social sustainability

Turkle, Sherry (2011) Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York: Basic Books.
 

This is a disturbing look at how technology (in particular, robots, the Internet, and cell phones) is undermining our society. We’re inventing robots that look like baby seals to keep our elderly company. Confession websites are making it easier for people not to apologize or make amends. With texting and crackberries, “no one is where they are,” as one person said and asking for someone’s full attention is considered to be asking too much. Teenagers text so they don’t have to talk directly, the burden of an unedited telephone call too difficult to manage. Some get lost in Second Life or other virtual universes, finding them more stimulating than RL (how they refer to real life. This book should be read by anyone with children. Of course, the effect of technology is not all bad, but Turkle exposes us to its underbelly and suggests we should be more intentional about the norms we are creating. Among them, she recommends talking to people who are down the hall and turning off cell phones during dinner, when attending to children, in the car or with company. Cultivate the ability to sit in solitude or to be disconnected for a time without symptoms of withdrawal. Clarify rights to privacy.
 

Buettner, Dan (2010) Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way. Washington DC: National Geographic.

Buettner has published research in the past about societies where people seem to live the longest. Now this book chronicles places where people seem the happiest (based on polls like the World Database of Happiness, World Values Survey, Gallup World Poll, Latinobarometro and Eurobarometer. This is an important part of social sustainability. And the US is far from the best. “Our founding documents promise is that the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right, but there’s no plan to actually achieve it.”

He tells stories about Denmark, Mexico, San Luis Obispo and Singapore. Obviously these areas differ in significant ways (eg, political freedom government corruption and hours of sunlight). But what he discovers is that much of what can make people happy can be “engineered” into their lives through:

--government policies that reduce economic/status disparities and limits work hours and shopping hours. (Average work week in Denmark is 37 hours; the Netherlands set maximum shop hours to 96 hours a week.)

--land use practices that encourage interactions and healthy behaviors (San Luis Obispo has redesigned the town to be more walkable/bikeable)

--personal decisions (like marrying the right person, living in a place with enough sun, watching less TV, paying off your house, owning a pet, living near your work, having a religious and/or meditation practice, and spending time with family/friends.)

Some of the interesting findings:

--Economic freedom and security seem more important to happiness than political freedom.

--In areas where women have achieved gender equality, men are happier than women and where women are not treated equally, women are often happier than men.

The last two chapters both seem to be trying to sum up the book, which felt like a song that was having trouble coming to an end. Chapter six summarizes the research on ‘thriving’ and then there is a tacked-on “Special bonus chapter” on living longer, an echo from his earlier work.

Block, Peter (2008) Community: The Structure of Belonging. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.

 
This book lays out concepts associated with how to build community. It’s not a practical how-to approach but rather lays out some important distinctions:

• Leadership is about convening, about inviting in, about framing a question that lets people take responsibility (or not).
• Call a gathering, not a meeting.
• It’s not about problem solving; it’s about uncovering possibilities.
• The small group is the unit of transformation. This is especially powerful when part of a larger group process.
• All transformation is linguistic; the power of language. Transformations are essentially linguistic and part of the task is to change our relationship (our story) of the past.
• For transformation to happen, there are six separate conversations (that can occur in almost any order): Invitation, Possibility, Ownership, Dissent, Commitment and Gifts.

Having been the convener in my neighborhood, I really resonated with Block’s description of the psychological barriers to doing so:

“The anxiety of invitation is that if we give them a choice, they might not show up. I do not want to face the reality of their absence, caution, reservations, passivity, or indifference. I do not want to have to face the prospect that I or a few of us may be alone in the future we want to pursue.  

“And I do not want to face the same truth about myself, for my fear that they will not come is the caution I feel myself about showing up, even for the possibility that I am committed to. My fear is that what I long for is not possible, that what I invite them to is not realistic, that the world I seek cannot exist. And so I imagine myself as a misplaced person, an exile. It is today’s version of an old story that I am wrong and I will soon be found out. The fear that no one will show up is a projection of my own doubt, my own loss of faith.”

But it was well worth the risk.

> To purchase from Better World Books, click here.
 

 Pink, Daniel (2009) Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. London, England: Riverhead Books.

The best part about this book: The message. “When it comes to motivation, there’s a gap between what science knows and business does. Our current business operating system—which is built around external, carrot-and-stick motivators—doesn’t work and often does harm. We need an upgrade. And the science shows the way. This new approach has three essential elements: 1) Autonomy—the desire to direct our own lives; 2) Mastery—the urge to get better and better at something that matters; and 3) Purpose—the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.” (p203-4) Given the values of Gen-Y and the increasing need for creativity, this is an important message. This is an important aspect of social sustainability.
 
The most discouraging thing about this book: The message. Geez Louise. Marsha and I were teaching this stuff, along with Self-Directed Teams in the 80’s and 90’s. Eric Trist and Tavistock, where socio-technical systems theory was born, was in the 60’s. Alfie Kohn’s work, Punished by Rewards, was released in 1993. Why does each generation of managers have to rediscover certain truths about human nature? Why is it so easy for the ‘system’ to revert to paternalistic, controlling paradigms?
 
The best idea to emulate: The structure of his book. The table of contents includes little quotations from the text as an advance organizer. Then after engaging and witty chapters, he provides a set of tools for different audiences (how to help yourself, how to do this at work, how to do it at school). And at the very end, he provides a summary chapter, including a Twitter-length summary, the cocktail party summary and then a chapter by chapter summary. Brilliant.