Feelings came up far more often than might be expected at a business conference, many attendees remarked.  At a Tuesday session on “Changing the Game”, for example, panelists discussed the role of grief and pain in climate-change denial.  “[People think] 'I’m just not convinced climate change is real because I can’t believe what I drive is going to kill us'”, said Andrew Winston, founder of Winston Eco-Strategies and a Guardian Sustainable Business contributor. “But that attitude is a little like my kids’. I think part of being an adult is taking responsibility.”  That said, there are signs the “denial phase” may be coming to an end, he said. In a secret-ballot poll of top executives, a high percentage called climate change either an existential threat or a big problem, he added: “I was shocked.”  My Guardian colleague Jo Confino said it’s important to acknowledge the deep emotions involved in sustainability challenges:  If we were all to really deeply get into the issues we’re facing, there’s an enormous amount of hidden grief about what is happening in the world. What we’re creating is killing species in the world…. We like to come up with solutions and strategy, which is critically important, but it’s also all about feeling – feeling on a deep level. We need to have more tears.  Changing the world starts with transforming ourselves, he said. “There’s something around being really honest with ourselves,” he said. “I went to breakfast the first day of the conference and I went in telling myself, I’m going to have granola, and ended up with bacon and eggs. The next day, I went to breakfast [again intending to have granola] and had pancakes. I’m exhorting everyone to change the way they live … I can’t even change my breakfast.”  Renee Lertzman, director of insight at Brand Cool, applauded the discussion about feelings.  “It’s the first time I’m seeing people talk about this,” she said. “I’m seeing more of an appetite for hearing about the relationship between our inner work and our outer work – how we relate to ourselves and recognizing how that relates to our work in the world. I’m hearing a more emotional vocabulary. I’m hearing talk about empathy, compassion, grief. ”  Lertzman said she’d like to see more discussion about the relationship between emotions and sustainability. “We have to start with ourselves and our efficacy is contingent on that,” she said.  Pamela Wilhelms, founder of Wilhelms Consulting, also said she’s seeing a change toward more spirituality.  “The conversation around the spiritual dimension is happening,” she said. “For years before, there was very little talk about this. There’s much more of a conversation about it now; it’s a spiritual shift.”  Carrie Majeske, associate director of global sustainability integration at Ford, agreed. Mindfulness is “coming at me from everywhere” lately, she said, and not just from other sustainability professionals.  It hits here especially hard because of the big picture view in the social and environmental community, but it’s gaining traction everywhere. With all the data coming at us, everyone needs to find time to quiet your mind and reflect. We’re so connected and there’s a gap between what we can handle and what we think we can handle. I think we’ve hit a tipping point with connectedness leading to overwhelmedness.  For Majeske’s #GSBselfie, she committed to pushing for mindfulness training at work.
Approximately 2,500 participants are gathering in San Diego this week for the Sustainable Brands conference. We'll blog about the takeaways on new business models, consumer behavior and more