Skin in the Game

I have been reading the book Skin in the Game written by Nassim Taleb, the author of the Black Swan. This researcher and thought leader talks about how systems blow up and self destruct when the systems are managed by people with no skin in the game. A recent example is the 2008 collapse of the banking system which was only salvaged by us tax payers while the managers made and retained huge profits. We paid the consequences while those managers with no skin in the game reaped the benefits.

This idea of ‘skin in the game’ got me thinking. When it comes to the wellbeing of our communities and our earth, we all have skin in the game. If our earth is unable to sustain us, the consequences to each of us are tremendous. Similarly, if our communities lose their capacity for their basic purpose of providing social connections, belonging and mutual support, we all loose – at least for those of us who choose to remain in the community.

Because we all have ‘skin in the game’, we all get to enjoy the benefits and suffer the consequences. Skin in the game means taking responsibility for the good and the bad.

If we all choose to be responsible for the wellbeing of our communities, perhaps our children’s children may also get to enjoy them. Simply following the rules made by others is not enough. It takes proactive action on all our parts to make our communities strong and our earth healthy.

We are all in this together. We each can do things that makes our community stronger.

One of the ideas is participate in our online workshop “Connecting Communities” On August 12th .  The Connecting Communities workshop consists of three one-hour sessions where you will learn how to make a big difference with relatively little effort. Everyone can participate, this workshop is a free will offering. Learn more about the Connected Community Workshop here.

Explore our web page for some other ideas we can support you with.

Or contact us and ask us what we can do to help you get results for your ‘skin in the game.’

Our communities depend on each of us.

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