When it comes to make change happen there is a few different types of people you'll meet.

You'll meet the "You should do this" people. They give recommendations, they complain, they have ideas.

You'll meet the "We are doing this" people. They show you how they are already doing the work, they have ideas on how to make it bigger, they know what blocks progress.

You'll meet the "Let's wait and see" people. They'll come on board once everyone is moving and they see it makes sense.

The loudest voices are often the "You should do this" people. They are smart. They have good advice. But when it comes to make them move with you, they'll often continue to offer a complaint like: "I can't help. We should have more time but we haven't".

But the "We are doing this" people will want to help you out. Because they want the ideas they worked on to be used by others. They want things to change in the direction that they have already taken.

So when it comes to making your service or organization more sustainable, get ideas and insights from all. But put more energy with the "We are doing this" people. They'll be the force that make change happen.

Action question

How can you find the "We are doing this" people who are already making parts of your service or organization more sustainable?

The inspiration behind this principle

This principle is based on a conversation I had with Michel Sterckx, a project manager working on a big sustainability project for the Salvation Army in Switzerland. The conversation was in French:

Daniele's notes

• This is the first shitty draft of this principle

• This principle might one day make it in the fifth book in the "Service Design Principles" series that explores how to better serve humans and the planet.

• If you're curious about service design principles, you can get the four previous books in the series, with proofread principles and less grammatical creativity.

Written by hand
This principle has been written by hand and was inspired by an audio note I took while walking.