A respected business leader and innovator recently identified five of the most important things a business can do to survive the current financial crisis. Can we apply these simple yet potent measures to another fast approaching crisis - the destruction of our only life-support system?

"Any species that continues to multiply within a finite environment, will eventually and inevitably destroy it’s life support system; in our case … Earth."

1. Look at everything you’ve assumed you have gotten right

There is a philosophy, which encourages business, organisations and individuals to be consistently on the creative edge, constantly innovating and changing, far in advance of their competition. Its easy and simply says,

“Always be in question.“

The moment you decide you have something right or have the answer, every other possibility that was available to you disappears from view.”

Any business declaring they have it right is immediately in decline, because from that point-of-view they will stop creating, innovating and cannot have anything greater show up. The same applies to individuals, governments and mankind. Businesses constantly in question, generate possibility, choice and opportunity.

If Hoover had been more in question, perhaps they would have invented the revolutionary ‘cyclone’ technology that allowed James Dyson to seize market share in the eighties with his bagless vacuum cleaner.

As a powerful and influential force on Planet Earth, when we decide our model of society and life is the right one, it has an enormous effect. And from within that decision, we are unable to see where it doesn’t work or that something else is even possible. The current intensity-of-struggle to survive LIFE, clearly highlighted by the financial crisis, an increasing incidence of disease, pollution, global warming and other results, indicates we’ve been in decline for some time.

The reality is that many aspects of our lives do not work. The most glaringly obvious sign of this is the highly-stressed and fast-failing systems of Earth, for which a plethora of documentaries, films, scientists, studies and reports provide a mountain of evidence. Yet despite this, the majority of mankind appears blind. We seem to administer to LIFE from a false sense of superiority, based on the ‘rightness’ of our point-of-view. How did we become unconscious of what is, and so chronically blinded to what else is possible?

To begin to have a different perspective, we must look at what we have decided we have right, acknowledge where it’s not working and be willing to choose something different. And then most importantly … to actually choose!

The difficulty is that our habit is to choose the same thing, over and over, thinking that because the wrapping looks different, it must be a different choice. It isn’t.

What if we had gotten everything wrong up to now and all we have to do is acknowledge that … and change it?

2. Have a clear understanding of where your thinking is coming from

Thinking is a creative endeavour. An indication of what we are creating with our thinking is evidenced by the results we get in LIFE. The difficulty is that many of us are unaware of what goes on in our head. For many, thinking exists as an indistinct buzz of background noise and is, in the main, unconscious thought.

Our thoughts are creative and our thinking is easily influenced. How much influence does the TV News have on people? For many viewers, it is their only source of information about what is happening in the world. A one-minute snapshot of a single dramatic event colours their thinking way beyond just that event. It can powerfully influence the way they think about a topic, a country or a civilisation. And their thoughts contribute to creating more of the same. When enough people are thinking a similar way, then sufficient energy becomes available to begin transforming thought into matter.

It has been shown in hospitals that patients that are prayed-for have a higher rate of successful recovery that those not-prayed-for. We could simply attribute the result to God’s assistance, but it doesn’t seem to matter if the patient or those praying believe in God or not. It still works. Bringing the attention of minds to a common purpose can be powerful and creative.

If everyone in your family thinks that you are hopeless with money and you buy into their point of view, it’s difficult not to create ‘hopeless with money’ as your reality. As a population of 6.76 billion people, if we believe Earth needs saving then we begin to create that as reality. When we function unaware of our thought processes, we have no possibility of making a change because the result always seems to be something beyond us.

Until we acknowledge that we create everything in our reality we can never change it because we give that talent, that ability and that responsibility away to someone or something else. More people, having a clear understanding of where their thinking is coming from could change the world.

3. Get everyone involved in the conversation

Getting everyone in the conversation … includes Earth. Earth is the one entity that mankind consistently and continually avoids including in the discussion.

From our self-appointed position of superiority and with hardly a mention of the fact that we are creators of the problems, the majority of people have bought into the idea that Earth needs saving, as if that somehow excuses us and puts Earth at fault. I ask you, “Where has Earth failed us?” Isn’t the truth that we, yet again, have failed to be aware of the consequences of our actions, taken without consultation or consideration of all parties.

“Only we humans make waste that nature can’t digest.” Charles Moore

Take a look at the issue of plastics, particularly in the ocean. Captain Charles Moore explores this in his 2008 speech given at TED entitled, “Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” In our choice to launch into large scale plastics production, for just about everything, we failed to be aware of what Earth would have to deal with once we had used and discarded the many items. In fact even now, we are largely unconscious of the effect we have on Earth with the waste created by 6.76 billion people.

Including Earth in the conversation is not so far fetched; though it will not be in the form of words and meetings around boardroom tables. If we are willing to give up our answers, get over having to be right, ask questions and be aware of the responses coming in a different language; in a different way, then everything could change.

What if Earth was simply changing in order to survive us or at the very least … to get our attention? What if Earth was already calling out and we haven’t been aware of the communication, because we do not acknowledge that capability. That is an insane point of view! Surely a entity that has been able to generate the phenomenal diversity and intensity of life we live with, has the ability to communicate. I mean, come on! Isn’t it time we woke up?

4. Look at the question of, “If we fail here, what is it that we’re going to do?”

If Earth, as an environment suitable for LIFE were to become unsuitable tomorrow; what would we do? It’s a simple question to which we all know the answer.

Hollywood portrays that a small select group would fly off in a spaceship, find a new home and begin again. While that’s a nice hopeful story, it is unlikely. And if that capability is currently available, those who have it are keeping quiet. Our two closest planetary neighbours, the Moon and Mars, are both barren and there aren’t many other options. What would we do?

Our choices could be more effective if we looked at what we can change at home, though our habit has been to sweep the mess under the carpet and apply air freshener. Perhaps we need to ask questions like these,

• What are we being that we can change?
• What is not working that we can change?
• What else is possible? And …
• How does it get any better than this?

Please note that I did not ask, “What can we fix?” We need to choose something different because none of our fixes have worked. We have been trying to fix our failures, over and over, and the results are not encouraging.

Asking questions can generate more possibilities than reworking the answers that continue to fail us. Refer back to Step 1, “Always be in question.”

5. Realise and acknowledge your ability to survive and thrive

Systematically destroying a 5.98 sextillion metric-ton planet requires enormous talent.

It’s not something that just anyone could do. None of the animals, the birds, reptiles, plants and not to mention trillions of insects who have been living on Earth for a long, long time have managed it. In fact, no other species either individually or collectively have even come close. Well, we have.

Acknowledging the brilliance we must be to create such a stupendous mess, is the first step in recognising that we also have the ability to turn it around; to change it. Until we stop judging our creation and us as bad; denying we had anything to do with it and refusing to claim, own and acknowledge our undeniable brilliance … then we will succeed. It is inevitable.

Functioning from the brilliance we truly are, that we have already demonstrated in monumental style, will allow us to generate the changes required to go beyond survival … to thrival. Continuing to pretend we are the victims of some great environmental or galactic joke will ensure our own deaths. How ironic that there will be no one left to laugh.

We have to ask ourselves, “Are we really that clever? Did we really do all of this?” And if enough of us answer, “Yes!” then something can be different; but if we reply, “No! It was all someone or something else.” then it is goodbye my friends. Let us not continue being that stupid.

What’s Next

Earth is dynamically and critically impacted by our choices and actions in multiple areas, though the single key driver of this is population. In addition, two characteristics of our society are voracious consumerism and throwaways contributing to massive pollution.

The depletion of Earth’s resources, in all areas, results from 6.76 billion people consuming, every second of every day. And pollution is the discarded waste thrown-off by 6.76 billion people, every second of every day.

We are consuming the planet at a fantastic rate and polluting it with our waste. The type and quantity of waste we unconsciously scatter has diseased the planet almost beyond healing.

There is a large population of rabbits located adjacent to a control fence built along the Western Australian border – rabbits are not-native to Australia and were introduced in 1788. The rabbits have eaten all of the ground-cover vegetation, including it’s roots. Every tree has been ring-barked as the starving animals have stripped bark off the trunk, as high-up as they could reach; the trees have all died. The rabbits, diseased, emaciated and totally wretched, sit in the dust awaiting their death. That could be us in a few years.

A large reduction in the number of human bodies on Earth, would allow dynamic change to begin.

Nothing else can be effectively changed until the key issue of population is addressed. Is now the time to look at what we have been unwilling to see? And to become fully aware that any species that continues to multiply within a finite environment, will eventually and inevitably destroy it’s life support system; in our case … Earth.

We still have choice, thought the options are thinning with each passing day. Is now the time to stop passing each day as if it had nothing to do with us, and looked at what choices we can make right now that will allow change to begin?

Let me give credit here to Steve Bowman for his article called, “Five steps to operating in a financial crisis – Expert advice for NGOs,” from which I adapted the five steps underpinning his excellent work. In the article, Mr. Bowman lays out, “… five of the most important things [business] can do … in the current financial environment.” In my article above, I have extrapolated on his expert recommendations and applied these steps to changing the world; another fast growing crisis.