Photo by: gruntzooki
I don’t know how you feel, but after the Obama election, it seems like there is a sort of gaping void that the press is trying to fill. After this hard fought campaign, it feels as if the press is trying to look for anything to report (the Obama family’s dog choice, etc.)
So, my big idea in this blog post tonight is that we need to engage the right…now to create the change we need. I am not talking necessarily about engaging the Republican Party. Instead, I am talking about our right brains.
The right side of our brain is the part of the brain that thinks holistically & intuitively. It is that part of the brain that is also more random and subjective. Sadly, most of us were mostly taught to use our left brains in school, causing us to develop our logical, sequential and rational brain at the expense of our creative & holistic right brain.
Now is the time for right brain creativity and holistic thinking.
Like many of you out there, I have the chance to work with creative agencies, fashion brands and other groups of business partners daily. When working with the excited creatives and energetic fashion teams in the creation process, there is often a collaborative buzz and euphoria as good (or even great) ideas emerge. I really love how creative people use the right part of their brains to imagine solutions and challenge current norms.
So instead of staying back and waiting for change to somehow come to us, lets take this opportunity to create the change we want now by engaging our right brains. What stops us from creating our own grassroots efforts in our own backyards?
I really like what Douglas Rushkoff said in a recent post after the election: Everyone I know in my own circles is obsessed with creating the next big Internet phenomenon or organization to marshall all this energy and help people do their own bottom-up activities…But if everyone wants to do the “meta” job of creating a brand or utility through which activism happens, then there will be no one left to do the actual organizing.
No, the opportunity is not to create the next great website for modeling bottom-up community activity, but to go and actually do the stuff. It is to participate the public school, work towards alternative energy possibilities, design and install bicycle lanes, argue at work for equal pay for women, assist local agriculture projects, develop complementary currencies and non-profit credit unions.
What do you guys think out there?
On m-cause, I discuss marketing and good causes. Sometimes I talk about P&G (my company). Sometimes I talk about life in Europe. Sometimes I talk about random things. If you want to connect further, email me at roborj@yahoo.com or connect with me on Facebook. If you see any "good" stuff happening out there, please let me know...