As one surveys the daunting challenges in our communities, it is often difficult to see how true transformational change can take place. The odds are intimidating and the powers of social and political inertia won’t allow one to be overly optimistic! How do we start? How can we truly bring substantive and transformative change to the issues we face? I have no formula answers, but over the years I have been more and more impressed by the role the 3 “P’s” have in positive change. In my previous posts, I touched upon some examples of these “P’s” when I spoke about practicing our aloha and mālama to the homeless and reprioritizing our commitments in our communities. Let me share the 3 “P’s” with you in a more focused manner. Try them out. See if they can help us move the mountain of status quo we face.

The first “P” of transformation is “PASSION”. Passion for change and passion to be a part of the answer are foundational. We have to have a passionate commitment to help the poor children and families we serve. We have to join with like-minded passionate people in the labor, and we need to intentionally fan the flames of commitment and passion in our lives and in the lives of our colleagues. Without a robust passion to help the needy, we will quickly sink into disappointment and despair. With passion, we keep alive our energy and our focus on the work of change! It softens the blows of rejection and opposition and helps us to come together to solve the problems that often plague our efforts towards transformational change.

But passion left alone often becomes destructive and can lead to anarchy in our work. Unbridled and unfocused passion often leads to strengthening the status quo rather than fueling positive and significant change.

Passion needs the second “P”, “PONO”, to clearly vet and focus the energy of transformational change. “Pono” in Hawaiian is a powerful and multi-faceted concept of right relationships, righteousness, completeness, and doing what is right. It is most publicly known as part of the motto of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the State of Hawai‘i: “Ua mau ke ea o ka ‘āina i ka pono” meaning “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness”, was given to us by our Ali‘i as the core anchor of our community.

Ask the simple question: “He mea pono kēia no kākou āpau?” meaning “Is this pono for everyone?” Or is this pono only for me?

“Pono” therefore should be part of our march towards transformational change. The passion of our hearts needs to be aimed at that which is “pono” for our community, that which everyone will benefit from rather than the interests of a few. The discipline of “pono” helps to keep the work of transformational change on the right road. As we make decisions about actions we are about to take, we need to ask ourselves the simple question, “He mea pono kēia no kākou āpau?” meaning “Is this pono for everyone?” Or is this pono only for me? Applying the pono question helps protect ourselves from our narrow and well disguised self-interests in our work for our communities.

Finally, as we pour our passion into what is pono, what is the third and often most important “P” in our formula for success in transformational change?

The third “P” is “PERSEVERENCE,” the commitment we need to take into any process of change that says we will not quit until the defined goal is achieved. There is a lot to persevering during times of change. Before we begin any journey of change we need to calculate the costs and understand our resources. We need to clearly understand what we have set as our goal and how to determine if we have actually reached it. We need to understand the opposition we face and the tactics and strategies we pursue. It is critical to know the resources at our disposal and how to maximize their use.In the end, however, it is a matter of having our minds set to not allow half victories to clear us from the battlefield and to have the determination to carry on when it is often dark and discouraging. What I have found encouraging in the midst of pursuing change is the image of a red, inflamed, and itchy rash. This is what we seek to become on the conscience of our community regarding the issues we are addressing. We need to make people uncomfortable, we need to have them pay attention, we want them to itch and use resources to address the rash of transformational change. Let us commit to persevere in our work, daring to be a positive irritant until change is achieved.

PASSION, PONO, and PERSEVERANCE form a very effective formula for change that will transform our lives, families and communities. Try it, you’ll be amazed and blessed!