Evolutionary Change™
“We need to be the change we wish to see in the world.” Gandhi borrowed this concept from his grandfather, now Obama is borrowing it from Gandhi. What is Obama doing? Is he attempting to get us to revolt? I hope so.
If Obama and his staff are anything, they are shrewd marketers. Morphing their winning slogan change into – be the change is brilliant. They convinced enough of us to choose him to be the agent of change. Now that he is elected, he is passing the buck back to us – he wants us to change. This is not consistent with the current American view, which can be summarized as, “We shouldn’t need to change. It’s the government’s job to meet our needs of change.”
If he manages to shift this attitude of righteous entitlement to one of self-responsible empowerment, he will transform our country. Since the great depression that set up social welfare, we have evolved to be a country of people looking to institutions to take care of us. First, it was our federal government, then it was insurance companies and our employers, then it became more diffused with the media and consumerism evolving to be the pabulum of pleasure.
The courage Obama is manifesting with suggesting that we are the change is not the America of the last 80 years. Creating a country that is self-reliant harks back to our founders’ desire for independence.
My hope is that be the change is more than the slogan of the day. To show up in a more powerful way is what we want. We want to make a difference. We want to be part of the solution. It is a leader’s job to call out our greatness from within. Unlike President Bush who has been speaking to our fears, Obama speaks to our innate desire to change, to make a difference.
Both Obama and Whole Revolution share the principle that we need change and this change wants to create a better world. Whole Revolution shows us a way to be that sustainable change through being whole. When we stop resisting the urge to grow, we begin the Evolutionary Change™ of traveling the ancient path of change.
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[…] Godin understands hope is so often what marketers sell. If Obama is anything, he is a marketer. Him and his people understand that America needs hope if we are to […]