Chemicals: Villains of the Natural World...or Not

Recently, something fascinating was brought to my attention by a speaker on biomimicry. Interested in what that means? Read on to learn more...

There is a common misconception. This misconception is that chemicals are man-made hazards that pollute and threaten an otherwise chemical-free natural world.

Chemical [kem-i-kuh l] (noun)
1. a substance produced by or used in a chemical process.
2. of or relating to, used in, or produced by chemistry

Chemistry? Remember chemistry class? The science class that tried to teach you about the structure and property of substances and the changes they go through. And the Periodic Table of the Elements! Everyone knows that. But most of those elements didn't seem so evil...Carbon, Oxygen...the building blocks of life are contained in that colorful table.

So maybe chemicals aren't pure evil. Certainly combinations of them can be harmful to the health of living things - but chemicals are the building blocks of everything - natural and not.

There is this perception that the word "chemical" is evil, yet nature offers some incredible natural chemical solutions to very real world problems. Seashells inspiring self-assembling in nanotechnology. Plants inspiring biodegradable plastics made from CO2. Peacocks and butterflies inspiring color with light instead of pigments.

If we are going to truly understand chemistry enough to make real change - we need to stop villainizing chemicals and look to understand them instead. Biologists are being invited to the design table. Taking inspiration from nature to design for a sustainable future.

"Learning about the natural world is one thing. Learning from the natural world, that's the switch. That's the profound switch." -Janine Beynus, Biomimicry
Learn more at biomimicry.net
http://biomimicry.net/inspiring/

Request for personal values

I had a great request from my friend Diane about how does one determine their personal values.  This comes from my blog post about determining your company's values.
Personal values are a funny thing, you know you have them, they guide your life, your decisions and yet it is often very difficult for us to articulate them.

I am going to reference a great thinker on this subject Peter Senge who wrote the book The Fifth Discipline about learning organizations.  I am not an expert in values or determining values, so I wanted to give all credit to Mr. Senge, Richard Ross, Bryan Smith, Charlotte Roberts, and Art Kleiner who then produced the book The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook that has exercises to their theories.

Let's get started. (This is your cue to grab a pen and paper and get thinking)
OK not to leave anything on the table - first what are examples of values anyways?
Luckily there is this fabulous thing called the internet and you can do a search for "values".  But just incase you want to go straight for the work.  Check out this link from values.com. It list a number of values, this will give you a good idea what are values, and notice which values you gravitate towards.

This next process is taken from Charlotte Roberts and the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
1. Write down 10 values that you feel strongly about.  You will be surprised where some of these values come from - you grew up with them , or they are the values of people that you respect, or they are something that you developed over your life.

2. The next step is to narrow down these values - this is something important in the business setting because the number of values focuses the company to invest well into a few.  As a person you can have more, but try the exercise and see what the process of narrowing is like.  For example which of these values you have chosen resonate more than others.  Maybe just prioritize them?

3. Another step you might find interesting is articulating your values. Answer these questions with the values you have listed (maybe your top three).
What does that value mean exactly?
How would your life be different if those values were front and center and you lived them?
What would the trade offs be if you were to go against that value?

Give this a try - see if you find the process interesting and helpful to gain more out of living your aligned life?