Michael Sater

The walk was initiated by Carol and Joseph Sauerhoefer, the parents of three-year-old Abby Sauerhoefer, who suffers from mitochondrial disease. The goal of the walk was to raise about $10,000 to help fund research into the disease.

Mitochondrial disease means the power plants in cells don't function properly. When that happens, some functions in the body don't work normally. It's as if the body has a power failure: there is a gradation of effects, like a 'brown out' or a 'black out'.

That simple definition, and the supporting brand, marketing and communications strategy, is the result of 18 months of partnership between myself and the Foundation for Mitochondrial Medicine.

Prior to Saturday, most people in this suburban township may not have realized their connection to mitochondrial disease. Though if they knew of someone with Autism, or Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s they had already been touched by mitochondrial disease. While awareness of mitochondrial disease may still be in its infancy, The Walk for Abby is helping The Foundation step ahead on many fronts, from awareness, to funding to connections.

Funding the cures is the Foundation's first priority. It supports the development of the most promising research and treatments of the many, many forms of mitochondrial disease. With help from events like these, they’ll get there faster.

Special thanks to Len Kendall.

By nature (and nurture) I am a warm, outgoing and friendly person. Since I've returned to New York, many people have told me I'm "so personable and friendly."

My doorman went so far as to say, "I always see you coming. Even on a crowded sidewalk, you are the only one smiling. I like that."  In my professional life, my instinct to approach another person, to ask questions and listen (really listen) to the answers, has often served me well. It's not that I'm salesman (though I can sell), it's that I enjoy interaction and all that it brings to me. I can learn from the stories others tell, the options they share and, the facts they hold as ultimate truth.

And when everything aligns, serindipity indeed!

Yesterday, I struck up a conversation with a lovely woman (and yes, some in NYC just want to be left alone). Over the conversation, I learned that she teaches at Columbia.

"Wonderful, what do you teach?" I asked.

"Huntington's Disease," she replied, then stood silently.

"Ah yes. One of my clients is an emerging non-profit, The Foundation for Mitochondrial Medicine. They were created to accelerate the development of the most viable treatments and therapies for mitochondrial disease. We've been discussing that Mitochondrial disease can look like any number of better known diseases, including Huntington's disease."

The shock on her face was brief, but I caught it. For a moment her eyebrows were raised, her mouth was slightly open. That some random person, was indirectly working in her field of study, was both unexpected and delightful.

We went on and on for about 10 more minutes.

While this is pretty cool, what’s even cooler to me is that I never would have made this connection had I not reached out and initiated the conversation. I'm a footnote to the fact that this non-profit is making credible strides forward. Like more familair diseases including Autism, Parkinson’s and, Alzheimer’s, the road ahead could require tens of years of research and hundreds of millions of dollars. My involvement has been small but, I sold them on my skills at making the complex clear and simple. Now they have a better sense of their value and, clearly communicate that to the wants and needs of their audience. Now, they can sell.

Looking forward, maybe I can connect my client and this professor. I know that I'm going to initiate the conversaton...it's in my nature.

Solutions Lab 2010 has been traveling the country and last month, I had the good fortune to participate in their “GIBN 2010 'unconference' on Sustainability. With so many great subtopics, I regretted that I had not cloned myself (I made a note for next time). The lone me had to pick a starting point and, I decided to participate in the "Shifting Corporate Culture" roundtable.

Our diverse group settled on the grand question: How do we drive organizational change to embrace sustainability within the corporate culture?

With so many challenges and apparently more tactics available to address the overlapping obstacles to corporate transformation, we found ourselves mired in the complexity of the corporate organism. As our list of action items grew, there seemed to be no end in sight. Over hours of conversation, participants added more and more details and I started to remove myself from the conversation.

As a design thinker, I like to go deep, appreciating every detail of a problem. Then, I mentally prioritize, stripping away the less critical information until I visualize the key points – the parts that we must have to convey the challenge that pertains to the key demographic.

We considered Fortune 100 companies, small- and medium-sized organizations, NGO’s and consultants. We needed to consider: how do we shift corporate culture for the majority? I believed we could create a universal formula.

A formula that took into account the resistance of middle management, recognized and incentivized employees and took into account the current state while envisioning the future state.

I came upon the Formula for Shifting Corporate Culture and our table debated and collaborated. The final result is this formula.

What do YOU think? Is this How we drive organizational change to embrace sustainability within the corporate culture? How can the formula we created be refined and improved? Comments & Suggestions?