It is hard to change the world. When I was younger I thought it could be done through theatre. I thought that some great writing delivered by a fabulous actor (in the perfect spotlight) could make an audience view the world in a different way. To a certain extent, this is possible … but the degree is much less than I dreamed of. (I must have been dreaming of Paris at the time of the Revolution.)
The problem is, is that change is hard. Dreaming is one thing, but the hard reality of life is quite another … and if you DO want to create change, then you need to deal with the dirty part of changing someone’s life. One of the things that I liked about working in the field of organisational change is that IDEAS become REAL. First you imagine something, and then you work to turn that imagined state into something tangible — something that affects people’s lives. Yes, it may be a new company process or a reporting structure … but it has a REAL impact on the way people live and work (hopefully for the better).
Does this make change bad? No. Does it make it worth striving for? Sometimes.
Then occasionally someone comes up with an idea that makes you realise that change can be possible … that an idea (even a BIG, difficult idea) can work. Moreover, the reason that it CAN work is because it is implemented in a small way … that it is focused and nurtured.
This is one idea that I like. Some creatives are getting together and offering up a package of creative services (corporate identity, marketing strategy, web design and implementation etc) for auction on eBay … to the value of about AU$10,000. 100% of the money raised during the auction will be donated to Embrace International, a charity that actually builds foster homes for orphans in China. The person who "wins" the auction gets some good creative and strategic work cheaply, and these poor kids get a home AND a family before winter hits.
Will it change the world? Unfortunately not … but it will change SOMEONE’S world.
S.
Yes!
Thanks for extending the right conversation our world needs to be part of!
Keep creating,
Mike
Reassuring to see that others battle the same problems we do. It’s all fine and good running a small business, but what’s the point in the end? The big overall aim? And how are we getting closer to it? I like your example, sometimes you don’t need to make a massive effort to change the world, you just do what you do well and do it to help some cause you believe in, changing someones world is definately enough.
Thanks for that little bit of end-of-day-inspiration 🙂