I regularly read the blog, From Me to We, by Kare Anderson. I thought the title reflected a basic tenet of sustainability and of life in general. As I read her posts I find she delivers on this theme with often very insightful advice as was the case today in her post, Two Ways to Make Smarter Choices Next Time.

1. Don’t Get Anchored Down (and remain open-minded)

“When considering a decision, the mind gives disproportionate weight to the first information it receives.  Initial impressions, estimates, or other data anchor subsequent thoughts and judgments…Because anchors influence how others see a situation, savvy negotiators use them to influence how someone feels about a political issue or options for taking sides.”

Do you ever give too much weight to past performance?

“In business, one of the most frequent “anchors” is a past event or trend.  A marketer in attempting to project sales of a product for the coming year often begins by looking at the sales volumes for past years. This approach tends to put too much weight on past history and not enough weight on other factors.”

2. When to Stop Digging (move on, start fresh)

“Each time you move, speak and demonstrate what you mean, you deepen your belief, get more articulate about it and are more likely to tell others…(therefore) Seek out and listen to people who were uninvolved with the earlier decisions.  Examine why admitting to an earlier mistake distresses you, if it does.”

My experience with these two aspects of decision-making are manifested in the Website, EarthSayers.tv. It emphasizes many points of view around the big social, environmental, and economic challenges. These challenges are being addressed by a wide range of citizens who are experts, teachers, activists, business and civic leaders, artists, employees, entrepreneurs, and citizens from all walks of life.  Some of the voices you may have heard of, but most of the voices will be new and fresh to you.

So, there it is. I really can’t make people change their decision-making habits, but for those seeking to be more open-minded and exposed to fresh ideas, I helped create EarthSayers.tv, voices of sustainability.  Here’s our special collection on Transforming Our Economy.  Give Alan AtKisson a listen. He describes the History of GDP which believe it or not makes for interesting discussions not only in the classroom, but at home and work.

Ruth Ann Barrett, Sustainability Advocate, April 9, 2011.

EarthSayers.tv, an advertising-free and public digital library, features over 1,000 voices of sustainability. We are looking to maintain EarthSayers.tv by customizing the look and feel of the collection with content as an information service to organizations with a shared objective of increasing sustainability awareness and a desire to educate and motivate their audience. The collection will continue to grow by aggregation and by our branded partners adding their original content and that of their stakeholders.