My name is Nirat Bhatnagar and I’m the founder of this social innovation project called MetaGood (earlier known as Basic Love Of Goodness (BLOG). In my 6 years of experience after graduating from business school, I’ve never really felt at home. I’ve spent time in management consulting, VC funded startups and then tried my hand at for profit entrepreneurship – but there was always something missing. Something never felt completely right.
This constant dissatisfaction led me to read a lot and introspect a lot. I absorbed ideas from people ranging from Erich Fromm, Martin Buber, Margaret Wheatley, Peter Senge, Kahane, Charles Handy, Paul Hawken, Buckminster Fuller. I gravitated towards TED talks and many blogs by leading thinkers in the fields of business, ethics, sustainability and social innovation. Gradually these readings and my own experience got internalized.
I am now irrevocably of the opinion that we’re in a mess – both individually and as a society. Our society is governed by several paradigms that are less than ideal but are extremely difficult to change. These include but are not limited to:
- Wall Street Style Capitalism: Characterized by the search for endlessly increasing returns on capital this leads to endless production and then hardselling of products.
- A media that tantalizes us with “information porn”: not giving enough genuinely valuable content that helps form and change beliefs in people
- Constant busyness: Our highly sped up lifestyles leave us with little or no time to pause and reflect on who we truly are, where we are heading and whether we really want to get there.
- By and large a very corrupt political system that places public good a distant second to personal hoarding of wealth.
All of these together mean that changes for the good that are desperately required aren’t taking place. The problem is aggravated by the fact that many of the problems facing us are, in Adam Kahane’s words, causally complex. Cause and effect are well removed. Perpetrators of actions, willing and unwilling, are unable to comprehend the true and total impact of their actions and choices. Be it buying a new Nike shoes or not going into vote.
This forms the background of my thought and shapes what I’d like my contributions to be.
With this in mind, I’ve started MetaGood.
MetaGood will document stories of individuals and organizations who are making a positive change, in themselves and in their societies, in their own ways. Be it through art, business, social innovation or joining a political party. MetaGood will then disseminate this through a dedicated social media enabled website (www.metagood.org) and offline channels with the goal of informing and inspiring and also catalyzing action. It will also have complementary activities such as a book, movie, documentary club, a speaker series etc.
Through this set of aligned information and activities, I hope to inspire more people to listen to their own voice and act to make this a better world.
MetaGood will start and be run in a truly organic manner. At each point in time, we will listen very closely to whats trying to emerge (Taoist like if you will) and act accordingly.
MetaGood requires the support of a few believers – both financially and ideologically.
- We’d need a little money: To buy equipment to record sessions, to travel to where the stories are, to pay for transcription services. The details of the support required are detailed in the attached file.
- This apart, we’d like you to point us to people and initiatives you think should be documented here.
Look forward to hearing from you and receiving your encouragement and support.
Nirat
