Change Convos monthly top picks: 5 links we loved in March

Written by Pat Heffernan | 4/7/16 5:28 PM

Spring has been doggedly stubborn about arriving this year. The rollercoaster weather finds us swapping winter coats for garden rakes within a twenty-four hour period. Our five favorite posts for change makers and communicators reflect the wild swings of the season with a touch of green mixed in with high-voltage transmission lines and an experiment in storytelling. Here, ICYMI, are our top picks from what we were reading in March.

Monthly top picks: 5 links we loved in March

It’s not easy being green (AEON Magazine)

This is a light-hearted look at a serious question. Experimental psychologists have been demonstrating the power of ritual behavior to shift people’s values and perceptions. If rational persuasion fails to make people behave environmentally, could rituals and a dash of guilt do a better job? #ItsNotEasyBeingGreen #Ritual

An experiment in storytelling (Five Dials)

Although the intro invites you to start a questionnaire about the role of music in your life, you gradually realize it is not a questionnaire, or at least not what you are accustomed to. Instead, it’s an experiment in interactive storytelling from the delightful online literary magazine Five Dials. Give yourself a few minutes to figure out what’s going on –– but then enjoy yourself. #storytelling

Fight to Keep Alternative Energy Local Stymies an Industry (NY Times)

"A recent study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Colorado, Boulder, found that with such a [transmission] network, the United States could supply most of its electricity with renewables by then at costs near today’s prices and get close to meeting the goals set in the Paris agreement on climate change." So exactly why isn’t it happening? #energy #climate

America Needs ‘Y’all’ (The Atlantic)

In the Atlantic, Vann R. Newkirk II (@fivefifths) offered us a different take on second-person pronouns than we saw from @StanCarey in Slate last month. It has been a long time since I’ve read anything remotely positive written about ‘y’all,” a term it took me years to purge from my mouth. “English has no standard second-person plural word, and it’s time for that to change…“You guys” isn’t sufficient as a national solution.” #Language

Let’s retire sense of urgency and instead look for sense of purpose. (Medium)

I loved the Venn diagram here comparing things people do to create a sense of urgency to things that foster a sense of purpose for a team, with “Not much here” in the overlap area in the center. This piece by @kimber_lockhart rang true for a lot of people, judging by its popularity on Medium. #purpose #mission