The Happiness Conference is divided into four segments: Personal Happiness, Policy & Application, Movement Building and -- Data (yawn -right? Nope!)
The Data Segment was not speakers, not a panel, but.....announcing: A Play!!
The Wizard of Us. Here is the script, written by John C. Havens with help from the "panelists"
Dorothy: So in order to be happier, I should do things like we learned about in the first session – practice gratitude, giving and compassion; and I should spend more time volunteering and less time trying to make more money and getting more stuff. Because more money, and another pair of shoes, just isn't going to give me my biggest bang for my buck anymore.
The Data Segment was not speakers, not a panel, but.....announcing: A Play!!
The Wizard of Us. Here is the script, written by John C. Havens with help from the "panelists"
The Wizard of Us
A
short presentation on data in the happiness movement:
Cast
(in order of appearance)
·
Tin Man,
who teaches us about happiness indicators globally and how to interpret
one’s personal assessment of their wellbeing, played by John C. Havens, author of Hacking H(app)iness -
Why Your Personal Data Counts and How Tracking it Can Change the World and
Founder of The H(app)athon Project at happathon.com/
·
Strawman, who teaches us why we need a new economic paradigm,
played by Rickey Gard Diamond, MFA, founding editor of Vermont Woman at
vermontwoman.com
·
The Lion, teaches us how to use happiness data for community
wellbeing played by Lauren-Glenn Davitian, Executive Director of Center for
Media and Democracy at cctv.org
·
Glinda the Good Witch who teaches
us how to manage happiness data, played
by Kathleen Paterson, Co-director, Early Childhood Data Reporting System
Project, Vermont Building Bright Futures at buildingbrightfutures.org/
·
Wizard
of Us, who teaches us why we need
happiness indicators to guide policy makers is played by Jane Kolodinsky, Ph.D. Professor
and Chair of Community Development and Applied Economics Department at
University of Vermont at uvm.edu/cdae/
Presenters
on stage wear hats/costume pieces to indicate their characters.
As
the session opens, we see a slide featuring economic data with metrics from the
GDP. Words like “financial” and “productivity” and “growth” are featured
prominently. After the slide is up for a long moment, Dorothy enters,
looking towards the ground, walking in circles.
Dorothy
(muttering to herself, but loud enough for the audience to hear): Follow
the yellow brick road. Follow the yellow brick road.
Tom
enters as Dorothy’s Uncle Tom, wearing a hat to show he is the Tin Man before the
tornado hits (worker on Dorothy’s farm). He watches Dorothy pace for a
moment, worried.
Tom:
Dorothy! Didn’t you hear me calling you? The carnival is here.
Don't you want to meet the magician who’s going to tell you your fortune?
Dorothy:
I’m making my fortune, Tom, (gesturing
to Tom), the kindly man who works on my farm who also provides narration as
a form of lazy exposition. Don't
you see the yellow bricks? The gold? Everyone knows money makes
you happy. So I’m following the yellow brick road.
Tom:
But money doesn’t bring happiness, Dorothy. Who told you such a thing?
Dorothy:
The munchkins.
Tom:
Who are the munchkins?
Dorothy:
A Wall Street Brokerage firm.
Tom:
Dorothy. You’re looking at happiness the wrong way. You’re measuring the
wrong things.
Dorothy:
That sounds like a segue!
Tom:
Yes, Dorothy. Yes it is.
We
see a video or static picture of a tornado while Tom/Tin Man makes storm sound
effects into his microphone.
Dorothy:
(swinging arms around as if she’s caught in the storm) What’s happening?
Tom:
You need to rediscover what makes life count, instead of just counting on money
to make you happy.
Dorothy
is blown off stage as we see/hear RFK’s Beyond GDP speech. At the end of
the speech, she is blown back onstage. As she comes back in, we see Tom/the
Tin Man wearing a different hat – he is now the Tin Man.
Dorothy:
Tom, is that you?
Tin
Man: No, I’m the Tin Man.
Dorothy:
Tim?
Tin
Man: Tin.
Dorothy:
Is it Mister Tin, or…
Tin
Man: Welcome, Dorothy, to The Land of Us. A place where happiness data
can be used to make a difference in the world. Up until now, the economy
has focused largely on the idea that if you have more wealth, growth, or
productivity you’ll be happy. But in the Land of Us, we recognize a
fuller range of metrics than just money that measure value.
Dorothy:
Like Mr. Kennedy spoke about.
Tin
Man: Exactly.
Dorothy:
But I’m confused. How can you measure happiness? Isn’t it a mood,
and completely subjective? How could economics measure those kinds of
things?
Tin
Man: Well, Dorothy…
Music
starts to play to the tune of, “If I Only Had a Brain.”
When
your outlook is financial, increasing growth seems quite substantial, and only
money plays a part.
Economic-ally
speaking, sorry but your theory’s leaking, you’ve got to measure heart.
I
know at first it sounds deceiving, that money can’t increase wellbeing, but
it’s time for a clean start.
Please
be open and not churlish, there’s more metrics make you flourish, when you
start to measure heart.
Oh
I can see just why, you’re struggling to comprehend. But don’t worry now,
my data-loving friend.
Here’s
where we start, it’s not the end.
So
don’t fill yourself with tension, ‘bout these metrics that I mention, like education,
health, and art.
Cause
the paradigm is changing, economics rearranging, now we get to measure heart.
Dorothy:
Thank you, what a great song. Did we have to pay royalties on that,
because this conference is volunteer driven and…
Tin
Man: No, it’s fair use. But now that you understand why we call this,
“The Land of Us.” Measuring wellbeing has to include measuring all the aspects
of what makes us human and happy, not just money.
Dorothy: Wait a minute, didn’t I take a survey a
while back. Something about
happiness…what was it…Oh yeah – the Gross National Happiness Index? That was just a game wasn't it? Are you serious? You can’t measure happiness.
Tin Man: Well, actually, you an. Some countries are
already measuring happiness like Bhutan, Australia, the UK, even the US Census
Bureau. Organizations like Gallup
and even Google, Facebook and an explosion of apps are gathering happiness data
as we speak. And the Organization
on Economic Cooperation and Development just issued guidelines on measuring
subjective wellbeing.
Dorothy: Subjective wellbeing? What is that?
Tin Man: Its what you feel and what you think about
your life. Remember in that
survey, you were asked if you felt your life was worth living? That's a way of measuring satisfaction
with life. And the questions about feeling happy or anxious are how we measure
affect, or how you feel.
Dorothy:
So wait a second – I remember that my Satisfaction With Life scores were lower than the
everybody else’s scores. So what
this is saying is that even though things may be going good for me in a lot of
domains of happiness of my life if I truly want to be happier, I need to change
my mind, not my pocket book.
Tin
Man: Correct.
Dorothy: So in order to be happier, I should do things like we learned about in the first session – practice gratitude, giving and compassion; and I should spend more time volunteering and less time trying to make more money and getting more stuff. Because more money, and another pair of shoes, just isn't going to give me my biggest bang for my buck anymore.
Tin
Man: That’s right. Do you want to try a quick experiment to show you how
you can increase your satisfaction with life, or your wellbeing?
Dorothy:
Sure.
Tin
Man: You mentioned gratitude, so our
experiment is going to focus on that.
And do you think we can let them get in on the fun? (Gestures towards
the audience).
Dorothy:
Who are they?
Tin
Man: They’re the audience. It’s
okay, we’ve already broken the fourth wall. Okay, everyone, turn to the person
next to you. Pick a “Person A” and
a “Person B.” Person A will tell
Person B, in a short sentence, something they’re grateful for. So you might say, “I’m grateful for my
family.” Then Person B will repeat that back. “You’re grateful for your family.” Go ahead and give that a shot everyone, and then switch
places so you both get a turn.
(Actors
do this on stage and audience members do as well).
Tin
Man: Gratitude, like altruism, is
an action we can take to increase our wellbeing. And the effects of both of them can be tracked, via our
health and the communities we help.
You know, it reminds me of a song….
Music
to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” begins to play.
Tin
Man: Somewhere over the….
Dorothy:
Tin Man (stopping the music).
Sorry, it’s just we’re tight on time, and…
Tin
Man: No, that’s fine, that’s fine. I’ll go oil myself or something…(he
exits off to the side).
Dorothy:
(speaking to Toto and out to the audience) Oh, Toto. Now I’m
beginning to see how to take a new measure of my life. I’m worth more
than just my wealth. I realize I can actually be happier by focusing on
data and metrics beyond money.
During
her speech, she pretends to walk, and Scarecrow: enters
Scarecrow:
Hey, who are you talking to?
Dorothy
(startled): I’m sorry?
Scarecrow:
Who’s Toto?
Dorothy:
Why, he’s my dog.
Scarecrow:There’s
no dog there.
Dorothy:
Sure, don’t you see him? He’s sort of a poodle, bishon mix…
Scarecrow:
And I thought I was the one without a brain. That’s fine, that’s fine.
Look,
Dorothy, now that you understand how to measure happiness in a new way for
yourself, it’s time to understand how to do the same for other people. I
want to tell you why it’s important to measure what really matters.
Dorothy:
Wonderful! Are you going to sing, like the Tin Man?
Scarecrow:
No, sorry. I have all this hay in my throat. Scratchy.
Dorothy:
Is it a rights thing again?
Strawman:
No, I just wanted a different segue to my section.
Dorothy:
Ah, great. What’s your segue.
Strawman:
I’ve got some more audience participation, which is a cheap but fun way to keep
people awake after lunch. (Turns
to audience) Okay, folks. I need
you to be Flying Monkeys. It’s
pretty easy. Flap your arms and
make monkey sounds. Go ahead, give
it a try. (They do). Great. Now every time I point to you and make a flapping motion, do
your thing. And remember we’re
capturing all this on video.
Now I’ve been here in the
Land of Us a long time, when the Flying Monkeys (points to audience) lived in
trees and knew their neighbors and threw down bananas and nuts and fruits for
everybody in the Land of Us. We looked up to them. That was our first mistake.
Now they’re flying off to Davos, or Wall Street, or drinking with the IMF with
World Banksters. They only talk to other Flying Monkeys now.
They pile up these huge
mountains of paper money. So much, it scares me--I mean all of it could catch
on fire, right? It has before! (Shivers & looks frightened.)
Dorothy: Don’t be afraid,
Scarecrow. PLEASE. You’re scaring ME.
Strawman: Well, they call
them dollar bills for a reason, you know. They’re IOUs, all betting on the
future—but what about now? They cut down all the trees in the Land of Us to
make more paper money, and got sawdust in the water, and killed the fish, which
hurt the birds, which starved the coyotes, because the forest and fields are
mostly paved now.
Dorothy: Yeah, but we have
to park somewhere. To get stuff. That’s business.
Strawman: Me, I was
down-sized. Replaced by computer simulation. Until some local farmers reminded
Land of Us-ians that food wasn’t always thrown at us, or flown in and dropped
from the sky. We don’t need Flying Monkeys (points
to audience) —they need us. We have each other, and together, we create aggregate
demand.
Dorothy: What’s that?
Aggregate demand?
Strawman: Oh, that’s their
monkey name for The Land of Us. Aggregate demand makes for a good “economy,”
another monkey word. See, money monkey-talk like that kind of covers up
that there are many more of us, than there are of them. And under their cool
hats, they’re kind of ugly. Frankly, I think they’re sexually insecure, all
those flying monkeys, all fighting over who’s on top!
Dorothy: Well, that gets too
personal.
Strawman: Have you seen the
Wolf of Wall Street? Oh, the economy is very personal. But is it me, me, me,
me, me? No, it’s we, we, we--The Land of Us and our many connections. We
couldn’t see these when we only measured money. We’ve all got an important
part—or flying monkeys will come out of my butt!
Dorothy rolls eyes. OMG.
Strawman: (to the audience)
P.S. I’m not saying that YOU ALL are flying monkeys, by the way. Just letting you have a little fun PLUS
you saved us money on needing to buy a sound effect.
Strawman: See, the ants and
the busy bees and beavers started these breweries and bakeries, for the Land of
Us, with some help from the microbes. Small businesses. And more of them got
solar panels for socially responsible business—the Munchkins are adding in
childcare and healthcare and we’re measuring what happens. That way we all know
we are working together. And whether everyone has a job and pays a fair share
for roads we need—out of Wall Street—back to home-base.
We measure how our homes are
doing, and people in them, and the babies and old people. Their job is to keep
nurses and doctors and teachers working and laughing. We even measure how many
grasshoppers get jobs, fiddling. Because their music makes us happy. And
dancing to it keeps us fit! I’ll show you….
(“Happy” by Pharell plays,
and the Strawman encourages everyone to dance). Come on, everybody, dance break!
Scarecrow: Well, we measure
fitness, too, and for the forests and the water and air. We even know now the
Monkeys used to be happier before they started flying and hoarding paper. When
they were sharing fruit most of us couldn’t reach? We all were happier
when they were still loaded –with fleas and lice, I mean, just hanging out,
grooming each other, picking a little cootie snack every once in awhile. We
should measure what would happen if we clipped their wings a little, and
invited them to The Wizard of Us potluck—
Dorothy: Well, I hope
they’ll wash their hands first!
(Lion roars)
Omigosh! What’s that!
We
hear a lion roar from offstage. Lion enters.
Dorothy:
Oh my goodness, why were you roaring like that?
Lion:(pounding
her chest) Sorry. Just ate a munchkin. Didn’t go down well.
Scarecrow:
Woah! You scared the straw out of me.
Lion:
Dorothy, now that you’ve learned how to increase happiness and wellbeing for
yourself, for others, and how to measure it so it can count, I’m here to tell
you how to use that data to make a real difference.
(Lion
sings)
“If I were Queen of the Metrics, Not king, not duke, not prince.
My regal reports would make news, have power, make change, not chintz.
We’d answer how much is done, show how well it’s done,
And, who in my kingdom is better off.
As word of our progress spreads, all will be clear.
My public will hear, Policy makers draw near.
Communities would thrive - If I - If I - were Queen!
Funders would show respect to us.
The government, genuflect to us.
Our lives would improve, we’d be in a groove
Across lake and land!
If I - If I - were Queen!
Just Queen!
My regal reports would make news, have power, make change, not chintz.
We’d answer how much is done, show how well it’s done,
And, who in my kingdom is better off.
As word of our progress spreads, all will be clear.
My public will hear, Policy makers draw near.
Communities would thrive - If I - If I - were Queen!
Funders would show respect to us.
The government, genuflect to us.
Our lives would improve, we’d be in a groove
Across lake and land!
If I - If I - were Queen!
Just Queen!
At
the end of the Lion section, we hear ‘magical’ music playing as we see Good
Witch Glinda’s picture on the screen, swirling in circles. Her picture
swirls off to one side of the stage which she then enters twirling and carrying
a gigantic book.
Glinda
the Good Witch: Hello!
Dorothy:
Wow!
Glinda:
It’s all about the entrance.
(Looking dizzy)
Dorothy: Who are you?
Glinda: I’m Glinda. The Good Witch.
Dorothy:
What is that giant book you are carrying?
Glinda: I
keep the records in the Land of Us.
Dorothy: Oh! A
story book! I love stories!
Glinda: Right. It’s a data informed storybook (very serious.) I write down all the historical events that take
place in the Land of Us and keep everything updated and neatly chronicled in
this treasure book. Isn’t that magical?
Dorothy: Actually it sounds a little scary. What kind of
things do you write down?
Glinda: The smallest things and the biggest things, like …
well everything good and wonderful.
Dorothy: There’s nothing for me in that book then.
Glinda: OF COURSE there is. Because there’s no place like
home.
Dorothy: But, I only have simple things like, reading books
with Auntie Em or working in the community garden.
Glinda: (looks in book)
It’s all here!
Dorothy: What about when I cry or laugh?
Glinda: Page four thousand and forty-three.
Dorothy: Can anyone read the Happiness and Wellbeing Record
Book?
Glinda: It’s very precious
you know. But I often shared it
with a few people I trusted.
Dorothy: Wait, you wrote down things about
everybody but then they couldn’t read it?
Glinda: Dear girl. It didn’t make sense to
anyone else! We used highly complex statistics. You see. (Glinda shows Dorothy
the book)
Dorothy: It’s all strange! What does it mean?
Glinda: HERE (she hands over magical big glasses)
Dorothy: Oh! There! Dorothy works in community
garden! Dorothy hugs her Auntie
Em! Dorothy laughs and pets Toto! These
are wonderful glasses!
Glinda: Yes, but there are only three pairs. (Sighs) They are data literacy glasses! I
call them my RNMK glasses. Whoever puts on the glasses can Read Numbers
that Make Sense. The magic glass had a special
ingredient in the formula – data literacy. They are sort of like Ruby slippers. They’ll take you home!
Dorothy: Where are the other
glasses? And could I get a pair of
Ruby slippers?
Glinda: I only let dear friends read the book. We meet every
Friday over a double mocha latte and talk about the data and stories.
Dorothy: How interesting and fun!
Glinda: Not always. It shows the truth. So we saw patterns and trends of good
and not so good things happening in the Land of Us.
Dorothy: Oh no! What did you do?
Glinda: We began to share the book with a few others first
and then everyone in the Land of Us so they could use the Happiness and
Wellbeing Record Book for good.
Dorothy: But how can you share the book with everyone? You
only have three RNMK glasses!
Glinda: I’m a witch! I used my magic and made a portal. You
only need a RDMK nano! (pulls out nano
inside book.) Now it’s possible that everyone can access and understand the Happiness
and Wellness Record Book.
Dorothy: I’m not so sure I want everyone to
know what you wrote about me! We’re not in Kansas anymore, if you know what I
mean.
Glinda: Uhmmm.
Dorothy: My oh my.
Tell me more. This sounds
like a story worth sharing. (They both face the audience as the iconic
TED music plays and Glinda faces forward as if delivering a TED talk).
Glinda: Data and happiness….(She is interrupted by Dorothy who holds up a big red circle, ala the
carpet all TED speakers must stand on when delivering their talks).
Dorothy: Here, you need to stand on this, because that’s how
they do it at TED.
Glinda: Right, thanks. (Continuing
her talk) The great news about
the Happiness and Wellbeing Record book being available in the cloud through
wee-devices (holds up nano) means
social good technology innovators are creating data portals to access it from
anywhere, no
matter what land you are in or who you are.
And you
don’t need to worry about data protection or privacy. This technology allows only you to see your own data and
stories. But you still get to see other data and stories that are all woven
together to help us answer important questions so that we can take good care of
the earth and people. There are data portals to the Record Book everywhere, all stored in
clouds, no matter what land you are in or who you are. (Glinda
twirls off the circle)
Dorothy:
Glinda! The red circle. Do you have an example?
Glinda:
Oh! Right! Yes, here’s an example of a data portal, (Early Childhood Data
reporting System that Kathleen Paterson, Dave Lapointe and Julie Coffey from
Vermont’s Building Bright Futures are working on)
Dorothy: It’s like the yellow brick road to happiness and wellbeing.
Glinda: I
just wrote down in my HW Record Book the results of the first state-level Gross
National Happiness Survey. Social
connections and environmental quality domains ranked the highest by Vermonters
(Now all of the cast members stand up to look
at the charts and say in unison):
All:
OHHH
Lion: You’re
talking about data democracy where everyone is empowered to work with the data
and stories for social good. Courage!
Glinda:
YES! Data democracy for social
good; data literacy + digital access + digital trust!
Tin
Woodman: Social good - that means compassion, caring and social justice. It’s about people, places and
possibilities. Have a heart!
Glinda: Such
forward thinkers. (To Dorothy) By the way, are we done with
the TED thing? (Pointing to the red circle).
Dorothy:
Oh, yeah. (To audience) Anyone want this? If you stand on it, you magically sound important and are
bathed in red light (she throws it into the audience).
I get it!
Data
analyzed yields information
Information
leads to knowledge
Knowledge
helps us understand
Understanding
points to wisdom
Wisdom
leads to vision
Shared
vision leads to collective action
I think
I’m ready now! I think I understand how to make a difference by measuring
happiness and wellbeing data and using it to increase wellbeing for every being,
in the Land of Us. Is there a way back home now?
Glinda: Well,
Dorothy, you were wise and good enough to help your friends to come here and
find what was inside them all the time. That's true for you, also.
Dorothy: Home? Inside of me? I don’t understand?
Glinda: Home is a place we all must find, dear. It's not just
a place where you eat or sleep. Home is knowing. Knowing your mind, knowing
your heart, knowing your courage. If we know ourselves, we're always home,
anywhere.
At
the end of this section, we segue to:
The
Wizard of Us appears. Everyone on stage gets down on one knee except Dorothy.
Wizard of Us: Well done, Dorothy. You have learned well on
your journey.
Dorothy:
Wait – are you the Wizard? I thought the wizard was supposed to be a guy.
Wizard of Us: I think women have been ignored long enough in
important roles and measures, don’t you?
Dorothy:
That’s right, girlfriend! (They fist bump or bump chests).
Wizard of Us: Audience, don’t you agree women have been ignored,
long enough? The proper response
here is, “Yes, Mighty Wizard.” Say
it!
All
cast: Yes, mighty Wizard
Wizard of Us: Nice.
And
now, Dorothy, I have just one more lesson before you go
Wizard of Us speaks on a New Economic Paradigm
·
What counts and what
doesn't: grocery shopping/gardening; volunteering/working a job; bottle
feeding breast feeding
·
States with the largest difference
between economic indicator well being and social indicator well being:
Delaware and Oregon,
·
The differences between these two states that are not
“counted”
·
The missing element in the economics
equation: happiness
As
she ends, Tin Man and any remaining cast members reenter.
Dorothy:
Scarecrow! Lion! Tin Man!
(Tin
Man as Tom): I’m Tom
again.
Dorothy:
Tim?
Tom:
Don’t…we’re already running over.
Go
ahead, Dorothy. Click your heels together three times and we’ll take this
bad boy home.
The
times they are a’ changing, a new wind is starting to blow.
And
now just like you, Dorothy, there’s a few things that we all know.
When
you don’t just measure money, that’s when happiness can grow.
And
the power to make this change, it’s not just in Us but also you (pointing to
the audience).
And
now that our journey’s over, there’s just one thing we need to do:
Sing
with us!
It’s
time to count what matters. (Audience – it’s time to count what matters)
It’s
time to count what’s true. (Audience – it’s time to count what’s true).
It’s
time to count what matters. (Audience – it’s time to count what matters)
It’s
time to count what’s true. (Audience – it’s time to count what’s true).
You
want to really get happy? Measure unto them as you want them to measure
unto you.
One
more time!
It’s
time to count what matters. (Audience – it’s time to count what matters)
It’s
time to count what’s true. (Audience – it’s time to count what’s true).
It’s
time to count what matters. (Audience – it’s time to count what matters)
It’s
time to count what’s true. (Audience – it’s time to count what’s true).
You
want to really get happy?
I
said, do you really want to get happy?
(Music
plays big bluesy ending)
….Measure unto them as you want them to
measure unto you.
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