Decision Making is Really Child's Play

One of Australia's leading social commentators, Fabian Dattner is urging current leaders to think beyond the generational timeline and start making long-term plans that will impact future generations.

Dattner believes the current paradigm Australia's stuck in is that 90 per cent of leaders are still focused on short term decisions, short term gains.

"When you consider issues such as climate change, it's a gambling mentality and a by-product of measuring our success too much on financial gains," Fabian Dattner, Partner Dattner Grant said.

"Children are absent from the corridors of power and disembodied decisions are being made by leaders working towards two to five year timelines, but we need to think in 100 year timelines."

"We're now approaching the spiritual evolution where shared purpose, values, engagement, collaboration, distributed decision making and long term outcomes are the order of the day. It's time to bring up the fur ball of efficiency and effectiveness in isolation from sustainability," said Dattner.

Fabian Dattner joined with the Victorian Local Governance Association and Sustainability Victoria to create a unique program that fosters exactly the skills required to create truly effective and holistic leaders. The 'Building Community Leadership Program' has already experienced a successful pilot in Hobson Bay and two additional programs have been launched in Macedon/Hepburn Shires and in the Maribrynong Shires, Melbourne.

The initiative at Hobson Bay was aimed at engaging all members of the community ranging in age from 18 to 65, men and women, all ethnicity to participate in an environmental sustainability project.

"Environmental sustainability is the responsibility of every leader and if we enjoyed a broadly enlightened approach to leadership, management of the environment, towards a sustainable future would be part of 'planning as usual," Dattner said