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By
Lorne W. Curl, Founder
The problem has been discussed ad infinitum and yet, so many people don’t understand what the problem is. The problem is no longer the beetle. Our efforts are no longer aimed at stopping the beetle. The beetle has left us in a situation that will soon lead to many more problems if we don’t change our thinking and begin to solve the first and largest problem.
The people who care about this issue of a dead and dying Colorado forest system are now naturally divided into two distinct and necessary groups. Without both of these groups, no problem in History would have been solved. The Talkers and The Do’ers.
Talkers gather in groups and look up the hill and see a fantastic crop of emotionally charged issues to be discussed. Enough fodder for the water cooler to survive even a heated political season. Disaster after disaster can be predicted and lamented. Fingers can be pointed, blame assigned and heads shaken with absolute moral authority. Tears can be shed, emotions shared and brotherhood found with others who share a love of the mountains that leaves them feeling as if they have lost a loved one. The Talkers help us identify the problem and provide the passion that drives every American innovation.
Do’ers stand alone with a cup of coffee looking up into the hills and see a fantastic crop to be harvested. They see an entire industry around wood products. They see an industry that Colorado allowed to be rid from it’s state in the 80’s. The Do’er is frustrated at his inability to take action. The same frustration that a modern father feels, having been allowed into the delivery room as his wife gives birth. He must stand silently and watch her suffer with no real means of participation. He paces, watches and wants desperately to help. The Do’ers stand at the edge of the forest today and see not the problem, but the solution. The vision that stands in front of the Do’er is always the opportunity. The opportunity to turn a liability into an asset, much the way a woman turns the pain of childbirth into the joy of life.
Here and now we have a large pool of Talkers and Do’ers. The division is complete. The Talkers have had their day to identify the issues we are faced with. They have made a comprehensive case for action and are frustrated with the Do’ers for not taking some kind of action. Frustrated Do’ers don’t want to hear another conversation about the problems, they want to hear how it is that they can get to the business of Doing. They are tired of talking and wish the Talkers would find something else to talk about or change sides and become a Do’er. The talker knows that something needs to be done and demands it! The Do’er knows what needs to be done but feels powerless to do it.
Which leads us to the real problem standing in our way. It is not that we have not identified the solution. It is not the beetle. It is not the fact that the forest is dead. The problem is that the Colorado community is not united and aligned toward the solution. The Talkers want to know why the Do’ers haven’t taken meaningful action and the Do’ers want to know why the Talkers keep on screaming that the sky is falling when there is so much to do that cannot be done alone. The finger pointing is endless. Meanwhile, the disasters approach us like a slow juggernaut.
In the history of disasters that come upon us in a flash, we plainly see the process of Talkers and Do’ers uniting. When a mine collapses and men are trapped, the Talkers quickly identify the problems facing the Do’ers and the Do’ers develop plans to overcome what is now no longer a problem but an obstacle. Once the solution is identified, the problem ceases to exist. Only obstacles remain. When the two are united, the Talkers remove obstacles to action and the Do’ers move quickly to take that now viable action. An obstacle is a problem converted to something that stands between the problem and the solution.
Today we are in that disaster situation that demands immediate unity but it is harder to see since the disaster we are facing is coming at us at a glacier’s pace. We have too much time to discuss it, too much time to analyze it and too much time to assume that someone else is doing something about it.
I recently saw on LeEllyn Burnett’s e-mail signature a quote from Lily Tomlin which read, “I always wondered why someone didn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was someone.”
The solution to the current problem of dead trees turning into a host of other problems is simple but staggering. The trees need to be harvested. Simple. What remains are obstacles to harvesting trees. Those are likely discussed in great detail just about everywhere, but the largest obstacle that stands between the problem and the solution is us. We need to agree that the time to take action is now. The Talkers and the Doer’s need to unite and direct their energies to the solution. We need to all start pulling in the same direction. The Talkers need to identify action items and solutions and the Do’ers need to band together and turn those action items into solid realities.
Once this unity is achieved, the other obstacles will begin to fall like dominoes. We will create a vibrant economy around the prevention of a multitude of environmental and human disasters. We will create a whole new industry that assigns a value to the once useless dead forests. We will create products that give us affordable homes, alternative energies, bio fuels, ethanol, furniture and even some of the most beautiful picture frames and coasters Colorado has ever seen. In the process, we will create jobs, new businesses, new tax revenues and save ourselves billions of dollars spent on clean up rather than prevention.
Every citizen of Colorado has a part to play in the orchestrated effort by the Talkers to enable the Do’ers. Discussion without action is mere activity. Action without a plan is purposeless.
There are many other obstacles to overcome once this unity is achieved but when we are aligned, our energies bring about greater results. Our sum becomes greater than our parts. Suddenly, everyone has a small part to play in an effort that is much larger than any of it’s individual participants.
So which are you? A Talker or a Do’er? Don’t know? If you can enable an action to be taken but cannot take that action yourself, you are a member of the Talking Team. Citizens have a powerful tool that can enable. Their voice, their vote, their passion creates a driving force for action. Thinkers, planners and visionaries are Talkers. They are people who can imagine a solution but are not in a position to carry it out. They create an environment that allows the Do’ers to thrive. The Do’ers are too busy doing to talk much but when the talking is done, they look at a plan and know what part of it they can carry out. They say, “I can do that”.
Decide which you are and start looking for where you can participate. What obstacle can you remove? What product can you create? How can you support someone elses efforts to take action? Start looking for a way to plug yourself in to a larger effort, even if it means just raising your hand and saying, “I care”.
Citizens and government, support your businesses. Think about how you can enable an industry. Businesses, start thinking about how to create jobs as part of a new industry around Lodgepole Pine. Let the citizens and their government know what obstacles need to be removed in order for you to do so. Governments, what can you do to accelerate the process?
Make and Take action together. The number of ways we can all benefit from this unity are almost literally countless. |
The Mountain Pine beetle has killed the majority of our state's Lodgepole pines and is likely to finish them off before the year 2012. That's an inescapable fact. We cannot stop the march of this infestation. Coloradans all through the high country are asking, "What do we do now?".