Last Saturday, we had the privilege of hosting Awakin Call with Neil Gaught.

As far back as he can remember, Neil Gaught has been consumed by “a conflict that exists in my heart and mind that pits the way things are against the way things could be”. He is now a leader among business thinkers who are helping companies create a whole new operating system to radically rethink and operationalize purpose so that they (and we) might have a sustainable future. After a successful corporate career in design and branding, Neil dropped out of the corporate system and moved to New Zealand, where he found the space to look with fresh eyes. Neil’s books and system outlining Single Organizing Idea (SOI®) were born from deep inquiry, as an answer to how Neil himself, as well as businesses, can be a force for good. SOI is a set of tools and processes any organization can employ to become organized around a single plan of action for transformation, the progress of which is measured.

Below are some of the nuggets from the call that stood out for me ...
(Also, you can check out Neil's follow-up note at the bottom of this post.)

• After I had spent 10 years building a design company, I went to work for a massive branding company.
• Branding is a very powerful way to influence people’s buying decisions. That’s because we don’t buy products by what we think about them, but what we feel about them.
• After experiencing some success working in branding, it occurred to me that I’ getting good at influencing people to buy things that are not good for the planet.
• We’re living at a time where the entire way we do business is doing huge damage, and benefiting only a few at the expense of the many.
• I realized that if you can harness the power of branding toward a Single Organizing Idea, based on the natural human desire to do good, you have the potential for making a big difference.
• I think human beings are fundamentally good. But the systems we’ve built, and within which we we have to function, can be very destructive.
• Our societies have been exploited by advertising and branding. And the unholy alliance between media and advertising has gotten worse in our time.
• So much has been destroyed by greed. I’m not a Marxist; I’m a Humanist. I believe in the power of business to do good. But in today’s world, we’re being destroyed by greed.
• John Elkington, the authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development who first coined the phrase corporate social responsibility, endorsed my first book. That made a big difference to me.
• We all know that what we’re doing is damaging our planet and our societies. There is a growing realization that we can’t go on doing what we’re doing now.
• Although we’ve been aware of this problem for a long long time, in the last last three or four years there’s been a kind of awakening, that things are not going the way they should be going.
• Companies, non-profits, and government agencies often say they’re doing something about all this, when in fact they’re not.
• Companies are still about shareholders, not stakeholders.
• Single Operating Idea, SOI — has been born out of the desire to take on the hypocrisy.
• We’re talking about fundamentally changing. How you have to engage people and their beliefs about what the future should look like.
• It’s not direct; it’s indirect. You’re really challenging people: now that you know this, what are you going to do about it?
• It’s about the right thing to do not only for people and planet, but also for their businesses.
• Vision & mission are military style concepts, born out of a hierarchical command structure. SOI emerges from collective shared values.
• The SOI is not created; it is uncovered. It’s already there people’s hearts and minds.
• You still need leaders. Leaders make decisions (managers manage).
• What’s amazing about asking people to do that (operate according to an SOI): its the way you ask. And it’s the tools you give them.
• With SOI you discover what is. With branding you make something up.
• It’s like the way Michelangelo described his art of sculpting. He would chip away at what’s on the outside so he could reveal what was hiding inside.
• With branding you only have to talk with a few people in the company, and you have a brand. The rest of the company employees don’t need to know.
• With SOI everybody has to be involved, because it becomes part of their everyday work.
• So how do we plan to scale this? By equipping management consultants who work with companies everywhere and want to support change, with these tools. We’re after a very special group of management consultants. We’ll support them in growing their own businesses, as they support companies in making the radical change to SOI.
• We see our business as a technology business. We’re licensing access to the SOI technology tools.
• SOI thrives in collaborative environments. But you still need leadership with generosity of purpose.

Lots of gratitude to Neil Gaught, to David Bonbright, and to all the behind-the-scenes volunteers that made this call happen!

Aryae
======================
Neil's follow-up note:

Dear Friends,

Thank you for last week's Awakin Call. I left feeling quite grateful to all of you, the volunteers and the larger ServiceSpace ecosystem.

Change for good is entirely possible but we must act now and at scale, before it is too late. As a follow-up, here are some additional resources that you can share and use to spread the word about Single Organizing Idea (SOI) and the work we are doing to accelerate progress to a more sustainable and equitable future for all. Please share them with your networks.

• https://singleorganizingidea.org/books/
• https://singleorganizingidea.scoreapp.com

I look forward to staying connected in the field of our shared values.

Let's accelerate progress!

With appreciation,

Neil Gaught