Steven Moe
on Planting Seeds of Impact
“As the seasons pass, an apple tree grows and wonders why it has been left alone with no purpose.”
Too often, Steven Moe saw people getting disillusioned. He felt the need to encourage them through a story, relevant for children and adults: “The Apple Tree is an inspiring character who has a great impact on the world but doesn’t always see the results or know how big an effect they have. His story is a reflection on the nature of things we can’t perceive, and the impact we can have on the world beyond our own imagination.”
That’s what happens when one goes down memory lane: Steven remembered the apple tree his grandfather planted in a valley just after World War II. Year after year, he would go back to visit the same nostalgic tree that is still producing apples today: “I thought about what it would be like to experience seasons passing by like days and growing old thinking you had achieved nothing – or at least, you thought that was the case.”
Inspired also by his parents who have been part of the Peace Corps in the 1960s as some of the first volunteers, Steven understood the power of being a seed in the journey for impact. At 21, he decided to go live in Japan for a year. A hard decision, but he thought it would be better not to look back with regrets. That’s when doing challenging things and trying new initiatives started to appeal to him: “My mother told me that some people are like planted trees. Others, however, are like pot plants: they can be easily moved, able to thrive wherever they go.”
Steven lived and thrived in more than six countries. He became a lawyer with a difference: a Speaker, Partner at Parry Field Lawyers, a frequent writer for Stuff, The Spinoff and part of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF). Also recognized as a leading expert on governance, he is a facilitator for the Institute of Directors in New Zealand and host of the “Board Matters Podcast” podcast.
His belief is that you can never meet a boring person: if you think they are so, you just have not asked the right questions yet! He even finds the use of clichés an open door that leads to having a deeper conversation about the meaning and real motivations behind it. This philosophy is the pillar of Seeds Podcast, where he interviewed no less than 386 inspiring people, hearing the life stories of fascinating humans living lives of purpose.
Read Steven’s answers for Inspirators and go on his interactive book website to tell a short story about someone who is an “apple tree” in your life - and remember: “What we do matters, even if the results are not apparent right away. In the same way a seed looks like it is dead, but there is life within, trust that in the right conditions, there will be growth and new life!”
Thank you, Steven, for planting Seeds of Impact!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Steven Moe
Company / Institution: Seeds Podcast & Parry Field Lawyers
Title: Lawyer and Creative
Website: www.theseeds.nz and www.parryfield.com
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-moe-0b3b008a/
Country of origin: United States but grew up in New Zealand from age 7, and lived in 6 countries so a global citizen rather than being defined by the construct of a national identity.
Country you currently live in: Aotearoa New Zealand
Your definition of Regeneration: We are not yet as we will one day be.
Main business challenge you face: Helping people to think holistically about their lives and making them understand that what they do is important. For those with a business - explaining that what they do matters and that we can enshrine purpose in that as well!
Main driver that keeps you going: When I was 21, I lived in Japan for a year. The decision to go there was not easy, but I was reminded by a friend that when I am 95 it will be better not to look back with regrets. So doing challenging things and trying new initiatives has great appeal to me. Also, for my Seeds Podcast, I have interviewed people who are no longer with us, which makes me realize how fleeting our time on this Earth is. We each need to use our time well.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: Curiosity.
My Mother told me that you never meet a boring person: if you think they are, you just have not asked the right questions yet. That helps guide my interactions with everyone I meet and shapes the question for Seeds podcast where I’ve talked with 386 people now for an hour each on their life journeys.
The trait you most value in others: The same thing - curiosity. I think that is the key to unlocking so many doors and conversations in life.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: I love second-hand bookstores and browsing among them to either find an old friend of a book or meet a new one I have never heard of. I don’t think I ever leave such a store without at least one book.
Right now, my wife and I are renovating an old cottage by a slow-moving stream with just the sound of water on rocks and birds in the foothills of the Southern Alps. We have installed bookshelves around the ceilings and lined the walls with them. I want it to be a retreat for artists, painters and writers to go to and the payment will be simple: leave a copy of your favorite book to add to the shelves.
The Inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path: My parents were in the Peace Corps in the 1960s as some of the first volunteers and the arc of their life has inspired me to consider how I can advocate for impact through legal structures. This is what led to writing “Laying Foundations for Reimagining Business” which is a book of essays. I’m part of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship which has +530 global fellows involved and I learn a lot from each of them.
A starting point for companies or professionals that are beginning the regeneration journey: Start small!
Most used and abused clichés in sustainability that bother you: I prefer to think of everything as a glass half full so don’t think about this sort of thing negatively. Instead, if a cliché is used, it is an opening to have a deeper conversation about what it means and get to real motivations.
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope:
Ask “How can I become the type of person that I would like to meet?”, as a lens for what you choose to do.
Books that had a great impact on you / Must-Reads for any regenerative professional:
It may sound obscure but Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard is a contemplative read from an author who spent a year living by a small creek and observing nature. It won a Pulitzer prize in the 1970s and is worth seeking out.
I recently finished my first picture book with deeper meaning (like ‘The Lorax’) and many adults tell me they are crying at the end of it because it touches them deeply. It is called The Apple Tree and a video of me reading it out is here.
Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again: I still like the imagination and nostalgia of movies of my childhood like Back to the Future and Star Wars.
Websites / Podcasts you visit frequently: Apart from Seeds Podcast, I really like James Laughlin, Lead on Purpose, The Moth (stories), Everyday Māori by Hēmi Kelly and Āpera Woodfine, Unlocking Great Books by Sean Barnes and Carl Davidson, On Being with Krista Tippet (especially the most perfect interview ever with the late John O’Donaghue here on the inner landscape of beauty).
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you:
Lake Daniells is a small lake in the Lewis Pass on the South Island of New Zealand - remote and beautiful, it is a “thin place” where the physical and spiritual worlds intersect.
The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona – still being built 100 years after the designer’s death, a true intergenerational project of beauty.
My mother described herself like this: "Some people are like planted trees, others, like us, are pot plants who can be moved more easily."
Having lived in 6 countries for more than a year (Japan, Chile, NZ, England, the US and Australia), I recognize that trait in myself too.
Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow:
I will choose some New Zealand voices:
Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafuna’I on Pacific Ocean Wayfinding and its application today (conversation is here)
Alex Hannant on Systems change and innovation for impact (conversation is here)
Nicola Nation, CEO of the Ākina Foundation (conversation is here)
Shamubeel Eaqub, NZ's leading economist (conversation is here)
Jennifer Wilkins on post-growth (conversation is here)
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on:
Legal personhood for nature and its implications for ownership structures of the made-up legal vehicles we use now – companies. On this topic, I recently released this academic paper with Elizabeth Macpherson and David Jefferson called “Experiments with the Extension of Legal Personality to Ecosystems and Beyond-Human Organisms: Challenges and Opportunities for Company Law”.
Events we should attend / Best places for networking (online or offline):
Last year, I coordinated a fully-online conference with 100 speakers on 32 panels with 500 attending the Seeds Impact Conference. All the sessions are recorded and can be watched at no cost over here.
Impactful and relevant Sustainable Development or Regeneration courses or certifications: I don’t look for formal certifications and accreditations and instead focus on learning more informally from people, books, podcasts and events.
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: As a child boarding a large plane, you were greeted by cigarette smoke. The seats you sat in even had an ashtray built into the armrest. Look how far we have come since then! Change is possible.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: The need to reinvent capitalism and the role of business is massive – it will take time, probably decades. We have to each work in our own areas, doing what we can. Just like trains on different tracks, each moving in the same direction, but we can look across and encourage each other as we go.
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: Collaboration and less ego about “my” project or idea – let's work together more.
The Inspirator you are endorsing for a future edition is:
Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafuna’I
The quote that inspires you:
“To go fast, go alone – to go far, go together!”
Your quote that will inspire us:
At the front of The Apple Tree, I wrote this Haiku which captures the essence of what the paradigm of a long-term perspective involves.
