Just be good. Just do good.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”  ~Margaret Mead

Here's to new adventures and new approaches.  And my first ever blog.  In some ways I find it funny that my original blog web address was already taken: begooddogood.  That's my mantra, darn it!  And then I'm encouraged to know that others are approaching life with the same focus, even though it may mean something inherently different to them.  So now it's justbegooddogood.  With the "just" not diminishing the point.  Just be good.  Just do good. 

About me: today, I am working a dream job managing the sustainability programs for the non-profit Yellowstone Business Partnership, based in Bozeman MT and traveling all over Greater Yellowstone.  How did I get here?  I was fortunate to grow up in Montana with parents who instilled in me a love for the environment. I majored in Resource Conservation, and got a Master's degree in Environmental Science, Alternative Energy and Sustainable Building.  I had zero interest in business classes.  I wanted to change the world; you couldn't do that in business school!  I tried to leave several times, but was always drawn back to these mountains and this unparalleled natural world. 

Fast forward 7 years, and I find myself working intimately with businesses of all types and sizes, realizing daily how much more effective I could be with a solid business foundation.  It is clear to me that to be able to effect change, I have to work with, understand, and ultimately change the business world.  Businesses have enormous potential to help shape a positive future for the region.  Or…not.

Hence, BGI.   I've had BGI on my radar for 4 years, and the stars have finally aligned to bring me here.  I was drawn to BGI for the opportunity to question the status quo, to challenge the notion that life is, and should be, "business as usual".   I am excited about the education and real world case studies to come, the connections I have already made at Channel Rock and those that will arise this week at our first intensive.  With respect to our economics course (and this blog), I am eager to gain a better understanding of economic structures and the financial world.  I don't fully grasp the intricacies or the nuances of this foreign (to me) world: it often seems like Monopoly--is this real money?  I certainly feel the fallout first-hand--while I am grateful to have a job (especially one about which I am passionate), I'm not safeguarded from reduced hours and creative allocations of limited resources.  The financial instability of countless businesses and individuals has had a devastating trickle down effect, hitting those lowest on the totem pole the hardest, it seems.  As for Wall Street/big banks/mystery entities, I don't understand the process or the outcomes.  How can a trader make $35 million in bonuses on anticipated profits?  Who fronts the money?  And why would they, without a guaranteed return?  How is it possible that so few people can be in charge of so much, including all of our futures?  What is a hedge fund, anyway?

A recent article I read on class awareness and class imbalance titled "Why "Green" Consumer Choices Aren't Enough" gave a useful comparison to a disparity I've often struggled with.  I like to believe that we, as individuals, can make choices that will tip the scale, that we're not doomed to be out manned, outspent, and outplayed (although a recent speech at a Toastmaster's meeting on how the electoral college works essentially reinforced the fact that in Montana, a Republican state, my vote doesn't count.  I'm still voting.).  Here's some perspective: "When it comes to energy policy, power is not evenly distributed. An individual consumer’s choice to purchase a car instead of a bike is nothing like an individual CEO’s choice to blow up a mountaintop in order to mine coal. It could become trendy to eat local food—it already has, thank goodness—but an individual’s decision to buy at the farmers market and a bank’s decision to fund windmills instead of coal mining are not at all comparable in terms of their leverage or effect."

So my question is, how can we initiate a fundamental paradigm shift, so that the individual, the one just trying to be a good person and do the right thing, has a measurable influence on the paths our society and culture tread?  

A parting thought from Lakey's article: "...how can members of any class check themselves?  They can start by asking themselves whether they are operating inside their comfort zones. If the answer is "yes," their perspective might not be appropriate, since working for radical change (such as truly sustainable energy policy) cannot be done from inside our comfort zones...Outside our comfort zone is where the learning happens.  Outside our comfort zone is where we'll save the planet and ourselves."

Let's step outside our comfort zones.  I got your back.  You got mine?