Enlightened self-interest

... drives voluntary, sustainable and scalable compliance. 

The alternative, more often practised is a framework of policies, rules, regulations and enforcement. In addition incentives, subsidies, etc., are often included in the policies - creating a carrot and stick combination.

This is considered a time-tested way to drive desirable behaviour. Governments and the private sector, both embrace this philosophy.

The problem is that it is neither sustainable nor scalable. The larger your target audience, the greater your carrot-budget must be; and the greater your enforcement effort too. People openly flout the policies because they can get away with it when there is not enough enforcement. Incentive systems almost never enough and are routinely subject to fraud & gaming behaviours.

Stronger laws, more enforcement and more incentives have their limited role - but to depend only upon them is foolhardy.

The better route, that of driving sustainable change through creating enlightened self-interest is too easily dismissed and far more difficult to embrace mainly because it takes far too long to implement and see the results. This is a big deterrent when the leaders are under pressure to produce quick results and win brownie points.

Enlightened self-interest comes from education (not just literacy or employability), analytical ability and a good values.

Of these, the value system is the most difficult to explain well. Stories of "good vs evil" often drawn our mythology and religion hardly inspire the television and computer-gaming generation even in primary school. Abundant exposure to "real life" flouting of norms (yes, most parents and teachers are guilty) builds early cynicism and dismissive attitudes in children. The essential elements of - and case studies from - the management of commons serve this purpose better, but are hardly ever taught. It is a lot of hard work to make people (and children) understand and appreciate some things; far easier, to lay down the rules and demand unquestioned obedience.

This has been practised for generations now that even our teachers will need to dig deep into their reserves to overcome deep-rooted cultural blind spots and find their own reasoning skills.

The adults will need to find their own way out of it - through wide-spread discourse and personal conviction. Not easy, but the only sustainable way.