The world is on fire and no-one is coming to save us.
After years of working in marketing I wrote a book called The Dragon & the Hummingbird - a not-for-profit satire about capitalism & climate change and, in writing it, I sort of radicalised myself!
I realised that if I was going to stop worrying about climate change and actually do something about it I had to change the way I saw myself.
The Gramskii Challenge is summed up by the story of the Hummingbird in the book:
A long page of text. But I'm pretty sure you're up to it. A small price for saving the planet.
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"OK," began George. "One day, there was a fire in the rainforest. All the jungle animals began to panic and run from the flames. But, as they reached the river's edge, they saw a tiny hummingbird flying in the other direction.
'Where are you going, little hummingbird?' asked the panther.
'I'm putting out the fire!' the hummingbird replied breathlessly, gathering drops of water in her tiny beak.
"Don't bother,' said the snake. 'There's nothing you can do. Your beak is so small, and the fire is so hot, you might get burned.''
The hummingbird didn't answer; she was too busy collecting water. She repeated this all afternoon until the monkey begged her to stop. 'Dear hummingbird, you are courageous but also very small, and your tiny beak cannot put out the fire alone. Why don't you stop?'
To which the hummingbird replied, 'Because I'm doing what I can.'
"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" cheered D, pointing at George and patting him firmly on the shoulder. "If we all do what we can, even if it doesn't seem like much on its own, collectively, we can make a real difference."
"Oooh! Oooh!" exclaimed Faye, as though she'd just remembered something, before spinning around to look under the bar. George assumed that talking about rainforests had prompted her to make monkey noises.
Meanwhile, the Director continued his point. "Some people will think we're mad for trying to make a difference, but what's the alternative? Should we just give up and watch the planet burn? You might be willing to do that, but I'm certainly not giving up. I won't sugarcoat this, George, but we've all got to decide where we stand. We can continue to be part of the problem, or realise our only hope is to be part of the solution."
"Do I have to make that choice right now?" asked George, as he was having trouble staying awake.
Faye then returned, holding a scrap of paper and a calculator like a schoolgirl hoping to earn a house point. The Director paused to let her speak.
"On average, a hummingbird's beak holds seven millilitres of water," she said excitedly. "And there are about eight billion people on Earth."
"Go on." He was beginning to guess where she was heading.
"Well, let's assume there's a hummingbird for every person, which means eight billion hummingbirds."
"OK." George leaned in.
"That means eight billion hummingbirds would be able to carry the equivalent of 56 million litres of water per trip, and if each hummingbird made three trips a day, that would come to about 168 million litres, or, if you prefer, 67 Olympic-sized swimming pools!" concluded Faye, very pleased with herself, slapping both hands on the bar.
"That'll soon put the fire out!" said George triumphantly."
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So how does that translate into action?
First, I want people to read the book - because it motivates us into taking responsibility without being preachy.
But, second, I also want to work with business owners who feel they could be doing more - but they aren't quite sure what that is.
I want to find ways to help them make more of a contribution.
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If you fall into the first group please read the book www.hummingbirdeffect.org
If you're part of the second group - give me a call or drop me a line
