An Excerpt from Changemaker: A Modern Playbook for Creating Personal and Transformational Change

Introduction

Have you ever dreamed of having the personal ability to help reshape the world? To

break down the walls that keep us from fixing big problems like global poverty, reducing

wealth gaps, advancing social equity, addressing climate change and global conflict?

Without a doubt putting our passions, desires, and intentions into action is an incredibly

fraught road of twists, turns, and steep climbs, where even having the best tools and

navigation can fail, even when they mean the difference between failure and success. It’s

not surprising that our ability to make a difference and having enough self-belief and

confidence to attempt it are presently a sea apart. What makes it worse is that the

complex nature we observe in others’ failures stops most of us in our tracks before we

even get off the blocks.

At the same time, whether it is climate change, business transformation, or community or

personal well-being, the biggest landmarks on the journey to consequential action are

surprisingly similar; and your awareness of them, proactive planning for them, and

commitment to flexibly managing them can give you the burst of confident energy you

need to get started.

In the following chapters of this book, I share an overall framework that will make

seemingly impossible challenges, possible—both within and outside the realms of

business, in world matters like poverty, sustainability, and everyday life. It begins and

ends with a very specific thought process and set of steps that have proven over and over

to achieve real, lasting impact and change. All are rooted in the basic premise that the

answers we seek, whether personally or as part of a bigger picture, are oftentimes hiding

in plain sight; that even the most intimidating challenges can frequently be easily broken

down into smaller pieces and a series of actionable next steps; and that when this

approach is combined with ethical uses of today’s most advanced technologies, we can

achieve transformational change, for ourselves and others.

This book is based on my first-hand experiences and accomplishments with the purpose

to embolden all with a desire to wrestle with problems that appear too big to conquer, in

life and in the world. It puts forth a ready-set-go playbook for conquering the paralysis

that steals our hope and confidence to face major challenges by providing proven

strategies and a roadmap that can guide us toward forging our own personal impact.

It’s my hope that the themes reflected in the pages of this book will allow you to easily

adopt this framework to replicate, step by step, in your own lives, and serve as an easy

reference for you as you go. If I can inspire you to have the confidence to not just make

changemaking a hobby, but also get you to consider yourself capable of having an impact

on a world scale, I will consider this book a success. And with that, let’s get started.

Part I: Fundamentals

The following chapters provide you with a framework for tapping into your inner change

maker and introduce the key ingredients for creating your own personal playbook for

solving challenges in your life and in the world. Once the journey is complete, 3 major

ingredients will come together to put the needed capabilities into place: the mental

model to tap into your own inherent potential to be a change maker; the process

discipline to maintain necessary focus and prioritization for your actions; and the

significance and versatility of utilizing the most modern technologies as tools to elevate

and supercharge our own natural human capabilities.

We begin the journey by exploring the paths by which we can teach ourselves to see

with different eyes, and free ourselves from the notion that complexity will prevent us

from reaching our goals. We’ll also observe the levels of creativity generated by the

simple act of breaking down challenges into more digestible pieces.

Part I lays the groundwork for the changemaker’s playbook through 2 chapters:

Chapter 1 builds the foundation by showing how to discover the extraordinary in

the ordinary, illustrates the hope that springs up when we take the first bold step

forward, and lays down the myth of impossibility.

Chapter 2 shows the promise of using a structured, yet flexible, set of steps to

help frame the way we think about and approach change; and how it can arm

you to face challenges with clarity and a strategic mindset

Chapter 1: The Path to Creating New Futures

hiding in plain sight, idiom: refers to objects or solutions that are easily overlooked due to the

simple and uncomplicated nature of their location

I start with a powerful idea: solutions to even the biggest challenges often hide in plain

sight. This might sound surprising, but it’s true. Later in this handbook, I explore how this

idea applies to solving real-world problems, even those with global impact. For now, I

keep it simple. Think about the last time you lost your keys or your phone. You searched

everywhere, only to find it right on the countertop—or, if you’re like me, sometimes right

in your own hand. These everyday moments aren’t just forgetfulness; they highlight an

important truth: what we see—or don’t see—often depends on where we focus our

attention.

This same idea applies to creating change. Sometimes, the answers are already around us,

but we miss them because we’re not looking in the right way. Throughout history, big

shifts have often started with someone recognizing something that was right there all

along. The key is learning how to see it—to notice the opportunities that others overlook,

to question the assumptions that keep problems locked in place, and to act when the

moment presents itself.

The pages ahead explore how you can develop that kind of awareness. But first, consider

a few real-world examples of how seeing differently has led to lasting change.