One Way to Change a Broken Status Quo
I once saw a terrific sign at a cash register: “If you’re afraid of change, leave it here.”
A few months back, I was talking with a friend who was pulling together a group of colleagues to tackle a wicked problem in their field.
The nagging issue, my friend said, was that no one would do any work between meetings. So the problem went unsolved. And the status quo everyone heartily agreed was very broken, stayed very broken.
E.B. White wrote that “New York [City] asks a lot of people.” The same could be said of modern life. Just treading water is a victory. Which makes changing the water we swim in - the very status quo that is so demanding, so broken - nearly impossible. And understandably, then, no work happens between meetings.
If you haven’t read David Foster Wallace’s great Kenyon commencement address about the water we swim in, do treat yourself!
And this gets to the beating heart of why I love policy change: at its best, changing the laws we live under can make the status quo kinder, gentler, and that makes it easier for us to be kinder, gentler with ourselves and each other.
Policies preventing lead in children’s toys and tobacco companies from marketing to kids; policies requiring seatbelts and safety lids on pill bottles.
But these changes aren’t day hikes; they are long-haul trucking. Which is another way of saying they require work between meetings.
So here’s a simple step we can take; and as the Buddhists say, Simple, but not easy. Let’s choose one issue we care about. Perhaps something we’re engaged on at a lukewarm level. Turn the temperature up by doing the between meetings work. Raise our hand to draft talking points, make calls, recruit members, send emails, get permits, whatever shape it takes.
Each action is a small defiance of the status quo. And when defiances start adding up, then we get some really good, interesting change.
If you are already a work-between-meetings person, thank you for all your care. Perhaps give yourself permission to do just a bit less.
Now, two useful bits to keep in mind.
First: those on the other side of our issue - the chaps who want the exact opposite outcome we do - it’s safe to assume they are doing the work between meetings.
Second: Have a good time in this long-haul trucking. Our life doesn’t start when the problem is solved. Solving the problem is also our life. And that should be fulfilling, too. Fun is a wonderful sustaining fuel, and a great bulwark against burnout. As journalist David Plotz said, Whomever is having the most fun wins.
Years ago, Edward Abbey gave a speech to environmental advocates. Do not burn yourself out, he advised. Do not just fight for the land and forget to enjoy it. Climb the peaks, breathe deep of that clean air, take to the rivers. And if you do that, he said, “I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards."