Living Activism: Moving from intention to action

Crisis has brought the importance of collective action and social responsibility center stage. What we thought might pass after a few months has been going strong for more than a year. There is no going back to how it was, and why should we? Chaos provides us with the chance to do things differently. It shines a light on faulty systems and structures, draws attention to the most vulnerable among us, and shows us that we will not survive if we do not move from ‘me’ to ‘us’.

Crisis has called us to look beyond creating value for stakeholders, to extend our concern to people outside our immediate circle, and witness the impact of our behavior on our planet, our home. It has called us all to action. Whether we answer the call or pretend it’s a telemarketer is up to us, and the stakes are high. If we do not work together to reach the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty and protect the planet by 2030, we may have missed the chance to rise up and create a better,  even inhabitable, world for us all.

Chaos gives us a chance to reset, rethink, and regroup. It is giving us a chance to re-pattern, and by so doing, design better futures together.

F*&% perfection

Activism is the use of direct and noticeable action to bring about change. Living activism is living on purpose. Living activism aims to build better - better community, business, policies, in short, a better world, because we can be and do better. Living activism is in the being, our behavior and culture, and in the doing, the actions we take. It is not a promise or aspiration. It is a way of life. It is holistic and makes no separation between the personal and professional. It is messy, imperfect; it is trial and error. It is uncomfortable and rewarding. 

Living activism is not about achieving a state of perfection. There are many things we have to learn and unlearn, and we will need to try again (and again), and share these experiments and vulnerabilities with the market, employees, and the world. Other ways of thinking, doing, and being will require different experts and partners who are not afraid of experimentation and don’t see failure as a loss, but as a learning.

“All things are imperfect. Nothing that exists is without imperfections. When we look really closely at things, we see the flaws. The sharp edge of the razor blade, when magnified, reveals microscopic pits, chips, and variegations.”

- Leonard Cohen

Living activism means being open to change, reframing how we see the world, and questioning the status quo. It means being humble, vulnerable, and curious. We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world, yet we lack information despite having more data available than ever before. We may always bring a tote bag to the supermarket, and never use plastic bags, but we may not know the small plastic bags available for fruit and vegetables are more damaging than the plastic bag at the cashier. That’s okay. Now we know and we can do something about it. What if a supermarket informed its customers, and provided a sustainable alternative at the fruit and veggie section? 

As individuals, living activism is not about doing everything right, or judging ourselves or others, nor is it a post on Instagram that builds the image we’d like others to have of us. Living activism is in the small and large, not only what we donate to or support vocally on social media, but how we greet the kiosk worker, the casually racist joke we call out even though it is uncomfortable, the smile we extend to a mother with a screaming child in a supermarket. If activism, kindness, and care do not extend to the wider world through our daily interactions, then it is just window dressing. It becomes how we market ourselves, not how we live. 

Collective action

Building better is not just up to individuals, businesses, or governments. We are all responsible co-creators of this world, and we all have a role to play. The harmful belief that someone else will fix it just won’t cut it anymore. We all need to fix it. Businesses need to provide sustainable everyday choices, consumers must pressure companies through their wallets, and governments need to create policies that encourage and reward socially good corporate and consumer behavior. 

The way to build a sustainable, equitable, and kind world is through living activism because purpose is not a promise, it is your next project. For a company, this will require moving from announcing intentions to reporting on the impact of its projects and initiatives.

In this world of chaos and transformation, which has become the new normal, 5-year strategies, and the separation of purpose, marketing, and digital to individual departments is no longer viable. It will take leadership and bold action to create solutions at the 4-P intersection - purpose, profit, people, and the planet. 

The world is in a state of disruption, and companies and consumers have an opportunity to create real impact. Let’s do it together.