Unleashing Social Change

Episode 23: Jason Marsh, Greater Good Science Center, "Advancing Well-Being and Happiness through Research"

How do we advance and spread something that is so essential yet seemingly difficult to grasp as "happiness" and "well-being"? Jason Marsh joins us today for an engaging discussion about how The Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley is doing just that with their open source method of sharing their research. What they have found is building happiness and well-being is about the cultivation of relationships, how we expand our concept of the "in" group, how we make the distinction between empathy and compassion, and how we can improve the conditions to make each and every contact with the people we interact with more positive.

In this episode, Jason discusses how outcomes can change when we know what is expected of us, like when children play "The Wall Street Game" vs. "The Cooperation Game." And how the Bridging Differences study breaks down the barriers between those we see as different. Human beings have an innate draw towards kindness and compassion yet also the pervasiveness to dehumanize people we disagree with. How do we stimulate the positive natural impulses so we can bridge that gap between what we hope to see in the world vs. what we do see in the world? Listen in on this fascinating discussion so we can build a happier and healthier world.

Show highlights:

• Shrinking the change, clearing the path and making research accessible
• Making research more applicable to people's everyday lives
• Combatting the pervasiveness we have to dehumanize people we disagree with
• How we expand the "in" group so we can be more generous and kind
• Knowing what is expected of us and how that impacts behavior
• Conditions that make contact more positive: 1) Equal Status 2) taking cues from leaders 3) common goals and seeing my fate as linked with other's fate
• Evidence that health outcomes and other outcomes are poorer when there is a larger disparity between people
• Defining suffering and the difference between empathy and compassion
• Studies on kindness and compassion out of Harvard – seeing an 18-month old observe an adult drop something and need help
• What is result of entire lifetime of cues that child sees, even subtle ones and cultivating mindfulness
• Pro-social vs. anti-social behavior and the impact of having just one positive relationship with an adult at school
• The Greater Good Science Center method of open source as an end game for spread (Gugalev and Stern) and thinking though sustainability with open source model
• Pyramid of Engagement for sustainability – professional products and experiences for those who want to go deeper and funneling (the both/and model)
• Is human nature good or bad? The deeply rooted instincts we have both for care and to do bad things as well. But how do our environments elicit one or the other?
• We become more self-interested when we feel scarcity and feel threatened or scared
• We often think that the world has become more violent but the historical look shows that violence is actually significantly lower than centuries ago

Links:

https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/bridging_differences/definition

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/podcasts/item/episode_57_why_shared_goals_can_bridge_divides

Steven Pinker – "The Blank Slate"

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What could we all accomplish if we could put relationships first and primacy in shared purpose? In this episode, Kate Hilton shares how her view of leadership has shifted over the years starting with her own experience of being told to get out of her own way. From discussing the shift from "power over" to "power with" and discovering that the joy in work comes from what matters to people. When you start with who people are vs. what you want to do and listen to what people's biggest dreams and assets are, your strategy only gets better.

Kate has an insatiable curiosity around how to help people make change on the basis of activating their agency, power and courage. She also dances her face off with zero inhibition. As a lover of people, Kate is a studier of the human conditions for social change and we have a lot to learn from her so you won't want to miss this fun and engaging conversation!

Show highlights:

• Kate's circuitous career path that led her to where she is today
• Her love of people and of finding out their values and what drives them
• The experience of having Marshall Ganz as mentor
• Evolving as a leader and the hardest thing to let go of
• The value of breathing and getting perspective
• Mental failure exercise
• Psychology of Change and what are the things that get in the way of effective leadership
• Understanding power as a relationship
• MLK, Jr. definition of power as, "The ability to achieve purpose."
• Combining resources together to create new power out of shared values
• Power as malleable because you have to build the relationships
• How to help one another through fears and motivations
• How you keep what matters front and center
• Are there enough people moving in the right direction vs. being at the effect of…
• Psychology of Change Framework: 1. Unleashing people's intrinsic motivation 2. co-designing with people most impacted by the change 3. co-producing in authentic relationships 4. distributing power and 5. adapting in action.
• Recognizing and mapping the system by people
• Shifting from what matters to me to what matters to other people
• Appreciative inquiry and motivational interviewing
• Power as being fundamentally about people
• Activating people's agency is at the heart of the psychology of change and the ability to act
• In democratic societies, knowledge of how we combine to create is the basis of our commitment
• If not now, when? We can't learn what we need to learn without getting into action

Links:

Sign up for our free master class: https://www.billionsinstitute.com/freemasterclass

ihi.org/psychofchange

Psychology of Change Framework

http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/IHIWhitePapers/IHI-Psychology-of-Change-Framework.aspx

https://healthequity.atlanticfellows.org/

https://hbr.org/2019/05/how-one-health-system-overcame-resistance-to-a-surgical-checklist

The Uninhabitable Earth book

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/586541/the-uninhabitable-earth-by-david-wallace-wells/

Donella Meadows, "Thinking in Systems"

http://donellameadows.org/systems-thinking-resources/

As co-founder of the Billions Institute, Joe McCannon says, when you invoke the John Cusack rule of taking the fear off the set, that's when amazing things happen. In this episode, Helen Smith, a forensic psychiatrist, tells stories of some of the creative solutions that have arisen in her sector through freeing the front lines to improve the system and the joy that comes from experiencing these changes and sharing them with others. She also unpacks some of the language of "looking after" and walking alongside people vs. "treating" patients.

We'll also discuss how returning to curiosity is the key in openness to discovery and how to nurture the liberating structures that can change the relationship between staff and patients to bring healing. When hierarchies are flattened and the environment of humility and humanity are elevated, there can be beautifully simple solutions that aren't learned in textbooks. Listen in on this beautiful discussion out of which uncovering purpose and joy can produce remarkable results.

Show Highlights:

• Background into what forensic psychiatry is and those Helen and her team serve
• Accessing compassion and humanity when working with those who are deeply distressed
• The importance of identifying each individual's genius and redefining success
• The mental model of walking alongside someone and helping them manage their own mental health vs. doing it for them which does not help them when released
• Helen's experience of being released to her own genius and what brings her deep joy
• The SCARF Model and how they activate personas
• Helping others improve the things they want to improve and see how much joy they get from experiencing it and sharing with each other
• Weaning people off of you and give them one another is how to create large scale change
• Advice for leaders to not sit at the back on computers, but be in the mix and flatten the hierarchy and participate as your authentic self
• Allowing mistakes as learning experiences and the importance of having fun with one another and test out new structures
• Modeling and communicating to others as a leader that mistakes are learning experiences and expected
• The specific goal of their practice of reducing restrictive interventions – restraints, seclusions and reducing rapid tranquilization
• Remarkable results they are getting through the Breakthrough Collaborative model
• Changing the relationship between staff and patients
• Two successful interventions that arose from deeply understanding what irritates patients

LINKS:

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SCARF MODEL

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/SCARF.htm

Liberating Structures App:

https://www.liberatingstructures.app/en/

In California, only about 30% of children are being taken care of by formal licensed daycare centers while their parents go to work. This means as many as 70% are being taken care of by informal options such as family, friends and neighbors. These FFNs as they are called are going above and beyond to be the "village" for the love of children and desire to build up this next generation. However, they often lack the support and respect that helps them to leverage the important role they have in society. How is Vision y Compromiso validating their critical place in our communities and increasing the training for this large group of caregivers to grow in their role?

In this episode, we talk with Gerry and Hugo and their vision for the leaders in their communities, the Promotores, who have the ability to gather people and to increase the trust in these uncertain times, so that these tremendously important community members can thrive. Often these caretakers are raising kids during long and unpredictable hours and providing so much more than physical care, they are the emotional supports and cultural influencers. This is organization at the grassroots level and you'll want to listen in!

• What are Promotores and what do they do
• Engaging family, friends and neighbors, especially when they may be wary of government
• The importance of self-care and self-validation when not always appreciated or recognized in the wider society
• Why network of informal caregivers are so pivotal in our society
• Involvement of the families and feedback they give and how they need to be supported
• Importance of valuing the culture and feeding into cultural traditions
• Training on multiple intelligences so that caregivers feel validated in all the ways they are building into the children
• Training providing empowerment and authority to speak about their education related to child development
• Overlay with the immigrant community and the fear of providing information in current times of changing immigration laws
• The role of Promotores in building trust
• Rural vs. Urban areas and the difference in working with the different communities
• Learning from the insight gathered from within

Links:

Visionycompromiso.org

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Episode 19: Sasha Rabkin, Equal Opportunity Schools, "Working the Muscle to Change: Bringing Equity to AP/IB Classes"

All across the country, there has been a long history of students being overlooked due to race or economic factors for the classes that will get them into college, the AP and IB courses. Equal Opportunity Schools is working with schools to personally identify students and de-segregate access to these academic pathways. The way they do this is partnering with districts to look at new ways of identifying "readiness" because if this is the rung in the ladder to get to college, shouldn't we be increasing the opportunities to access this rung?

In this episode, Sasha breaks down how Equal Opportunity Schools and their partner school districts are leveraging new data analytics and creating social change in schools to increase the number of kids of color being accepted into these classes. Among these, key ideas are that social change is a relational play and not based in the assumption that change happens merely by being invited. The second is that person specific by name data about the students and teachers in real time creates both accountability and new insights.

Change is hard and we need not only the will to change, but to exercise the muscle to change these deeply ingrained systems and mental models to not revert back to old ways. You won't want to miss this important conversation.

Show highlights:

• A history of segregation in school opportunities in this country and the "tragedy of 20ft"
• How organizations find space to be creative and experiment
• The role of student insight cards and using person specific by name data to see the whole picture
• Finding new ways to identify student strengths and readiness for advanced courses
• Through trust and strong relationships, also being a provocative voice
• Identifying the headwinds and gatekeeping structures that have been in place
• The importance of seeing the leverage point as the schools, not seeing them as "poor" students
• The sins of commission and omission that started in the 1950s under the guise of competing against the Russians
• The power of holding up a mirror to the system
• Changing the behavior and habits of the system first to bring about the consciousness and systems change
• Exercising these muscles of change so they become strong and the system doesn't revert back to the old ways
• The funding model of EOS that allows for sustainability along with flexibility and experimentation
• Tableau as a means of changing the way we think about data
• Social change as a relational play
• The need for the appropriate technology to bring new levels of scale
• Technology shifting from answering the why vs. the how questions
• How to not merely tinker with change but tear down systems and re-build
• Tolerance for risk and failure is what will make the biggest difference in social change

LINKS:

https://eoschools.org/

Stand and Deliver trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG-Cxs8eYkI

America to Me trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbfx9OpcUoc

Data analytics

www.tableau.com

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For over 30 years, Tema Okun has devoted her life to dismantling racism and oppression of all forms. In this episode, Tema discusses her own evolution as an anti-racist white person and some of the hard-earned lessons she's learned along the way. As she mentions in the episode, racism is not something that can go away through a half day workshop, it is a long and winding road of facing into oneself and the systems and structures in the air that we breathe. Doing this work will inevitably activate guilt and shame, feelings we are all socialized to avoid. But the cost of not facing into these feelings is too great. She says, "The cost of racism to all of humanity is our ability to be fully in community with one another." The most radical thing we can do is understand when we feel it; to DEEP DIVE into it and recognize below that there is love.

White dominant culture has such deep levels of denial and is behind disconnection from ourselves and other people. White dominant culture hinders authentic connection between people by placing a premium on being right, on pretending we are ok, on niceness, and reinforcing the good/bad binary. Doing the work of anti-racism requires a lot of practice in being in a state of not knowing and that can be uncomfortable for many of us. White dominant culture teaches that you if you make a mistake, you are a mistake but we don't have to buy into that. We are ALL harmed by injustice, white people, too. Let's create something new by focusing on what we want and not just fighting against something we don't want. Join us for this important conversation!

Show highlights:

• How does my racial indoctrination get in the way of how I am in relationship to myself and others?
• Why "allies" is no longer the right term.
• Having the best of intentions but still hurting people.
• The danger of self-righteousness, of believing "I'm not like that…"
• How shame is keeping racism going
• The gift of people telling you an uncomfortable truth vs. writing you off
• The gift to ourselves of confronting our own racism
• Who is benefiting from racism?
• The difference between those who should know better and those who have no reason to know better
• We are all in it together.
• The problem with the good/bad binary
• The role of the sense of belonging
• How do we work through fear and instead show up in a way that is deeply loving
• The problem with needing to be right
• The inevitability of hurting one another but being in relationship means we also show up in constructive relationship and heal one another, too.
• Revisions Tema is currently working on to her White Supremacy Culture article
• Tema's take on the most common white dominant culture norms that show up at the Skid Row School
• Trying to fix it quickly only adds to the problem. Let us slow down to go faster.

Links:

Sign up for our free master class: https://www.billionsinstitute.com/freemasterclass

https://humanrights.fhi.duke.edu/teaching-for-equity-fellows-program/

http://www.dismantlingracism.org/

https://conference.ncnonprofits.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DEI_AddressWhiteDominantCulture.pdf

https://resourcegeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2016-dRworks-workbook.pdf

Episode 17: Parvathi Santhosh-Kumar, StriveTogether – "From Proof Points to Systems Transformation"

The myth is that systems are broken but every system is in fact perfectly designed to get the results it gets. So in order to get different results, and true equity, you've got to change the design. StriveTogether came to Skid Row School many years ago and met and even exceeded their goals, but then their second goal was not about growth but about changing more deeply and actually achieve systems transformation. Sometimes the numbers keep growing and they may look impressive, but are they reflective of the deeper, longer term changes you seek? In this episode, Parv discusses changing from proof points as an end goal to a milestone along the way. Every child should be put on the path to their fullest potential. In involving everyone in the system, sometimes there are the unusual suspects who also need to be engaged in bringing about change. In the end it is the collective movement of all of these parties to create lasting transformation.

• Learn about the Cradle to Career movement
• Changing the paradigm to the entire community working together
• Identifying the gaps and racial disparities we are trying to close
• Being impatient, results based leaders
• Values changing from being implicit to operationalizing them in theories of action
• The importance of collecting the correct data
• Ensuring that values are both internal and external facing
• Having a constellation of bright spots
• From proof points to the goal posts moving to systems transformation
• In most places your vantage point of who needs to be involved opens up if you truly explore what is needed for children to succeed
• Challenges are way bigger than any one sector can address so aligning toward a common agenda is what brings about the results
• The collaborative improvement approach
• Involving those close to the problems in designing solutions
• How StriveTogether uses Dan Heath's rider, elephant, path
• Leveraging different levels of policy change through the community infrastructure
• Coaching, convening, codifier of learning and investor roles within StriveTogether to build capacity
• The role of positive peer pressure, creating cohorts and learning from each other
• Not jumping to solution-itis but truly using some time to identify what are behaviors, mental models or systems problems
• How to stay comfortable in the uncomfortable
• Activating and motivating others to create ripple effect of change

Links:

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https://www.strivetogether.org/

http://www.unleashingsocialchange.com/2019/09/10/09-dan-heath-a-primer-on-behavior-change/

Video: https://www.strivetogether.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Theory-of-Action-Poster_052019_Final.pdf

Articles: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/11/globalization-4-means-harnessing-the-power-of-the-group/

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/its_about_results_at_scale_not_collective_impact

Episode 16: Arfon Williams, General Practitioner in Rural Wales – "When Crisis is the Mother of Invention"

Around the world there has been a crisis shortage of rural doctors. How did Arfon completely transform his practice when he became the "last man standing" in his community of 4500 patients? At the time, the GP surgery was topping the charts for all the wrong reasons, such as being named as "most likely to fail in North Wales" by a senior Health Board member. Dr. Williams had a choice to either call it a day, risking bankruptcy and the jobs of his staff, or finding a new way to provide a safe, comprehensive service to patients. He chose the latter. In this episode, hear the story of Dr. Williams and his staff about how they are not just surviving but thriving, managing a practice that is now more efficient than it was prior to the crisis.

• The "turkey sandwich" in the practice, the "one phone call rule"
• Adapting and pivoting until you get to the right idea and components that are required to make it work
• The importance of getting all staff and patients also on board to continue moving forward
• Upskilling the staff for sustainability but also for growth, retention and increase in morale
• The importance of a true open door policy
• The advantage for both patients and staff in building capacity
• Finding the genius in each of the staff and leveraging their gifts
• Necessity of freedom to try new things and having no stigma in recognizing what you are good at or stigma in needing to ask questions or not knowing
• Being humble, not being tribal and being brave to ask for help and living with risk
• The path to create a succession plan

Links:

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/out-here-its-just-me/2019/09/28/fa1df9b6-deef-11e9-be96-6adb81821e90_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-follow-up-appointment/2019/08/17/1be5ded6-b936-11e9-a091-6a96e67d9cce_story.html

In this episode, Peter O'Driscoll discusses the transformational change that can happen when the whole system is in the room. When you change one part of a system, it has a ripple effect on the whole, but if you if want it to be sustainable, you need everyone in the room. For centuries, getting food on the table meant slavery, share cropping and "disposable" labor where workers have not been compensated fairly for their skills and hard work. Cesar Chavez began the work with collective bargaining to protect these workers, but to make the changes long term, the Equitable Food Initiative sought a values proposition that would appeal also to suppliers and retailers and consumers too.

What would be the common denominator? Food safety.

Find out how the Equitable Food Initiative has created a model for improving worker conditions and increased wages, while making food safer for the consumer and reducing costly recalls in stores like Costco and Whole Foods. And find out how you can spread the positive changes to your other favorite retailers as well!

• A look into the food produce supply chain
• Historically how has produce arrived on our tables
• Cesar Chavez and collective bargaining moving now towards the ripple effect of all stakeholders
• 48% of food borne illness is from fresh produce
• Making it safer for workers and incentivizing them and passing on the saved costs from legal issues and food recalls benefits everyone
• Other issues are being solved on the side as well including recruitment and retention and efficiency, workers feeling valued and sharing in business ideas
• Driving scale with both quantity and quality at the same time
• Getting curious about where your food comes from and valuing the skill it takes to get those fresh foods to your table
• How you can help spread the word to other retailers

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https://equitablefood.org/cultivating-voices-a-video-series/

https://equitablefood.org/wp-content/uploads/EFI-2018-Annual-Report_e-version.pdf

https://equitablefood.org/wp-content/uploads/2019-Impact-Evaluation-Report-e-version.pdf

https://equitablefoodinitiative.app.box.com/s/qyezv1jxpjcu8t9ovwy3h5dq7y2sts03

Bruce Nilles, Rocky Mountain Institute – "Climate Change as a Profound Equity Issue"

Shortly after meeting Bruce through the Climate Breakthrough Project, the Margiottas were convinced and began making changes to their home to go all electric. In this episode, Bruce and Becky talk about the climate crisis, and that it is not just about what is happening outside, but what is happening inside our homes. And that in fact, one of the most dangerous places is the most sacred place for many of us, our kitchens. So we can avert climate catastrophe not just by waiting on the government but by making changes to our homes. It may be shocking to know that the levels of pollution inside our homes would actually be illegal outside!

This being true, the ability to change the infrastructures of our homes relies also on having the financial means to do so which illuminates that even climate change is a profound equity issue. Tune in to hear more about how you can make changes over time in your own home and advocate for those unable to afford to do so in this week's episode.

• The hope that Bruce has in the movement arising from youth around the globe
• The history of some of the work of the Rocky Mountain Institute
• Rather than feel paralyzed about the slow response of the government to avert climate crisis, what we can do also in our homes as we continue to advocate
• How asthma and other respiratory issues continue to rise due to the level of pollution inside our homes
• Navigating the incremental changes we can make to avert climate catastrophe
• Advocating for the changes also among those without the financial means to do so

Links:

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Rmi.org

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9TUTdMvJsw

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/opinion/climate-change-gas-electricity.html

https://rmi.org/insight/the-economics-of-electrifying-buildings/