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The Business Poet – Chapter 3

The Business Poet – Chapter 3

On Profits

The head of finance wanted to get straight to the heart of the matter, and said, Speak to us of Profits.

The old man smiled a wry smile, consulted his notes, and answered, saying:

“Just as nature cannot survive without water, so commerce depends on profits to quench its natural thirst for capital.

“Profits are the refreshing crystal water that collects in rock pools in the mountainous terrain of business.

“Used wisely, profits are a source of life and rejuvenation – channelled effectively, profits have the potential to sustain a tropical forest, or to green a barren wasteland.

“But if the flow of fresh water through the pool is blocked, the water becomes stagnant and a breeding ground for disease.

“If profits are excessively horded, rather than fairly and productively distributed, the dam of popular discontent will eventually burst, causing indiscriminate damage to all who happen to lie in its flood path, and leaving behind scars where the integrity of the commercial system has been eroded.

“Like the water cycle in nature, profits are part of a larger cycle of financial resources circulating through enterprise and society.

“A farsighted business will seek to understand and contribute to balance in the whole system, looking both upstream and downstream for any signs of impending drought, excessive damming activity or pollution of the water supply.

“The wise manager will be acutely concerned about the looming crisis of economic desertification in many marginalised areas of the world, which threatens to disrupt the entire water cycle unless it is reversed.

“Profits are one measure of success in business, but only one of many.

“Only a fool would try to argue that the water cycle is more important than the oxygen cycle or the carbon cycle, when in truth they are wholly interdependent.

“Likewise, pursuing a business model that emphasises profits ahead of people or the planet only serves to undermine the very fabric of the economic system and will end in ruin.

“Decisions about how and where to channel profits are best made by those who are intimately familiar with local needs and conditions.

“Effective water management demands first hand knowledge of nuances in the landscape, variations in geological patterns and micro-climatic moods, together with an understanding of the intimate needs of the resident populace.

“Beware, therefore, of the vagaries of scattered shareholders, absent landlords and remote executives.

“The destiny of something as precious as water is far too important to trust to the hands of the self-proclaimed ruling few, or the self-indulgent faceless many.

“Let those who have helped to build the waterways and nurture the rain and negotiate the open sluices, drink also from the fountain of profits, as just reward for their tireless labour.

“But do not forget to also extend the life-giving chalice to those less fortunate, who do not share the privileges of prosperity, for whatever reason.

“Remember those who live in the desert of deprivation, with no oases on the horizon to relieve their parched existence.

“Remember those who are surrounded by great rivers of abundance, but have not been granted the drinking rights of the employed.

“And share your profits generously with those who are dying of thirst, for giving without expecting to receive in return profits the heart and the soul, and there is no greater wealth.”

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The Business Poet – Chapter 2

The Business Poet – Chapter 2

On Work

A loyal employee representative from the trade union, who had never been afraid to speak his mind, was the first to take up the challenge and, continuing in the style of The Prophet, said, Speak to us of Work.

Everyone’s attention turned to their former leader whom they held in such high esteem, curious and expectant, to see how he would respond. He smiled as he recalled jotting down his thoughts on the meaning of work, and in his mind he knew exactly in which notebook and on which page he would find the passage. He thumbed the pages and soon had his forefinger marking the appropriate place. He looked up, cleared his throat, and with a strange feeling of hearing the echo of his own thoughts, began to read:

“Conventional wisdom says that some live to work, while others work to live, but both extremes are undesirable.

“Those that lose themselves in their jobs, or titles, or careers, are lost indeed, for they filter life’s rainbow through the prism of work and declare the world one colour, with themselves the master of a single hue.

“Those who find themselves chained to employment, whether from desperation or fear, are prisoners of the darkness who see life’s bright rays, at best, through the bars of impotence and boredom.

“Both types are victims of insecurity and false identity, for work does not define us, but gives us the opportunity to define ourselves.

“Career choices do not dictate our worth, but allow us to celebrate our worth.

“Job titles say more about our sense of self-importance than our ability to do important work.

“Employment does not equate to the contribution we are making to society, nor the potential we have to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

“It is a strange irony that the most valuable work is least valued in our material world, while the most selfish pursuits are glorified and richly rewarded.

“We live in an age of inverted values.

“As with Nature, so too with work: the smallest, humblest and least visible are the most pervasive, productive and critical – the very foundation on which the balance of life depends.

“The modern economy is an attempt to create a neatly manicured garden, sterile and devoid of the disorderly profusion of wild growth.

“Unshapely jobs are severely pruned every season and non-conforming workers are weeded out and discarded on the refuse pile of the unemployed.

“Surviving staff are fertilised with financial incentives, trellis-bound through management-by-objectives, and sprayed with market mantras to increase resistance to the buzzing, biting pests of social and environmental activism.

“For society to blossom, diversity must be allowed to flourish: budding talents must be nurtured and the acorn latent inside the oak tree must be cherished.

“Only when survival is not dependent on growing in the limited garden of formal employment will we witness the true bounty of human nature.

“Only when we create an environment in which the tender tendrils of youth can climb towards the warmth of their inner calling will we reap a full harvest of what is possible.

“True work is service in action, creativity in motion, meaning in the making.”

Merlin looked up from his entranced soliloquy, somewhat anxious, unsure how his words had been received. But he needn’t have worried. The human collage of nodding heads, smiling faces and appreciative whispers was a picture of support and encouragement. So, they continued.

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The Business Poet – Chapter 1

The Business Poet – Chapter 1

On Letting Go

It was time to leave. A bitter-sweet time. Merlin Wood felt sadness, but also contentment. The business he had conceived and birthed and nurtured was mature enough to stand on its own feet now. To live out its own life.

He gazed around the room at the people who were gathered for his farewell. For so many years, this had been his family. Together, they had endured; they were survivors, through thick and thin. They had been triumphant in their successes; downhearted in their failures. He did not know them all intimately, but he felt a shared sense of belonging. To many, he had been close enough to know when there was cause for some or other personal celebration. Others had trusted him enough to unveil their insecurities, to let their pain show.

But now, it was time to let go; to entrust them with the business. Ironically, the way he saw it, the company was not the legacy he was leaving at all. In fact, on the surface of it, there was not much remarkable about the business itself. It was not the biggest, nor the smallest. It was profitable, but not excessively so. It sold good quality products, but nothing spectacular. He had always maintained that the value of the business was not in its bricks and mortar, or its cash-flow or dividends. The real value was in the way in which the business lived and breathed and kept its people alive and passionate.

That was the real gift he had given them. And that was why he was leaving behind his scruffy notebooks in the boardroom cabinet – those dog-eared, tea-stained A4 pages on which, over the years, he had jotted down his ideas. Scrawled untidily were the lessons he had learned along the way: about how to make a business ‘fit for human beings’; about how to survive in commerce and still sleep soundly at night; about how to create a company that served society, instead of the other way around. So many thoughts …

It was almost time for the ritual reading. He liked rituals. It was one of the things he had tried to embed in the business, and his farewell was not going to be the exception. He always marvelled at how simple rituals were able to imbue an occasion with meaning. The little ritual he was going to perform now had been conceived by the incoming board of directors. They had suggested that he read extracts from his notebooks to the family, friends and staff that were assembled, in the spirit and style The Prophet, that masterpiece by Lebanese mystic and poet, Kahlil Gibran, whose writings he so treasured. He thought it was a fitting way to go. If nothing else, it would be fun.

As his friends and colleagues began to take their seats, spreading out like a fan from where he sat behind his favourite knotted wooden desk, he traced his fingers around the worn edges of his notebooks, as if caressing the contours of a beloved’s face. On the cover of each book was written ‘My little book of thoughts, wishes and wisdoms’ – numbered one to seven respectively. Flanking the notebooks were two simple, white candles, unlit, tall and upright, like royal guards of honour. He allowed his awareness to drift over the animated whispers that were rippling around the room. It had a soothing effect, as if he was holding a spiral shell to his ear and eavesdropping on the secret, bubbling conversation of an imaginary ocean. Gradually, the fresh breeze of anticipation subsided and a quiet calm settled over the gathering. He took the emergent silence as his cue to begin.

The lights dimmed and the match he struck flared noisily in the dusky hush that had descended. He lit the two candles – symbols of the life of the company – and invited all those present to approach this time together in the spirit of a fireside dialogue beneath a star-spangled night sky. Then he spread his arms wide and, quoting Gibran’s famous invitation with a hint of playfulness in his voice, said:

“People of Orphalese, of what can I speak save of that which is even now moving within your souls.”

There was a murmur of laughter, and Merlin could see people visibly relax, perhaps relieved that the ceremony that had just begun was to be enjoyed, rather than taken too seriously.

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Sri Lanka Notes 2015

26 April 2015

As I write from my study in Cambridge, with grey skies outside, still languishing from jetlag and a bout of flu, my reflections on the past week in Sri Lanka are sunny and positive.

Upon arrival in Colombo on Sunday, we were driven about 5 hours to an eco-hotel in the north called Kandalama, compliments of Aitken Spence. Set in a tropical forest and overlooking a lake, the hotel is an inspiration in sustainability. The hotel windows are literally draped with jungle vines and families of monkeys are regular visitors to the balconies. The hotel has been designed for minimal environmental impact (already achieving zero waste to landfill, for example) and maximum social benefit, working with the community and local interest groups to overcome initial resistance to the project. After sunset, as we swam in the pool sculpted out of natural rock, with bats swooping and insects warming up their nocturnal voices, it felt heavenly. This was followed by a relaxing massage before we collapsed into our beds.

As it happened, we had slept even less than normal on the 11-hour flight, as a man in the seat in front of us on the plane had some sort of seizure. Indira’s nursing instincts kicked in and she was very helpful to a doctor who was on board, as he set up an impromptu ER station and treated the man (Sam), hooking him up to a drip, oxygen and heart-rate monitor. Fortunately, by the end of the flight, he seemed to have revived fully and was extremely grateful to Indira for her quick thinking response, telling me, ‘She saved my life’.

The following day, Monday, we left around 9 am for the journey back to Colombo. En route, we visited the ancient cave temples of Dumbulla, which are adorned with Buddha sculptures large and small and paintings on the cave walls depicting the life of the Buddha. On the walk up to the caves, Indira sat with a flower vendor and learned how to fold open the lotus petals. Further up the path, a cheeky monkey then stole one of the blooms right out of her hand. The rest she left as an offering in front of the giant reclining Buddha, as a symbol that as the flowers fad and die, so our physical bodies are in an impermanent state of being.

Somehow, these ancient caves, said to date back over 2,000 years, felt far more sacred and special than the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, which we visited later that day in Kandy. According to legend, the actual tooth of the Buddha is housed here; and it is ‘revealed’ daily during a religious ceremony, where hundreds queue to get a few seconds glimpse of the vessel holding the tooth. I can’t help but think that this fixation on a physical relic is completely contrary to the Buddha’s teachings about the impermanence and insignificance of the body as a vessel for the soul, and his discouragement for worshiping anyone or anything. But I guess human beings like to have something to cling to, a crutch for their beliefs, or a symbol of their aspirations.

We also stopped at a spice farm along the way to see the plants from which we get cinnamon, cloves, lemon grass, curry, pepper, vanilla and so on. One surprise was to see how the cashew nut grows, attached to the bottom of the fruit. Another was to see how curry powder is made by crushing various spices together, of which the curry plant is only one. The aroma is a sensual delight.

The next three days were taken up by the programme of CSR Sri Lanka, which had me talking to CEOs, senior government leaders, CSR managers and business teams about ‘transformative CSR’. I also spent time with the board of CSR Sri Lanka discussing their strategy, and attended Indira’s talk on social enterprise, which was extremely well received by an audience of young change-makers. The attendance and feedback from my sessions was all good and there seems to be enthusiasm to work more with both of us in the future.

On our final afternoon, Friday, we drove about 2 hours out of the city to visit the Bodyline factory, where they make almost all of Nike’s sports bras, as well as supplying Victoria’s Secret. The scale of these factories is immense, with one work area housing around 1,500 women. A few things impressed me about the operation. First, they have located the factories in rural areas, rather than centralising them in the cities. Second, they have a strong programme for supporting the opportunities of women, called Go Beyond. We spoke to two beneficiaries of this empowerment process and were encouraged by what we heard. Third, they are starting to integrate sustainability, with carbon footprinting and a sustainability index KPI, although I sensed a lack of strategic focus. Finally, they have shown that it is possible for an emerging economy facility to be world-class in their manufacturing techniques and innovation.

I am so pleased that Indira shared the trip with me. She is realising her own power to inspire, and the worldwide opportunities to work with leaders in fascinating cultural contexts. I was also glad to be addressing non-CSR specialist audiences – CEOs and government leaders – and to see more of Sri Lanka’s beautiful country and people. I foresee us being involved in making a documentary film here, perhaps centred on the story of Kandalama, or post war progress.

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Kosovo Notes 2015

8 April 2015

Monday was a long day, with a bus from Cambridge to Heathrow that left at 1 am and a flight via Vienna that left London at 6 am and arrived in Pristina at noon. From the airport we drove an hour or so to Prizren, where we spent the rest of the day and night with them. Prizren seems a fairly quaint old town, nestled beneath the snowy hills and dotted with mosques and churches and threaded with cobbled paths.

Now, I am writing from the downstairs room of Indira’s childhood home in Peja. Outside, the sun is shining and the skies are showing the first patches of blue since I arrived on Monday, two days ago. The room is cosy, heated by a wood-burning stove. Last night, we fell asleep to the crackle of the burning logs and the flicker of flames. I am happy to be here, meeting Indira’s family and discovering the place where she grew up.

Yesterday, we walked around Pristina’s central square and visited the NEW BORN sculpture, which gets painted with different colours and designs every year – such a wonderful symbol, reminding us that transformation is not a one-off event; we must be born again and again and again, constantly renewing ourselves. There a statue of Mother Theresa in downtown Pristina. Not many people know that she was Albanian.

In the evening, we had dinner at the Symphony restaurant with Indira’s niece and her husband, who is a well known musician in Kosovo. As always, I am attracted to the arts, feeling some kind of natural affinity.

I look forward to exploring Peja over the next few days, especially walking or driving in the mountains. Right now, Indira is making pancakes and I can hear a goat bleating from one of the neighbour’s yards.

10 April 2015

Yesterday, we took a drive through the spectacular gorge of the Acursed mountains of Peja. It truly is scenery to fall in love with. The previous day, we walked the 4 km path along the river, past the old Catholic nunnery. In the afternoon, we had lunch at Ujvara e Drinit. It was a wonderful family get-together in another beautiful spot in nature. After lunch, we walked up to a gushing waterfall.

Later in the evening, we watched a football match (Barcelona was playing and beat the other side 4-0). On our way out of Peja yesterday, we stopped to visit Indira’s mom’s grave, which has nice views of the mountains. In the afternoon, after arriving at Prizren, we drove into the mountains to the Sharri Hotel. The snow is still thick there and we enjoyed more spectacular views. Today, we will have breakfast in town and take a little walk before heading to the airport.

I am really pleased that I have visited Kosovo now. I look forward to coming back often; perhaps even owning a little piece of paradise in the mountains.

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Masterclass: Transformational Leadership for Sustainability

Masterclass: Transformational Leadership for Sustainability

24 June 2015, Johannesburg, South Africa

The Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) invites you to an exclusive masterclass with globally recognised sustainability expert Dr Wayne Visser, Transnet Chair of Sustainable Business at GIBS and Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Dr Visser will share the latest research, standards and cases on what makes the best sustainability leaders effective as change agents in their organisations and in society.

Masterclass benefits:

  • This session combines theory and practical case studies and after attending you will be able to:
  • Identify the characteristics of good leaders for sustainable business (traits, styles, skills/competencies and knowledge);
  • Assess what makes leaders effective change agents, and self-assess what type of change agent you are or need your organisation to employ; and
  • Understand the new ISO standards (Annex SL) and the specifications of Clause 5 on Leadership.

Who should attend?

  • Learning and development practitioners, HR directors, heads of procurement, as well as management representatives for sustainability, environment, occupational health & safety, social responsibility and quality will benefit from this masterclass.

Masterclass outline:

  • Drivers of Sustainability Leadership: Internal and external context; and the rise and fall of sustainability leaders.
  • Characteristics of Sustainability Leaders: Traits, styles, skills and knowledge; competency frameworks; and actions of sustainability leaders.
  • Sustainability Leaders as Change Agents: Change frameworks by Kotter, Visser, Ainger and Gladwell; and purpose-inspired leadership types.

Masterclass details:

  • Date: Wednesday, 24 June 2015
  • Time: 08:30 – 12:30 (a light lunch will be served after the event)
  • Venue: GIBS Campus, 26 Melville Road, Illovo, Sandton, South Africa

RSVP

Please click here to confirm your attendance by 29 May 2015. For further information contact Bongiwe Ramaboea on 011 771 4161 or ramaboeab@gibs.co.za.

Please note that there is no charge for this event. Regrettably this invitation is not transferable and seating is limited.

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Poetry Quotations

These quotations are taken from poems I have written, dating back to 1987.

Quotations

1987

Mists – Mists swirl, yet on my feet I stand – your hand in mine.

1988

Awake – Live the dream for soon it dies – life’s a dream, before we rise.

Life’s Dream – Life’s a dream, it seems to me, in which we choose our destiny.

Life’s Dream – We decide and we create; we walk the path and call it fate.

Life’s Dream – As we walk, we learn and grow, until in time we finally know that all is one and one is all.

Explore – Something calls me to explore, but locks and chains still bar the door.

Footprints – Sets of prints upon the sand – perhaps in time, in time I’ll know, where those footprints are to go.

Keep Up the Smiles – Who knows what and who knows how – the future rests on here and now

People – Cannot package, seal and brand – people, one must understand.

Release – Loved ones never leave your side – in your love, they rest and abide.

Reach Out and Touch – Reach out and touch someone in need – broken lives, hearts that bleed.

Reach Out and Touch – Give not to them advice nor creed – reach out and touch someone in need.

Dare Not – If I don’t dare, how would my loss compare to what I might well gain if my courage were sustained?

Pressure – Though pressure builds and workload piles, never forfeit joys nor smiles.

Pressure – Never lose your hold on hope – you have the means and you will cope.

Pressure – Never lose your will to win – have confidence in strength within.

Pressure – Know that as you persevere, what you strive for will draw near.

All Seems – Without, within, this world of dreams – life is never what it seems.

Un-Doing – I know the when, the why and how, but what becomes of here and now?

I Love You Mom – The freedom you’ve given is the freedom I need – you’ve allowed me to grow, having sown the seed.

I Love You Mom – You give of yourself and don’t count the cost – and the love that’s been gained will never be lost.

I Love You Mom – Consider each day of the year as a celebration of love with the ones you hold dear.

Perspective – There’s a crispy freshness in all that you do when your perspective changes to one that is new.

I Believe – I believe in you, I believe in me; I believe in all that we can be.

I Believe – I believe in sunshine and in rain; I believe no loss, for all is gain.

I Believe – I believe in the night and in the day; I believe that each finds their own way.

I Believe – I believe in seasons and the turn of tide; I believe in each sunset and each sunrise.

I Believe – I believe in life and in the living; I believe in receiving and in giving.

I Believe – I believe in peace and love divine; I believe in your way and in mine.

Only Love – Only love – it’s all that matters, all that binds, all that fulfils, all that finds.

Only Love – It’s all that holds, all that contains, all that is, all that remains – only love.

Mystery – There is a mystery which is you, a mystery which is me – and a mystery which is you and me.

1989

Quest Divine – Onward inward, still in mind – so much to do, so much to find.

More to come … watch this space!

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Diary Quotations

These quotations are extracted from my personal diary, which I have kept since 1987

Quotations

1987

Experience – We must experience in order to grow – be in the world but not of the world.

Inspiration – We should not seek inspiration outside ourselves, but turn to look within.

Flow – We must step out of the way and allow the universe to flow through us.

Letting Go – We all have an inner longing to cleanse, purify and rejuvenate; release it.

Freedom – I am free: free to think what I like; to do what I want; and to be myself.

Happiness – Life is our primary instructor – and her first lesson is to be happy.

1988

Persuasion – Never try to convince anyone of anything – only plant a seed or pluck a fruit according to the season.

Responsibility – You must choose and walk your own path; for only you can choose it and only you can walk it.

Living – Cherish the moments when, suddenly, your eyes blink open and you recapture the excitement of living.

Adventure – Life is an adventure and we, adventurers; every challenge we face and overcome is progress.

Life – Life is meant to instructive and entertaining at the same time; never forsake one for the other.

Experience – It is better to draw from the refreshing well of your own experience than from books or social norms.

1989

Teachers – The best guide, teacher, mentor or guru is someone who helps you to find and walk your own path.

Faith – We must have faith that life will – sooner or later – give us opportunities to make our wishes come true.

Awareness – Life seems less haphazard when we pay attention to what it is teaching us about ourselves.

Change – Change excites, challenges and spurs us on to greater heights; without change, we die inside.

Entertainment – We all have within us a secret performer or entertainer – and if we’re really lucky, it’s a clown.

Meaning – Seek out those experiences which give meaning to life; then you will not leave this life unfulfilled.

Syncronicity – It often seems that life leads us where we need to go and presents us only with what we’re ready for.

Hope – Take away a person’s hope and they die.

Responsibility – On life’s journey, no one else can tread your path – only you can.

Resilience – You have all the resources you need to seek out and to find your own way through life.

Companionship – Others may walk with you in life, but they cannot live your adventures.

Friendship – If you want to help someone, remind them that they have the means to the end they seek.

Learning – We guide ourselves; we teach ourselves; and we relearn what we have forgotten.

Confidence – Life is in the living – and who better to live your life than you?

Meaning – We are all driven by the same need – to seek, in our own way, and to find meaning in this crazy life.

Philosophy – Truthfully, we are all struggling along, doing our best, trying to make sense of this puzzle called life.

Materialism – Only when material possessions loose their power over us will we have gained our true freedom.

Fear – So many of our actions are motivated by fear, which keeps us from acting out of love.

Ambition – So long as we have a higher goal and are moving towards it – no matter how slowly – all is well.

Perspective – Rising above daily activities to see the greater whole helps puts our life into better perspective.

Wisdom – The path to wisdom lies in personally road-testing alternative solutions to life’s many challenges.

Imagination – To a line, a square is a miracle; to a square, a cube is an impossible dream. Imagination transcends limits.

1990

Ecoystems – Environmental management is oxymoronic, for if left alone, ecosystems will manage themselves.

Self-esteem – We need to love ourselves as we are with all our shortcomings and doubts and fears.

Love – As soon as we put conditions on loving ourselves or others, we will be disappointed every time.

Identity – Each of us is unique, special, and with a wonderful contribution to make in this world.

Love – To the extent that we are capable of loving ourselves, that much are we able to love others.

Challenge – Life can be seen as a series of positive challenges, so stir up the embers; cultivate some zest.

Action – When you know that something needs doing, take up the challenge and get it done.

Change – When you know that things could be changed for the better, make the changing your challenge.

Gentleness – Amidst life’s challenges, be loving and gentle with yourself; be understanding and forgiving.

Failure – Don’t nail yourself to a cross each time you fall short of the mark; just move on and try again.

Effort – By trying we begin to learn, by learning we begin to love and by loving we begin to live.

Challenge – To live a life full of challenge is the real challenge of life.

Creativity – The seed of creativity will lie dormant until it is planted in the fertile soil of imagination.

Business – Business exists to serve rather than to exploit society, to be an instrument for human expression.

Profit – Profit is a means to a greater end, to enhance the quality of life for ourselves and others.

Daring – Dare to be – be different, be loving, be successful, be true to yourself.

Success – Success can usually be traced back to one or two enthusiastic and committed people.

Reality – The reality we experience in many ways reflects our inner state of being.

Responsibility – One of the greatest lessons we can learn in life is to take responsibility.

1991

Dreams – Dare to dream, then passionately chase your dreams – take chances and trust the process of life.

Courage – Nurture the courage to really live your dreams – to be different and to make a difference.

Nature – Creation is perfect unto itself – nature needs no improvement, only appreciation and respect.

Choices – Being inspired to be the best you can be means making the important things important.

Change – Change is almost always a long term process, rather than a onetime event.

Mindfulness – If, each day, we try to mindful of the lessons which life has offered us progress will be sure.

Learning – Formal education relies on instruction, but learning must stimulate independent thinking.

Independence – By developing a mind of your own, you take responsibility for your self-development.

Identity – I have no home other than all creation and no ties other than to every living thing.

Limitations – Always question the wisdom of being bound and conditioned by social convention.

Meaning – We are all free – or perhaps even obliged – to create our own meaning in this life.

Responsibility – We can be free spirits – but no rights come without responsibilities in this world.

Consequences – There is not a single action in the universe which does not impact on all of its parts.

Family – Our families – whether we like them or not – give us all we need for our spirit to grow.

Love – Love is understanding – especially understanding people and events in context.

Truth – Love is understanding that we are all, in our own way, searching for meaning and truth.

Potential – Love is understanding that we are all reservoirs of vast and varied potential.

Prejudice – Hatred and prejudice are just other words for lovelessness.

Responsibility – Responsibility should not be a burden forced upon us, but something we choose gladly.

Choice – We can choose what to love and what to value – and by doing so, bring them into being.

1992

Questions – Life asks us many questions – our task is to respond with the most interesting answers.

Destiny – We are all on a highly personal journey of near infinite possibilities.

Adventure – New and exciting adventures lie before us – journeys into strange and unexplored places.

Nonconformity – Embrace your inner non-conformist – go crazy and break free now and again.

Joy – Sometimes we must laugh as a simple expression of the joy of being alive.

Business – Business organisations are social institutions and their prime function is to serve society.

Customers – A prime motive for being in business is to enhance the quality of life of customers.

Work – Business is a playground for creativity when it provides stimulating and challenging work.

Companies – Companies are part of the chain of living organisms – endowed with life, personality and evolution.

Stories – We all have a story to tell – a tale of our own unique journey and the world through our eyes.

Uncertainty – Knowing where you want to be, but not knowing how to get there (yet) is called LIFE.

Life – Where there is life there is always hope – and usually lots of hard work to do.

Leadership – The hope for our future lies with emerging leaders with a strong sense of ethics and values.

Beauty – We must always fight for the right of beauty and imagination to prosper in the same world.

Humanity – We must never lose our belief in the fundamental goodness and promise of humanity.

Freedom – Sanction your own freedom to love, enjoy, adventure and play – to tread and skip and fly lightly.

1993

Economy – We need is an economy that incentivizes our nobler qualities rather than our inherent selfishness.

Synergy – Understanding the holistic nature of nature helps us to understand synergy in organisations.

Business – It is perfectly possible for business to be a light in the darkness of society’s consciousness.

Values – There comes a time when we are ready to turn from our shadow self and embrace our higher self.

Service – Business’s true quest is a noble one: to serve the needs and aspirations of humanity.

Holism – If we only see the world as a collection of unconnected parts, something dies in the dissection.

Synchronicity – Synchronistic events hint at a meaningful pattern behind life’s chaos. Cherish them.

Success – Always imagine great things for your life – and never doubt that success can one day be yours.

Ideals – Figuring out what ideal you want to serve is the first step in in making your dream a reality.

1994

Beginnings – Always be on the lookout for an opportunity to celebrate the new; to affirm fresh beginnings.

Questioning – Sometimes, we need to question the rules of the game, or even invent a new game entirely.

Achievement – We must differentiate between genuine human accomplishments and monuments to ego.

Courage – Few among us are courageous or conscious enough to challenge the prevailing wisdom of the day.

Purpose – Feel the force of purpose drawing you that place where you boldly follow your heart’s knowing.

Risk – Try stepping off the train of convention and security, bound by the tracks of social acceptance.

Economics – Imagine an economic system centred on people as integrated physical, mental and spiritual beings.

Motivation – The gap between where you are and where you wish to be is what sparks a fire in your heart.

Effort – Be like a duck, calm and poised to the outside world, but paddling steadily beneath the surface.

Heroes – As we travel through the vast mythscape of life, we each tread our own hero’s journey.

Polestar – Be guided by important questions: What enlivens you? What sets you free? What is your heart’s path?

1995

Harmony – Harmonics – the concept and practice of harmony – is a key to the secrets of the universe.

Generosity – So often it is that those with so little who give so much and with such personal dignity.

Sustainability – We are witnessing a global mind shift on sustainability – the fringe is becoming mainstream.

Challenge – Our greatest challenge – that of making sustainable living a reality – still lies ahead.

Sacrifice – The sacrifices of so many for the selfish indulgences of so few should never be forgotten.

Transformation – The great dance of societal transformation is just beginning to build momentum.

Ideas – There are times, usually late at night, when an idea grabs me and takes me soaring.

Identity – Each of us – whether famous or not – are forever teetering on the edge of insignificance.

Legacy – Never stop trying to do something significant; something which will leave a legacy in this world.

1996

Dynamism – While society has a set of expectations, remember that life is more dynamic than any rigid rules.

Love – Life tarries not. People grow to love, but sometimes people also grow apart.

Values – Life’s challenges require us to actively respond without losing our rootedness in values.

Letting Go – It does us good, now and again, to cast our burdens upon the waves and let them wash away.

Pilgrims – We are all on a pilgrimage, losing the way & re-finding our path across the seasons & cycles of life.

Contribution – Try to contribute in some small way to the solutions rather than just complain about the problems.

Perspective – Always remember that the lens of personal perspective colours the world each of us sees.

Potential – Recalling the person we used to be reminds us that there is another person we can still become.

1997

Evolution – Our greatest power is embracing our creative, dynamic freedom to evolve.

Interconnectedness – Our separate lives are an illusion which masks the continuity and interconnectedness of all life

Achievement – Believing that you (or others) can achieve great things is the first step in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Innovation – We need to be both islands of creative innovation and bridges from the old mainland.

Change – For change to succeed, it needs both mountain-top vision and valley-floor grassroots activism.

Optimism – Sometimes, we focus too much on the litter in the pond, rather than the beauty of the pond itself.

Miracles – Never stop looking out for the miracles in the mundane; they are all around us.

Renewal – For every crucification we endure, there is the hope of a resurrection to follow.

Surprise – Life is full – and the best kind of full is when life is full of surprises.

1998

Change – How thin is the veil between our familiar routine existence and an exotically different experience.

Nature – When we feel ourselves shrinking against the landscape, our spirit is swelling inside.

To be continued …

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Book Quotations – From “Beyond Reasonable Greed”

Beyond Reasonable Greed

Book Title: Beyond Reasonable Greed: Why Sustainable Business is a Much Better Idea!

Authors: Wayne Visser and Clem Sunter

Publication details: Tafelberg Human & Rousseau, 2002

For more information: See the Book Profile

Quotations

  1. Magic is the revelation that results from a profound change in perception or understanding

  2. Bad magic has moved many companies into a state that is beyond reasonable greed

  3. The board of directors have become a group privileged people driven by unreasonable greed & feathering their own nests

  4. Corporate governance is sometimes not worth the (shredded) paper it is written on

  5. If the people implementing corporate governance do not have their hearts in the right place, it becomes a charade

  6. We must constantly shapeshift, liberating ourselves from the old form that defined and constrained us in the past

  7. Shapeshifting means morphing into a completely new being, with new characteristics & potential for the future

  8. Sustainability is a new way of perceiving business – its purpose, its methods & its impacts

  9. For companies that can adapt & respond to sustainability, there are new markets to capture & profits to be made

  10. For companies that are ill-prepared, sustainability is going to become a financial burden, even a threat to survival

  11. In order to make real progress towards sustainability, companies must first admit that we face a serious global crisis

  12. The fact of the matter is that our lifestyles, our products & our business processes are unsustainable

  13. We need companies that have the foresight & courage to be part of the solution, rather than remain the problem

  14. Being in business today is a lot like falling down a rabbit hole to Wonderland – a chaotic & confusing place to be

  15. The demigod once known as the shareholder has mutated into the multiheaded beast called the stakeholder

  16. Introspective accounting has been turned inside-out & become accountability to the big wide world out there

  17. Suddenly, the formerly mute public citizen has an amplified voice through technology-enabled networking

  18. Today, the bark of a small NGO watchdog can echo and resonate around the world

  19. Amidst whirlwind changes, many companies operate on high alert, in a permanent state of emergency response

  20. Our corporate culture is saturated with military jargon, with strategies, tactics, competition, targeting & launching

  21. Businesses struggle to distinguish between short-term storms and the long-term trend of a climate that’s changing

  22. When business fails to distinguish the long-term effect of gradual changes, it displays classic boiled frog syndrome

  23. There are many threats that could boil the corporate toads, from creeping income inequality to climate change

  24. Most companies are already in hot water – perhaps mistaking the cooking pot for a jacuzzi?

  25. The rules of the game are changing in radical ways that will make cherished business thinking & practices obselete

  26. The best chance for companies to survive change is to develop a better understanding of how evolution itself works

  27. Remember that evolution also happens in great leaps of sudden transformation, so-called discontinuities

  28. Mathematicians know well that dynamic systems often go non-linear after a specific tipping point is reached

  29. Change is often like an epidemic – it starts slowly, but when it reaches the steep part of the S-curve, watch out!

  30. In change, the tipping point is always a relatively small number, substantially less than the expected 50 percent

  31. The universe & society as a rational, mechanical construct is giving way to a new, creative, holistic understanding

  32. Sustainability stands on the brink of transforming the underlying business model of the past few hundred years

  33. Holism is a fundamental tendency in nature & society to form wholes of every-greater synergy

  34. The relationship between things – be they objects, people or systems – is as important as the things themselves

  35. The greatest creativity – in nature, huamns, organisations & society – happens when different fields overlap

  36. Some strategies of global business are like selfish cancer cells taking over – and ultimately killing – their host body

  37. The current model driving business has outlived its usefulness

  38. The symbols of success so beloved by CEOs, the financial media & market analysts alike are beginning to look empty

  39. Business already faces clear and present dangers in the economic, social and environmental spheres

  40. No society can function fairly or effectively if every individual is blindly pursuing his or her self-interest

  41. Each time the world changes, humanity is forced to let go of some of its most cherished beliefs

  42. As a global society, we desperately need to create a new mythology to guide & inspire our collective psyche

  43. We are living through a time of profound change & no more so than in the business arena

  44. The old ways of the past are no longer appropriate for a postindustrial, sustainability-driven society

  45. Sustainability is not only a new scientific concept, it is an entirely new busienss philosophy based on a new mythology

  46. Sustainability requires that business thinks differently about its role in society and how it goes about what it does

  47. For business to survive & thrive in an age of sustainability, it must rethink its identity, its underlying nature

  48. At the moment, the majority of businesses embody the characteristics of a lion – an impressive predator

  49. The future calls for different strengths in business, such as those of the mighty elephant – a wise leader

  50. Faced with the changes & challenges ahead, the skill of shapeshifting is going to be indispensable to companies

  51. The world is changing so fast that only a company with the adaptability and resourcefulness of a fox will survive

  52. Sustainability only works when it is a passionately embraced philosophy that infuses every business level and action

  53. There is nothing small about multinationals – the critical thing is what they do with their immense size and power

  54. As military jargon crept into the boardroom – strategy, tactics, targeting – so did the persona of the predator

  55. Companies regularly shrug off their social & environmental impacts in the pursuit of economic growth & profits

  56. Business has become used to viewing its economic contribution as a justifiable end in its own right

  57. Companies, and their government regulators, seem unable or unwilling to say no to harmful economic growth

  58. The biggest myths of our time – which pervade business – are that growth is always good and bigger is always better

  59. In contrast to trickle-down economics, in most companies, the benefits always seem to trickle upwards

  60. Prevailing economic incentives make it almost impossible to not to choose profits over people & the planet

  61. Nature’s underlying characteristic is one of interdependent relationships & symbiotic co-operation

  62. Competition in nature only takes place within a broader context of co-operation

  63. In a sustainability era, a company’s success will depend on cultivating multi-stakeholder, win-win relationships

  64. Cowboy companies believe there are no restrictions on growth, resource consumption or waste generation

  65. The world has become a smaller, fuller place, in which the corporate cowboy lifestyle is no longer appropriate

  66. Are we ready to accept that the common good is not being served by today’s predatory business model?

  67. For companies that wish to endure – to be literally sustainable – adaptation is the key

  68. Most companies have a very poor radar system for detecting & responding to threats that build slowly over time

  69. Forget quarterly; companies are going to need to learn what it means to survive epochs & symbolic ice ages

  70. Sustainable companies survive & thrive by their capacity to identify, nurture & sustain cooperative relationships

  71. Like Dumbo, sustainable companies need to believe they can fly against the odds & in the face of public perception

  72. In business, we are short-sighted slaves to this year’s calendar, next quarter’s performance & this week’s diary

  73. Business & economic growth will always be dumb – rather than smart – until it mimics the intelligence of ecosystems

  74. Sustainability extends accountability to stakeholders; so sustainable companies choose to engage constructively

  75. Unsustainable companies waste time, energy & money trying to manipulate or fight their stakeholders

  76. Sustainability raises the bar of legislation; so sustainable companies proactively anticipate the rising tide

  77. Unsustainable companies will increasingly incur fines, penalties & clean-up costs & be targeted for litigation

  78. As the rules of trade shift, sustainable companies will increasingly refuse to trade with predatory companies

  79. In the future, access to finance by unsustainable companies will become more difficult and expensive

  80. Avoiding the costs of social and environmental impacts will make sustainable companies more profitable in future

  81. The switch to a sustainable economy is creating new market opportunities that smart companies are investing in

  82. Unsustainable companies will increasingly fail the corporate governance acid test applied by investors

  83. Government policies must make companies reap the full cost of the social & environmental impacts they sow

  84. Unsustainable companies must expect to suffer consumer boycotts, civil lawsuits & disruptive NGO activism

  85. In the high stakes game of public reputation, sustainable companies are more likely to attract loyal support

  86. Only when sustainability is an investment criteria will sustainable companies will reap fair financial rewards

  87. Values are exactly what they say they are – a reflection of the things we value

  88. Companies’ values are made visible by their actions, not their words or spin doctor’s marketing material

  89. Profit maximisation is often anti-competitive, driving companies towards market domination & monopolistic control

  90. Companies have adopted the predator persona so completely that hunting & killing in the market feels natural

  91. Businesses are not genetically programmed to be predators & neither are the people that work for them

  92. Why do we teach our kids to be caring at home & then teach our executives to be ruthless in the workplace?

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Top 10 web trends shaping the future of sustainable business

Top 10 web trends shaping the future of sustainable business

Article by Wayne Visser

Written for The Guardian.

Web 2.0 is not just about sharing photos on Facebook. It is a new mindset focused on collective intelligence and co-creation.

Web 2.0, or the ability to share and manipulate information online through user collaboration, has had a disruptive effect on business. Customers now expect to participate in the corporate world, and place a greater value on transparency in return.

This new environment, termed “wikinomics” by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams, is based on four principles: openness, peering, sharing and acting globally. Here are the top 10 ways that web 2.0 technologies and digital cultures will impact on business, driving them towards more sustainable behaviour during the next decade.

1. Net value footprinting

Business has evolved over the past two decades from being highly opaque to gradually embracing more transparent practices. This has been a result of regulation, such as the Toxic Release Inventory in the US, which requires thousands of American companies to report their use of more than 650 toxic chemicals, and voluntary efforts including the Global Reporting Initiative’s sustainability guidelines.

But in a web 2.0 world, companies are expected to measure and disclose their impact across the entire lifecycle of their products. This process of quantifying business’s economic, social and environmental costs to society is sometimes called full-cost accounting. I call it “net value footprinting”. Good examples of this approach include Puma’s environmental profit and loss statement and the research carried out by Global Footprint Network.

2. Forensic impact analysis

While progressive companies are steadily improving their transparency, there will also be millions of irresponsible companies trying to fly under the radar of regulation and public scrutiny, running polluting operations that expolot cheap labour and abuse human rights.

These rogue businesses can now be caught and exposed through the emerging practice of forensic impact analysis. This will happen through a combination of traceability technology (which finds the electronic footprints left by all businesses in the supply chain), forensic substance analysis (which can identify the source of fibres, chemicals and other product components) and vigilant activists and consumers who capture malpractices using photographs, videos and audio recordings leaked via social media.

This approach has been pioneered in the food industry, where reputable businesses use barcodes to monitor and qualify every stage of their production process. Tracking techniques were also used to expose Trafigura’s dumping of toxic waste along the Ivory Coast.

3. Crowdsourcing

Companies from the pre-digital age still believe that focus groups, public meetings, stakeholder panels and the occasional online or instore survey are adequate for taking the pulse of their customers and investors. At the same time, they are often distrustful of ideas suggested outside their organisations.

By contrast, web 2.0 savvy companies realise that the world has moved into an era of crowdsourcing. Future businesses will use filtered, or expert, crowds to monitor their reputation, get feedback on sustainable innovations and ask for help in solving difficult dilemmas. For example, Sony’s Open Planet Ideas and FutureScapes campaigns aimed to generate new sustainable technology ideas.

4. Disruptive partnerships

Companies have had a decade to get used to the idea of cross-sector partnerships, which have been heavily promoted through the United Nations and given a boost through inclusion in the Millennium Development Goals. But now business is expected to get into more challenging partnerships that disrupt the status quo. One example is Rio Tinto working with the World Conservation Union to reduce the impact on biodiversity.

These relationships also play out online. Greenpeace used social media very effectively to campaign against Nestle’s Kit Kat brand, after finding an Indonesian supplier was clearing tropical rainforest to grow palm oil. A year later the campaign group praised Nestle for its no deforestation commitment through its challenging partnership with TFT, a sustainable forestry NGO.

5. Open sourcing

One of the biggest changes in the society over the past 10 years has been the explosion of social media. This revolution goes beyond sharing our holiday photos on Facebook or micro-blogging the minutiae of our lives on Twitter. The more fundamental innovation is a shift in thinking and practice towards open sourcing, which at its heart is about the idea of co-creation.

This has influenced good business practices. After a decade under siege – with big pharma being accused of overpricing patented brands and blocking access to cheaper, generic and often life-saving drugs – GlaxoSmithKline committed to put chemical processes that it has intellectual property rights over that are relevant to finding drugs for neglected diseases into a patent pool so they can be explored by other researchers. Similarly, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk decided last year to open up all its patents “for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.”

6. Wiki-ratings

A common feature of web 2.0 design is that it allows users to express an opinion on content, from the ubiquitous “like” button on Facebook to the fresh-red versus rotten-green tomato movie rating system on rottentomatoes.com. When it comes to business, wiki-based platforms allow the public to rate and comment in detail on the economic, governance, social and environmental performance of companies. One such platform is Wikirate, where I serve on the advisory board, which allows for real-time updating. Any ethical infringement – or a positive sustainability innovation – will be reflected almost immediately in the company’s rating. Other pioneering examples in the ratings space are GoodGuide, WeGreen, and Project Label.

7. Prototyping

In a web 2.0 world prototypes are launched early, as imperfect versions used solicit rapid user feedback in a process known as”beta-testing”. One way to bring about such rapid, open-source prototyping is through competitions.

The X-Prize describes itself as “bringing about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity” by offering multi-million dollar prizes in return for innovative ideas to tackle global problems. Another example is Virgin’s $25 million Earth Challenge to help design a “commercially viable design which results in the net removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases so as to contribute materially to the stability of the earth’s climate system”.

8. Smart mobbing

Web 2.0 technologies have spawned a new type of protest activity called smart mobbing. This means using real-time media and sharing platforms, such as text messages and social media status updates, to rapidly organise a crowd.

Viral text messaging in the Philippines helped to oust former President Joseph Estrada in 2001 and the use of Twitter proved pivotal during the Arab spring uprisings in 2011. Smart mobs can also co-ordinate virtual activity, such as when the hacktivist group Anonymous encouraged its followers to launch cyber attacks against Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and other companies opposing Wikileaks in 2011.

Mission 4636, meanwhile, created a text-mapping emergency communications system after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. In future, companies and governments will need to anticipate and respond to activist smart mobs as well as seed their own.

9. App farming

The war of the computing giants has turned into the battle of the apps, spawning a new generation of software applications focused on social and environmental solutions. Google Play lists more than 400 sustainability-related apps. The most popular is BlaBlaCar, which connects drivers with empty seats with people looking for a ride, allowing users to search the biggest European car-sharing community.

Common tools in this genre include ethical shopping guides, carbon footprint calculators and educational games. Businesses of the future will be judged on whether they can seed and grow farms of apps that provide solutions to the world’s most serious challenges.

10. Plug and play

Today’s smart technology detects its operating environment, installs whatever software is needed and begins operating without any action by the user. Rather than having to manually unplug or switch off household electrical devices to save energy, plug-and-play technology for the home automatically detects all idle devices and disables them remotely. Similar approaches apply to optimal energy-efficient heating and cooling of buildings, and low-carbon driving, which automatically chooses acceleration and cruise speeds that reduce emissions.

In future automatic product filters will match our preferences for fairtrade, organic, beauty without cruelty, or other ethical products. When shopping online, we will only see those items that match our preferences. In store, we will be alerted to products that meet our standards by automatically scanning barcodes through mobile devices.

The message is clear for business. Web 2.0 is not just about everybody being continuously online. Rather, it is a new business mindset that uses collective intelligence and co-creation to find solutions to our global challenges, and uses technology to achieve speed and scale in spreading innovation to the parts of the world with the most urgent unmet needs.

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Related websites

[button size=”small” color=”blue” new_window=”false” link=”http://www.waynevisser.com/books/the-quest-for-sustainable-business”]Link[/button] The Quest for Sustainable Business (book)

[button size=”small” color=”blue” new_window=”false” link=”http://www.kaleidoscopefutures.com”]Link[/button] Kaleidoscope Futures (website)

[button size=”small” color=”blue” new_window=”false” link=”http://www.csrinternational.org”]Link[/button] CSR International (website)

Cite this article

Visser, W. (2015) Top 10 web trends shaping the future of sustainable business. The Guardian, 22 January 2015.

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