Speaking of professional domains and how they manifest themselves in organizational structure…particularly one that we are so closely related….as opposed to the whole Doctor Nurse thing.

Here is an example of an out of the box profession that rose from nothing to a multi-billion dollar industry in 21 years and has influence in virtually all aspects of the building design professions and construction trades.

http://www.usgbc.org/articles/simple-idea-several-hundred-billion-dollar-industry

YES YES I know….this is not exactly apples to apples. LEED is based on the premise that if we do not act to change the paradigm of building design and construction life as we know it will cease.  This is a powerful motivator.

Whereas professional interior design services…..well Ethan Allen offers that as a freebie when you buy a sofa…… not much motivation there huh?

If you agree..and this troubles you- join the club.

What can we learn, if anything from USGBC’s success story and how can we adapt it to serve our own journey to professional validation?

Well LEED was started by a small group of individuals and business entities that had a simple powerful idea- to change the paradigm of the then emerging green building design and construction effort. Note green building was not a new phenomenon at the time….it was just unfocused and happenstance.  Like interior design is to the building design professions, green building design had been around awhile but it was an outlier….partook by tree huggers and doomsday fanatics with a few scientist types  trying to rationalize it all. Many building designers were compelled by the potential of sustainable design but the misinformation and misperceptions, AKA “greenwashing”, within the eco-enviro sustainable design paradigm made it very difficult on several levels.  The green design effort pre-USGBC was unfiltered at best, and polluted at worst.

Ultimately it was hard to find value in pursuing “green design”

I could go on but suffice it to say that all it takes is a good idea and a few people who are willing to make it happen despite what the status quo is doing and what the competition is saying.

Some call me a dreamer…..or worse.  I can accept that.