable organizations, reflective learning followed by pragmatic value based actions are practices which ensure that goals are established, acted upon and learned from.

Open Agile promotes concepts of transparency, truthfulness and consultative decision making all of which are essential elements in building a truly sustainable organization. While holding these principles as core to the process, it also incorporates a framework for holding and sharing the learning. The result is a continuously improving organization.

For more information on Open Agile and Bertieg Consulting, see http://www.openagile.com or http://www.berteigconsulting.com

Garth Schmalenberg
416-919-6598

As the severity of the earth’s situation becomes more apparent and the benefits of sharing are recognized, more and more companies are participating in this project knowing that they stand to benefit from utilizing each other’s intellectual property. Rather than starting from scratch, they are able to more quickly find solutions to some of their challenges add their own intelligence to ideas which have already been patented by another company.  A similar concept has been used in the IT world through open source.

Creating a culture of sustainability will require new ways of thinking for all of us.  As the requirement for answers to our shared the dilemmas becomes more critical, companies will have less time and less resources available for their own individual research. It will be those companies who are willing to work together to find solutions, that will ultimately dominate the market. 

Similarly, within companies, the need for cooperation between individuals and departments is at an all time high.  Organizations who have developed cultures of unbridled internal and external competition will suffer the consequence of falling behind to who have developed a culture of consultation, teamwork, sharing, joint venturing, knowledge management and continuous learning. 

Municiple, regional and national governments who have learned to work effectively with other government organizations, NGOs and Businesses, who have learned to foster cooperation and respect, who have mastered consultative decision making and who share the responsibility of decisions made, will ultimately lead those who are underdeveloped in these capacities.

The call to action for all of us, is to learn and discover new and better ways work together, to recognise that the solution to many of our challenges, both economic and environmental, are  global in their nature. Let’s view our shared dilemma as an ideal opportunity to learn how to work together. 

Whether we like it or not, much of our fate on this planet will ultimately be shared.

Till next time,
Garth Schmalenberg

PS: Web-sites related to sharing initiatives
WBCSD Eco Patent Commons – http://www.wbcsd.org/web/epc/
HBI Leadership – http://hbi-leadership.com