Looking for a great movie for Valentine's Day? Something to help you believe again in the power of love to save people's lives and change the world?
You can't go wrong with the 1967 classic, "To Sir, With Love", starring Sidney Poitier. I saw it recently and highly recommend it.
The story line (plot spoiler warning) is simple: an educated man who can't get work in his chosen field finds himself teaching a bunch of rowdy teens in east end London. Pushed to his limits, he has a breakthrough, and ends up ditching the curriculum altogether. Instead, he engages his students in conversation, and helps them develop moral intelligence as they move toward adulthood.
(If you're a boomer, you may get all choked up listening to the title song, sung by Lulu.)
Watching it again after all these years, I was surprised and delighted to draw parallels between Poitier's character and another rather more contemporary leader who is also calling on us to become our best selves. In his inauguration speech, President Obama said that, "The time has come to set aside childish things...". And reawakened us to the age-old notion that there is meaning in contributing to something greater than ourselves.
What does this have to do with New Radicals? Stay with me. (For more on how people are putting skills acquired in their careers to work on the world's greatest challenges, please see archived articles.)
Behavioral science tells us that human beings want to be part of a group. Being part of a group makes us feel secure. And one way to continually establish whether we are part of the group is to compare our behavior to that of others in the group.
In short, we want to emulate other people.
One progressive energy company, Positive Energy, is using behavioral science to help people change their consumption habits.
PE wanted to encourage the residents of Sacramento, California to use less energy. It knew that traditional approaches, such as financial incentives (use less power, save money) were only moderately effective. So the firm decided to try what's known as "normative messaging" instead.
"We used sophisticated data analysis to give 35,000 residents information about their individual energy consumption," founder Daniel Yates says. "And to compare this data to other community members. The result is that overall energy use dropped by two percent."
It turns out that knowing you're keeping up with the Joneses - in this rather more positive take on that phrase - is incredibly powerful. PE is already ahead of their projections, and is moving rapidly toward reducing energy consumption in Sacramento by 15 percent over the next decade.
Clearly, it's human nature to want to be like others. So, please, let's have more positive role models. Like Positive Energy. President Obama. And "To Sir, with love."
This is my valentine to you all. It's wonderful to know that there are so many smart, compassionate people out there who are doing good works - or who are eager to begin. Please continue to share your stories. By all means, email me directly at julia@wearethenewradicals.com. And consider commenting below so that more people can learn about what you're doing to make the world a better place - your struggles and successes will inspire others to act.