Sharing Economy

A recent column by Tom Friedman in the New York Times, “And Now for a Bit of Good News. . .” focuses on the emerging sharing economy. Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of this new sharing economy includes the way the entrepreneurial spirit has gone global and many of us are rethinking what we need to own vs. rent vs. do away with altogether. 

Examples of sharing economy ventures include:  

Lyft, Uber, RelayRides: car sharing services
BMW on Demand: BMW dealers rent their cars and motorcycles by the hour or the day 
SurfAir: a private airline membership club
LiquidSpace: on-demand workspaces by the hour or day booked directly online 
Vayable: local tour guides 
VRBO and Airbnb: individuals renting rooms, houses, apartments

Underlying the sharing economy is the importance of creating an identity, trust and a reputation through the feedback from the general public. At Airbnb, for instance, people are willing to rent rooms in other's homes by having an identity (through profiles), and reading about other's experiences. The "renters" in turn create a reputation through online reviews and are covered through a $1 million damage insurance provided by Airbnb. Guests also create a reputation based on the "renters" experience of their stay.

These new ventures are redefining lifestyles and proving simple and in many cases less expensive ways of booking hotel rooms, renting cars, offices, etc. The complaints from hotels, taxi and car rental businesses are being addressed by regulators who will hopefully find the "sweet spot" that protects the more traditional businesses while encouraging entrepreneurs to experiment with the new sharing economy.

Check these new ventures out, at an online store and app near you!  

Conservation Psychology

The behavioral aspects of sustainability seem to be getting more and more attention. Conservation Psychology is one of the emerging fields that explores the human/nature connection and its psychological aspects. Conservation Psychology is described as “the scientific study of the reciprocal relationships between humans and the rest of nature, with a particular focus on how to encourage conservation of the natural world. . . . the actual network of researchers and practitioners who work together to understand and promote a sustainable and harmonious relationship between people and the natural environment.”
 It seems particularly important to focus on the psychological aspects of our behavior towards environmental conservation issues since psychology looks at our attitudes and motivations. Technology will continue on its course of development; however, what motivates us as humans and how well (or not well) we work together to solve economic, social and environmental problems is essential. Conservation Psychology not only speaks to our motivations but also our attitudes toward nature, our environmental values and our connection to wildlife and the environment. All of these deep-rooted aspects of Conservation Psychology play a role in working on behalf of conservation issues. Scholars, business people and non-profit environmental organizers are increasingly aware of the important role of human behavior in solving many of the complex challenges that we face.

Conferences such as BECC (Behavior, Energy and Climate Conference) and the gatherings at the 2014 Conservation Psychology Institute (CPI) recognize the role of Conservation Psychology in designing ways for individuals to take meaningful action on behalf of the environment. Understanding why we act the way we do and what shapes our values is at the core of designing successful campaigns that create social change. Solving the psychological riddles associated with human behavior will have an equal or greater impact than technological breakthroughs that are already happening at breakneck speed.      

Leadership Styles: Servant and Stewardship

Understanding, developing and adapting our leadership styles to the circumstances at hand is becoming recognized as an important skill as so many of us work in team environments. Two of the leadership approaches that I've been researching over the last several years is servant leadership and stewardship leadership.

Robert K. Greenleaf, describes servant leadership as our innate desire to bring out the best in others. As he says: "The servant-leader is a servant first. . . . It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. . . . The best test is: do those served grow as persons: Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, not be further deprived?" In effect, servant leadership involves added qualities such as listening, respect, empathy and being authentic in the caring and well-being of others so that they can excel.

Stewardship leadership incorporates similar values as servant leadership and adds a measure of autonomy and trust in the capabilities of others. In his book, Stewardship: Choosing Service over Self Interest, author Peter Block defines stewardship as “to hold something in trust for another. . . . the choice to preside over the orderly distribution of power. This means giving people at the bottom and the boundaries of the organization choice over how to serve a customer, a citizen, a community. It is the willingness to be accountable for the well-being of the larger organization by operating in service, rather than in control, of those around us. Stated simply, it is accountability without control or compliance.” Stewardship involves  allowing people to develop their own style of interactions with others and supports having them take care of others though their intentions of being of service.

Both the servant and stewardship approaches to leadership speak to the highest qualities of people by creating the conditions for others to reach their full potential and develop their own leadership style. These approaches apply when interacting with the full spectrum of individuals from varying cultures and ages since the core qualities are deeply humanistic.  

Human & Nature Connection

While traveling in Colorado this week I met with Louise Turner Chawla, a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in the Environmental Design Department. Chawla has been at the forefront of the research around the importance of connecting to nature particularly in urban areas as a health benefit. Gardens trees, biodiversity, streams, playgrounds all play an important role in our health. These features also benefit the environment by reducing greenhouse gases and filtering water and other pollutants.

As we discussed these aspects it became evident that there needs to be more integration between urban planners and health officials in the design and implementation of landscapes in our towns and cities. Often these professionals do not share ideas at the initial design and development phases of landscape projects in our urban environments. It is encouraging to hear that as interdisciplinary studies expand in colleges and universities, more students and educators are beginning to see the value of integrating landscaping, with health, psychology and other related fields. It's terrific to see the cross-pollination between these different fields of study. Now it's time to move from the classroom to implementing this integrated approach as part of the standard practices in urban design and landscaping projects.

Giftivism

Nipun Mehta defines Givtivism as, “the practice of radically generous acts that change the world. Radical in its audacity to believe that inner and the outer are deeply inter-connected, and generous in its vision of uplifting one-hundred percent, the oppressor and the oppressed.” As a founder of ServiceSpace, Mehta has been promoting giftivism through several innovative initiatives. One of them, Karma Kitchen started in 1997 as an all-volunteer restaurant in Berkeley, California provides meals to customers. When they are finished dining they receive a tab for $0. The diners are then asked to pay what they think the meal is worth. The premise is a pay-it-forward model, and to date they have served over 24,000 customers. Karma Kitchen has expanded to six cities worldwide including Ahmedabad, India, and Tokyo, Japan.

This radical economic model is based on the good will that is in all of us. I recall that years ago a rock band followed a similar approach giving away their new release and asking customers to pay what they thought it was worth. This approach more than covered their expenses and became a profitable way for selling their new release.

Perhaps in these times when small businesses find that competing with the big box stores for the lowest price is often a futile endeavor, giftivism offers a glimmer of hope for us, as individuals, to assess the true value of a product or service and pay for it accordingly.

Messaging and Climate Change

One of the most interesting guides that deals with psychological behavior and climate change is Columbia University's Earth Institute's "The Psychology of Climate Change Communication," published by the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED); (to download see: http://www.cred.columbia.edu/guide). This insightful guide covers the main areas that educators, journalists and activists, etc. need to pay attention to in order to be effective in conveying their ideas, especially about climate change.

The topics include: knowing your audience; the role of mental models; getting their attention; how to use effective framing of issues; translating data in experiences that the audience can relate to; when to include emotion in the message and/or factual information; the impact of scientific uncertainty; the role of "the tragedy of the commons" regarding climate change; and how to effectively work with groups. All of these psychological factors are imperative in order to make the case for climate change and effectively persuade people about making changes in their lifestyle in order to reduce the impact from climate change.

Elke Weber, a professor at CRED, has done some really interesting research of negative vs. positive messages. It turns out that if we use negative messaging, it has a greater impact, but it doesn't stay with people and then they move on to something else. Positive messaging, on the other hand, is slower to take root, but has a much greater chance of sticking for a longer period of time. So, many of the negative adds such as those showing melting icebergs and scrambling polar bears have limited effect in the long-term. And positive messages that give people tangible steps to make a difference are more powerful. It's encouraging how research shows that positivity wins out in the end.

Cultural Stories: Perspectives and Context

The last several months I've been looking into cultural narratives. What is our cultural narrative? And from which lens are we viewing it? Is it the American dream? Is it the Western cultural narrative? And how is this different from the cultural narrative of other cultures and civilizations such as the African, Indian, Latin American, Japanese, or Chinese?

If we take it to the very local level, we can think of the cultural story of our home town, and then go up the scale. So, for example, we can start with the Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco, then the City of San Francisco, then the Bay Area, then Northern California, then Western region of the US, then the USA, then North America, then Western Hemisphere and finally Western Culture. Each of these levels has a particular character and a specific quality to its cultural story. So, it's very difficult to assign a cultural story at a global scale.

In the case of San Francisco and the Bay Area it is a hot spot for new innovations and hi-tech and one of the cultural narratives revolves around this theme. It is also a place of constant change, a melting pot of different ideas and cultures. There's also a transient quality about this region. There's also the cultural heritage of San Francisco, the impact of the Gold Rush in the 1850s, the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes, the port of San Francisco, the emergence of Silicon Valley, the impact of Jack London, David Brower, John Muir, the 1960s music and counterculture, Stanford University and UC Berkeley and many other individuals institutions and movements that comprise the story of this region.

In addition to the physical and economic characteristics affecting the cultural narratives, there are the qualities associated with urban centers. In the case of the San Francisco Bay Area, the fast pace of life, the congestion, traffic, population density, valuable real estate all impact the story of this region.

A completely different cultural narrative may apply to someone living in say Cairo, Paris, Osaka, or Johannesburg. What each cultural narrative has in common is the impact of the city's physical biogeography, national and cultural heritage, population ethnicity, economic activity among many other factors.

For additional information about the world's civilizations, see: The Clash of Civilizations by Samuel Huntington. Also, Duane Elgin has done interesting work on social evolutionary stages. And to learn about cultural stories, see Great Transitions Stories and New Stories.