đź’¬ âť• “I think humanity is destined to self-destruct” / “We already know all of this” — these are two statements overheard during a full-day training session on the challenges and levers of ecological transition, delivered last June alongside Jean-Luc Guion-Firmin, for the senior management committee of a local authority in central France.
The first statement was made by the Chief Administrative Officer himself, during the opening round-table where participants were invited to share, in a few words, their perception of environmental issues. The second was a comment from a Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, following a presentation on planetary boundaries as they apply to local authorities — a presentation designed to be both comprehensive and concise (no small feat!).
Far from questioning the intelligence of either professional, I must admit I was somewhat unsettled by these remarks.
➡️ Humanity destined to disappear: while a bleak future for a significant portion of the world’s population is, unfortunately, a conceivable scenario, how can one expect to bring a team on board with the transition from such a starting position?
➡️ Information already known: while ecological issues are admittedly receiving growing coverage in both mainstream and professional media, I would venture to suggest that the slides presented during the session represent a body of knowledge that remains relatively rare and far from straightforward to grasp.
⚠️ Indeed, during the closing round-table at the end of the day, two other participants were heard to say: “Maybe it’s not really that serious?” and “I think technical solutions will sort out the problems.” Clearly, even after the training, perceptions within this senior leadership team were still far from uniform — which is entirely understandable among twelve non-specialists.
How does one approach these admittedly difficult — even overwhelming — issues without sliding into defeatism, avoidance, or denial? Because no, people do not, as a rule, already know “all of this” well enough.
Many emphasise the need to present a vision of a “transitioning” future that is genuinely desirable. Of course — let us highlight and make the most of every available opportunity! Yet it seems equally important to take full stock of the increasingly slippery slope on which we find ourselves.
Two reflections reinforced by this experience:
🗯️ Ecological transition disrupts many established reference points and, now more than ever, challenges teams with diverging values, emotions, and worldviews.
🗯️ It will therefore require not only strategies and action plans, but also a qualitative leap in our collective capacity to listen, understand, negotiate, adapt, coordinate, and question ourselves — a leap whose full scale remains, in all likelihood, vastly underestimated.
Which, even from a pessimistic standpoint, can be seen as a thoroughly compelling prospect!
Photo credit: VektorMine/shutterstock.com
