Crux is about supporting sustainability leaders in being more effective change agents, and doing so in a compassionate, fun, engaging and irreverent way.

The vast majority of sustainability communication is either missing in action (not happening), missing the mark (not hitting the target audience/s in a way that resonates) or missing the point (focusing on the wrong thing).

So much of our sustainability communications is the equivalent of shouting loudly at someone who does not speak our own language. Becoming ever more strident, earnest, or scary is not going to create the shift.

If people aren’t getting it, that’s not their fault – its our responsibility to frame and communicate our messages so they resonate.

In 'The Crux Files' are some of the best offerings from Cruxcatalyst, including guest posts, on values, interpersonal communication, psychology, leadership and more.

Values & Motivating People

what makes people tick, in Values, Campaigns and Change, The Art and Science of Persuasion and Motivation, and Motivating Sustainable Behaviour
the alchemy of change in Secrets of Successful Storytelling, Once Upon A Time At The Office: 10 Storytelling Tips to Help You Be More Persuasive and how Encoding Your Message With Story can help your message to resonate and ‘stick’
ways to talk to people who see the world differently in Spiral Dynamics – A Way of Understanding Human Nature, Market Segmentation 101 for Change Agents, Communicating Sustainability to Different Worldviews, Why We Need Climate Crises To Avoid Catastrophe and The Messenger Matters
how Being a Game Changer, Using Games can put the fun back into sustainability approaches, the essential elements for people to take action in The Magic Formula for Triggering Behaviour Change, and what the change blocks are in A Taxonomy of Barriers To Change

Leadership

the perils and pitfalls of leadership in Leadership On The Line: The Heart of Danger, The Faces of Danger and Leadership on the Line: Responses to Leadership Challenges
advice on withstanding the heat of being a change agent in Surviving Personal Attacks – A Guide for Change Agents and maintaining your cool under fire and treating your opponents respectfully in Brand Management, Russell Style
states of being in Know Thyself: Understanding Ego States and why losing arguments can be a good thing in Taming the Argument As War Beast
insights into personal leadership capacities in The Lotus Leadership Practice Guide
how you can apply the KLOUT influence matrix in your offline activities in Amplifying Your KLOUT For Change and which kinds of influence can be used to effect change in The Powers of Change

Sustainability Thinking

why freeing up people’s time is essential to sustainability in Time for Sustainability and How Working Less Can Give Us More
whether the green frame is still relevant in Has The Green Door Been Bolted? and the destructive side of the green movement in The Corrosive Effects of Green Puritanism
challenging single issue thinking in The Flying Taboo and Carbon Reductionism and why its important to use a systems approach instead of targeting symptoms in Design is the New Green
how not even being aware of being ‘sustainable’ may be the ultimate end-point of humanity’s sustainability journey in Second Nature – Becoming Unconsciously Sustainable

Understanding People

examining interpersonal dynamics through the lens of a TV series in ‘Game of Thrones’ – A Study in Machiavellianism, and how you can spot such characters in your organisation and even test your own ‘MACH’ rating
how the gaming community’s Character Alignment matrix can help change agents in Understanding A Complex Cast of Characters
what a 6th century BC Chinese military general and a 1940s cartoon character have in common in Bugs Bunny, Archetypes and The Art of War for Change
how office kitchen politics can be a living lab for change management tactics in Behaviour Change Lessons from Kitchen Cops

Communication

understanding how culture transmits and what you can do to leverage this in MEMEs – The Mind-Viruses of Cultural Change
the role of comedy in Found In Translation – Comedy in Sustainability Communication
how perception and language may be the barrier to people apparently in conflict, but who are actually on the same page, in Lenses, Language and Engaging People
how to spot and defuse faulty arguments and reasoning in Critical Thinking – Recognising Dodgy Arguments, Know Your Logical Fallacies and a Visual Guide to Cognitive Biases
what makes a great speaker in How the King of Communicators Inspired Change – and why Bad Powerpoint was banned at a national conference
what makes a great question in Strategic Questioning – Asking Questions That Make A Difference, and how to help facilitate conversations that matter in Pattern Language – Helping Groups Work
how we could make a lot more progress if we (re) learned how to communicate respectfully in Awakening Our Collaborative Spirit and An Ethos of Conversation
the role of music, poetry, photography and sculpture in The Art of Change, and whether apathy is really apathy in The Antidote to Apathy – From Indifference to Making A Difference
practical techniques and tips in 5 Ways To Rescue Groups Gone Bad, How An Offers and Needs Market Helps Build Sustainable Practice, 3 Tips for Effective Sustainability Conversations, 5 Strategies for Working With Black Hats, How to Map Assets and Expose Real Wealth for Shared Futures and the (partly) tongue-in-cheek A-Z of Sustainability Words and Concepts

Case Studies

the change tactics of a TV chef in the area of health and nutrition in What Jamie Oliver Can Teach Sustainability Activists
the University of Adelaide’s campus sustainability program Ecoversity, and how the Lost Dogs of Adelaide social media phenomenon could translate to local sustainability
learnings from The Economics of Happiness – Strengthening the Localisation Movement conference; stories from the UK and US in Growing Change; Obama Uses Cool For School

Self Care for Change Agents

why and how change agents need to take care of themselves, including How Activists Can Set Boundaries and Stay Sane, Money Martyrdom – I’m Not Buying It and Be The Change – But Not All Of It