Thinking Big

September in New York has an almost perceivable crackle in the air of stuff happening! This week is both Climate Week and The Clinton Global Initiative - where many great minds and leaders from business, government and NGOs get together to discuss, assess, collaborate and focus enormous energy and some high wattage star power and resources on some of the world's biggest problems. While I am not there, like listening to sports, I'm following some of it on Twitter to learn more.

The power of one can be tremendous - one dream, one bold idea, one gesture, one decision to essentially do something, for others, to create positive change - but there's certainly momentum, scale and the cumulative effect of many rallying behind something to break the barriers of 'what's possible.'

In one of my favorite essays in that lovely book Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime by Bill Gates senior, he mentions a dinner at Bill and Melinda Gates home in the early days of the Foundation, where some doctors, scientists and leaders in the field of immunity traveled to their home to essentially thank them for funding for vaccines for children in the developing world. These scientists didn't come with open hands, they came simply to say thank you, but during the course of the dinner when Bill and Melinda began asking questions and educating themselves more, Bill Gates asked "What would you do if you had more money?" This question prompted the topic that 30 million children in the world weren't receiving necessary life-saving vaccines.

As he challenged them to come back with breakthrough ideas for, his parting words that evening were, "Don't be afraid to think big."

Last year when my godson Connor heard about the gorilla species in danger of extinction, as a 9 year old, he rallied pretty significant financial support for a fund-raising event we were involved with for the Wildlife Conservation Society. I remember him saying, with urgency: "Aunt Laura, we have to save the gorillas!"

I'm looking forward to hearing new ideas, and action, that comes out of these important summits, first prompted by that line in the sand that says "No, we are no longer tolerating this"!