Greetings!   

Don't you wish you had superpowers?  I oscillate between wanting x-ray vision and mind reading.  As a mother with teenagers; you might guess why.

But I think these powers would be helpful in my sustainability practice too.  

A worldview is made up of attitudes, beliefs, values, knowledge, emotions and ethics. It is the lense through which we see the world. To many of us, our worldview is invisible. Yet, it has a powerful effect on everything we say and do.

Sustainability is about how we see the world (worldview) and how we act based on that lense. 

As sustainability professionals, our ability to connect and empathize with the  worldview of others could vastly improve the rate of sustainability adoption. 

A thought leader on worldview thinking and sustainability is John Marshall Roberts.  Many years ago he modified the work of Dr. Clare Graves, a psychologist, to come up with a set of ways to think about the world and sustainability.  The most common worldviews are -   

1. Absolutism (often seen as sustainability skeptics): focus on discipline, authority and purpose.  Inspired by a Call to Duty.
2. Individualism (often seen as uninterested in sustainability): focus on power, success and affluence.  Inspired by a Call to Action that will benefit them personally.
3. Humanism (often appear to value Social Justice over Environmental Justice): focus on honesty, connection and relatedness.  Inspired by a Call to Imagine. 
4. Systemic Thinking (often considered Early Adopters of Sustainability): focus on integrity, sustainability and competence.  Inspired by a Call to Service. 

Listening - the New Superpower

According to John Marshall Roberts, we really don't need x-ray vision or mind reading to connect with others. 

But we do need the superpower of "listening".  He says we need to deeply listen to the people and groups that we hope to influence.  "Listen beneath their seeming apathy or cynicism, beneath their seeming indifference to your vision.  Listen for the deeper values, beliefs and assumptions that drive their day-to-day attitudes and behaviors.   Listen until you are able to see and know-in your bones-that they deeply want to be a part of your vision (even though they may not know it yet!)."1 

 
He notes that truly listening is the most difficult challenge.  It is hard to sit with confusion, impatience and mistrust until you get absolute clarity of insight about those you seek to influence. 
 
The Good News

But here's the good news: with this sort of insight you will naturally begin to adopt the strategies and actions that will help you drive change with these important groups.  Over time, it is simply impossible to NOT be influenced by someone who genuinely appreciates and understands you.
 
Listening is always the key - it unleashes the insights that drive change.

Kathryn 

Kathryn A. Cooper 

President & Chief Learning Officer 

Sustainability Learning Centre