You may say I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one.
You may say I’m a dreamer
My thoughts have been heavy with all the strife in the world.
There are serious problems here at home in Canada. My friends in the USA are struggling too. In Palestine, in Libya, in Afghanistan, in Hong Kong, in Myanmar, in…well…it might be easier to list the places in the world that are NOT living through troubles and trials.
And so this seemed like the right moment to share a unique chapter from my latest book.
I wrote this book for marketers and creators. The book shares the global data we’ve collected on what everyone cares about, and teaches readers to use the data to engage their target audiences.
But in this one chapter, just this one, I let myself wander off-topic and dream about a better world.
Nobody said it better than John Lennon. “Imagine all the people, living life in peace….”
Yours Truly,
David Allison
The chart below shows all 56 core human values ranked in order of importance for the population of planet earth. This ranking was compiled from our 500,000+ surveys in 152 languages across 180 countries.
When I sit back and look at this macro-visualization, the product of all the work that’s been done on the Valuegraphics Database over the last five years, it’s a bit overwhelming. You are looking at the most complex record of what humans care about that has ever been created. It makes me stop and think about the global challenges we face today.
As I write this the world is reeling from the effects of a global pandemic. The environmental security of our planet is under critical threat on countless fronts. Populations are at war. Genocides still happen. Migrants flee unbearable conditions and are met with hatred and violence. Entire economies are hanging by a thread. New fault-lines continue to emerge that further delineate us vs. them. There are enormous numbers of people on this planet who do not have clean drinking water or sufficient food, while there are others with a fleet of private jets on stand-by waiting for their exclusive use. So many people still fight for equality: there are places in the world where you can be executed for being gay; where the color of your skin makes you a second-class citizen; where your gender dictates what you can and can’t do.
But what if the whole world, on every level, was guided by a factual understanding of our core human values? Not a random and ever-changing interpretation of values that politicians and lobbyists use to justify their political ideologies, but a unifying set of core human values based on data and science?
In my dream world, this chart of global values would become a guiding light for global leaders. They would use it to make decisions about what to prioritize. I’ve daydreamed on podcasts, in the media, and in my own writing that elected leaders globally, nationally, regionally, and right down to the level of cities and towns, should be presented with the valuegraphics for the people they represent. And that their political performance should be judged based on how well they respond to what their constituents truly care about.
It’s not a likely scenario, I admit. And I am sure there are philosophical flaws in this big grand dream of mine. But, regardless, let’s play a game.
If you and I were elected the leaders of the entire world, and we had the global values chart to work from, what would we do? To make things a bit easier, here’s just the top ten values for the world, plus the Togetherness Values that make the cut.
Based on this data, the first thing I would do if I was the leader of the world, would be to find ways to strengthen and protect families. But I’d never-ever leave that word hanging out there like a single piece of laundry drying on a line. Family means so many things to so many people and all the definitions are valid and beautiful. My idea of Family might be more about my chosen family, and it may or may not include my biological family. It could also mean an unconventional type of family with two moms and two dads and an auntie, or whatever, and that’s ok too. For some people, it might just be a small nucleus, and for others an entire glorious ecosystem of people they love. The metaphorical laundry line is jam-packed with fresh linens and towels and sheets, and they are all happily flapping in a warm breeze on a sunny summer day.
Bouncing around on the chart on a whim, it would be a perfectly supportable move, as leader of the entire world, to convene a special task force to study Personal Growth. How can we help all the citizens of the world feel like they are moving forward, improving themselves and their lot in life, learning new things, and becoming ever more comfortable in their own skin? I’d love to sit in a meeting and listen to the amazing initiatives that the Personal Growth global task force would bring forward. Who wouldn’t? Why don’t we?
Financial Security can’t be neglected. With so much economic disparity in the world and varying ideas of what Financial Security looks like, it would not be a simple value to augment equitably. But I’m convinced it would be worth enduring endless and excruciating conversations about economic theory. Because, if the citizens of earth could all find the Financial Security they seek, I do believe a whole whack of the fighting between members of our global family would be resolved. And a happy family makes for a peaceful home, which surely we can all agree would be a good thing.
Then, what do you suppose we could do to combine our overwhelming desire for Belonging, with the importance we place on Health & Well-Being?
And, what if our shared values around Relationships and Loyalty were harnessed in ways that made the world a better place...what would that look like?
We can keep going here, imagining how to give people more of the things they care about most. But the truth is, you and I are probably not going to have the chance to implement these ideas on a global scale.
But we can chip away at this. There are more than 115 million companies in the world. If even a small percentage would stop using divisive demographic stereotypes to understand their target audiences, and instead embrace the unifying values that we share as humans, it would be a great start. One organization at a time, we can get to a better place in a better way.