Changing the world

Changing the World 7 October 2012

Changing the World

Katherine (Kit) Brown-Hoekstra

When Jack asked me to do this lightning talk, I immediately said, "Sure! Looks like
fun! I’ve been wanting to try this format. " Then, he asked what my topic would be,
and without thinking, I blurted, "Changing the World". Then, upon reflection, I said to
myself, "Oh snap! I have 10 minutes to change the world! Ack!" So what the heck,
here we go!

I have to tell you a little story of how this topic came up.

(c) 2012 Comgenesis, LLC 1


About the Speaker

7 October 2012 @kitcomgenesis 2

I've had Comgenesis for 9 years now, and was looking for ideas for changing my
tagline from "Content Design and Development"—adequate, but a bit boring and it
doesn't really encompass all that I do—to something punchier and more alliterative
that brings in my interest in global communication. I posted on the CIC SIG list for
help, and many people provided great suggestions, including "Changing the World
through Communication".



What Does it Mean?

http://barry-overstreet.com/the-world-is-changing/


Someone on the list said that that tagline seemed a bit presumptuous and asked if I
really thought I could really change the world.
I thought about it, concluded that the answer is an emphatic "YES we all do", and
then went all meta and philosophical in my response to the SIG list. This talk is part
of what I came up with. I got to thinking about what does "changing the world" really
mean, and how does it happen? Can one person really change the world?



Big Change

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotive

http://commerce.idaho.gov/communities/internet-marketing/


I started thinking about the types of changes we can have. There are big
changes….



Small Change

http://www.dlysen.com/friends-love-at-all-times/#_

Image: winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


Changes can be small like creating a garden.



Plodding Change

http://gigaom.com/cloud/cloud-and-the-evolution-of-the-enterprise-architect/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture


There are plodding changes like the number of iterations that it took Edison to
invent the light bulb



Accidental Change

Image: Rameshng /CreativeCommons.org
http://www.myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=A
_Fleming_dnhs_US_2010

http://wp.stockton.edu/gfb1/2012/04/15/gene-mutation-play-critically-important-role-in-
myeloid-leukemia-promising-development-in-new-treatments/


Changes can be accidental, like the discovery of penicillin



Positive Change

Image: piyaphantawong /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

http://osu110delaware.blogspot.com/2009/11/end-of-
apartheid-nelson-mandela-nobel.html


Positive changes like the smallpox vaccine



Negative Change

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,2
9307,1994377,00.html http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/waldo-canyon-
fire-wildfire-near-colorado-springs-grows-0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_explosion


Or….change can be negative—nuclear holocaust




Timing, intention, and which side of the change you are on matter. Sometimes,
change that seemed bad turns out to be good (getting laid off and then finding your
true calling). Sometimes, a great change doesn’t turn out the way you want it to.
(water pump in India that kept getting sabotaged because for the girls who fetched
the water, it was the only time when they could be free and socialize.)



Image: Zuzzuillo / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


So, after much thought, I concluded that not only can one person change the world,
that is usually how it starts—with a catalyst. One person or a small group of people
who decide that the status quo isn't working and they do something about it.




I don't think most people think, "Hey, I'm going to change the world today." Instead, I
think that they see a problem that bothers them, and they try to fix it. So, they just
go off and find what they need and fix the problem. If it’s a big enough problem, they
might gather other people to them to help solve the problem.




And because that person is connected to about 150 other people, they might tell 2
friends about their solution, and those people might tell two friends, and so on, until
someone tells a super-connector like Scott and he tells everyone. And, then before
you know it, we have the next best thing to sliced bread, and everyone is using the
solution.



http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/03/the_worst_funeral_ever.php


Interestingly though, even if they tell their friends about the solution, most of the
time, people don't ever find out how much they have changed something because
the effects often don’t become known until much later, or because no one thought to
tell them.

Or, that change can be very subtle, and it's often only at a person's funeral that you
see how much he/she affected those around them. Unfortunately, that person
probably never realized the impact of his/her life because no one told them, and
now, well….they are dead and can't hear it. Ironic, isn't it?!



So What Does this Have to Do
with Tech Com?


One of the reasons that we struggle to define our profession is that we touch
everything—every product, process, and service on this little blue marble. We are
part of the infrastructure that keeps the world economies ticking along. We might not
think that our efforts matter, but they do. Noz alluded to this in his talk earlier today.
We support the tools and technology, the processes and services, that enable the
cool stuff to happen.



http://content.lib.washington.edu/farquharsonweb/


But, just like the roads and bridges, if we are doing our jobs well, no one notices the
content, right?! Until something goes wrong that is…




Without us, inventors would have a harder time designing, communicating, selling,
and building their inventions, people would be less safe on the job, people would die
because they didn't know how to care for a particular disease or how to feed their
children better, governments would fall because no one could communicate the
legal information to the public and could speak to each other about diplomatic
issues—the list goes on and on. We matter!



Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


So, yes I want to change the world. I want to leave it in better condition than it was
when I arrived; I want our profession to be better and stronger because I
participated in it. I want to leave every interaction on a positive note. Don't get me
wrong; I'm not a Pollyanna and I recognize that there are serious issues in the world
and in our profession. I also recognize that I'm a flawed human being (as are we all)
and that my flaws sometimes get in the way of my better nature....but, it's still a
worthy goal....



“Success”

"To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent
persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation
of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to
appreciate beauty; to give of one's self; to leave the world a bit
better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a
redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with
enthusiasm and sung with exhultation; to know that even one
life has breathed easier because you have lived--this is to
have succeeded.“—Ralph Waldo Emerson


So, I want to leave you with this thought about how changing the world, even in
small ways, brings success to you as an individual and to our profession.




Oh, and the tagline I came up with? “Communication for a connected World”. So,
let’s go out there and use our powers for good and connect the world.



Contact Information
Kit Brown-Hoekstra
Comgenesis, LLC
Phone: +1 720.542.3075
Email: kit.brown@comgenesis.com
Twitter: @kitcomgenesis



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