business activism by jo hunter
Post on 06-May-2015
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Using a business as a catalyst for change
Business Activism
What is activism?
• Any effort to create change.
2
"Be the change you wish to see
in the world."
~ Gandhi
My journey started when I finished work to
have my son.
• Left full-time role as marketing manager.
• Background in management consulting.
• Was starting from a zero-income base.
• Had found aspects of the corporate world were misaligned with my
values.
3
Human instinct
Shareholder capitalism
Shared value capitalism
Sustainable capitalism
LEVEL OF
EQUALITY
UNIT OF
VALUE
MORAL INTENTIONS
& OUTCOMES
MARKET
DYNAMICS
DIMENSION
OF CSR
VALUE
CREATION
FOCUS
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ASPIRATIONS
ENVIRON
IMPACT
Survive
and
thrive
Why misaligned?
Human instinct
Shareholder capitalism
Shared value capitalism
Sustainable capitalism
LEVEL OF
EQUALITY
UNIT OF
VALUE
MORAL INTENTIONS
& OUTCOMES
MARKET
DYNAMICS
DIMENSION
OF CSR
VALUE
CREATION
FOCUS
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ASPIRATIONS
ENVIRON
IMPACT
Survive
and
thrive
Self-interest
(good for
me)
Competition
(survival of
the fittest)
Pro
fit
befo
re
pla
net S
ocia
l
inequality
Individual
(egocentric)
Grow
th
economy (no
decoupling)
Econ
omic and
lega
l
Emph
asis on
human
-
mad
e
capita
l
Professionalism
= inauthentic
Professionalism under shareholder
capitalism feels a bit like this:
6
Conundrum: how would I realign my values
with my work?
7
“There is no such thing as an
environmentalist. Just find the
thing that you are passionate
about, do it to the best of your
ability, and in the process make
positive change.”
~ David Suzuki
8
Authentic purpose must come from the
heart
9
I loved strategy…
• Defining purpose, vision, values.
• Identifying highest priority strategic goals and setting out broadly
how these will be achieved.
10
Purpose
VisionSituation Analysis
Issues
(Gap)Strategies
Implementation
• Implementation of sustainability initiatives:– Carbon footprint
reduction
– Cradle to cradle design
– Closed loop production
– Etc
The alignment:
• “Strategic planning to help organisations improve their
performance and increase their contribution to our world.”
• “Lead a new business movement whereby more and more
organisations view success in terms of their total
contribution to our world, causing significant growth in social
and environmental capital.”
11
Purpose
Vision
Values
Human instinct
Shareholder capitalism
Shared value capitalism
Sustainable capitalism
LEVEL OF
EQUALITY
UNIT OF
VALUE
MORAL INTENTIONS
& OUTCOMES
MARKET
DYNAMICS
DIMENSION
OF CSR
VALUE
CREATION
FOCUS
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ASPIRATIONS
ENVIRON
IMPACT
Survive
and
thrive
Self-interest
(good for me)
Reciprocity
(good for
society)
Cooperation
(creating
shared
value)
Competition
(survival of
the fittest)
Harm
min
imis
ati
on
Pro
fit
befo
re
pla
net
Socia
l equality
Socia
l
inequality
Individual
(egocentric)
Community
(anthropocentric)
Grow
th economy
(relative decoupling)
Grow
th
economy (no
decoupling)
Econ
omic and
lega
l
Ethica
l
Emph
asis on
human
-
mad
e an
d
social
capita
l
Emph
asis on
human
-mad
e
capita
l
Human instinct
Shareholder capitalism
Shared value capitalism
Sustainable capitalism
LEVEL OF
EQUALITY
UNIT OF
VALUE
MORAL INTENTIONS
& OUTCOMES
MARKET
DYNAMICS
DIMENSION
OF CSR
VALUE
CREATION
FOCUS
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ASPIRATIONS
ENVIRON
IMPACT
Survive
and
thrive
Self-interest
(good for me)
Reciprocity
(good for
society)
Altruism
(good for the planet)
Symbiosis (harmony between
people, planet and profit)
Cooperation
(creating
shared value)
Competition
(survival of
the fittest)
Envir
onm
enta
l
regenera
tion
Harm
min
imis
ati
on
Pro
fit
befo
re
pla
net
Ecolo
gic
al
justic
e
Socia
l equality
Socia
l
inequality
Individual
(egocentric)
Community
(anthropocentric)
Biosphere
(ecocentric)
Low/no grow
th
economy: “stasis”
(relative decoupling)
Grow
th economy
(relative decoupling)
Grow
th
economy (no
decoupling)
Econ
omic and
lega
l
Ethica
l
Phila
nthr
opic
Balanc
e be
twee
n
human
-mad
e, soc
ial a
nd
natu
ral c
apital
Emph
asis on
human
-mad
e
and so
cial
capita
l
Emph
asis on
human
-mad
e
capita
l
Appealing to
women
Enough
14
What
I could
charg
e
Enough
25%Surplus for altruistic
reinvestment (can
experiment)
Altruism and authentic purpose as a
foundation for strategy
• New Scientist: Last year, researchers compared 180 companies and found that the
more environmentally friendly businesses were more profitable in the long run than
their less-sustainable competitors.
• Adam Grant, the youngest tenured professor at Wharton is author of the best-
selling Give and Take. Grant believes that the success of our careers is due to our
generosity with our time and knowledge.
• My experience confirms the strategy works. Why? Authenticity of purpose leads to
better decision making.
• Investment in the common good appears to have both direct and indirect benefits.
15
If an organisation has a well-defined purpose, targeted
at the common good, then by investing altruistically in
its areas of interest, the organisation will
inadvertently make itself stronger. For example, if a
business that produces consumer goods invests
altruistically (i.e. with no expectation for return) in
reducing its impact on the environment to zero, by
developing, say closed-loop production methods,
eventually it will have a far more resilient and
attractive business, even though that may not have
been the original goal.
ommon
Vision: a bright future where the natural world and the human spirit are perpetually enriched by the activities of business
and society.
Kommon campaigns and goals
• “Women rising”: promote the role of women in the new economy.
• Giving a voice to sustainability through art.
• Combatting the influence of the “for profit” media.
• Promotion of investment in the common good by business and
individuals.
– To serve as a case study for my consulting business.
17
18
19
20
Natalie Jeremijenko
Kommon Sense – book gifting to CEOs
21
Mobile Accessories
• Leading mobile phone accessories distributor,
• Donate a percentage of their margin to Carbon Neutral for every private branded product they sell.
• Over 19,000 trees planted and recognised as a Gold Supporter.
• Now investigating biodegradable materials and packaging.
Yacht Club
• Purpose:
– Give our members access to a “river-side lifestyle” and the social
benefits of boating.
• Vision:
– Bringing life to the river
RTRFM
24
Purpose: Giving voice to Perth’s cultural
communities by promoting local music, arts and
current affairs and encouraging progressive
social change.
BenchAD
• “In all that we do we
look to innovate and
re-use.”
• Local innovator in
advertising-funded
street furniture.
• Committed to sustainability - both environmental and social -
and reflect this in the design of their street furniture and
promotion of the positive in the community.
• Recycle advertising posters, work to reduce their carbon
footprint through eWood bus shelters and street furniture (made
from recycled print cartridges).
• In the process of developing Australia’s most sustainable bus
shelter.
• Donates thousands of dollars worth of media space annually to
support not-for-profit organisations, charities and sporting clubs
in WA.
Holstee
26
Interface Global
• Manufactures carpets,
textiles, chemicals,
architectural products and
access flooring systems.
• Mission Zero® to achieve
zero negative impact on the
environment by 2020.
• Because it is “the right thing to do”.
• Eliminate waste, closed-loop production, biomimicry, renewable
energy.
• $400m in cost savings.
27
How will these ideas take hold? Emergence.
28
• The world changes as networks of relationships form among
individuals with a common purpose and vision of what's possible.
• Separate, local efforts connect with each other as networks.
• These strengthen as communities of practice.
• Suddenly and surprisingly a system of influence emerges at a
higher scale, possessing qualities and capacities that were
unknown in the individuals.
• They are properties of the system, not the individual, but once
there, individuals possess them.
How will you find your authentic purpose?
29
Once you have your purpose, how
will you:
• Form networks with individuals
with a common cause and
vision?
• Strengthen these into
communities of practice?
• Create system of influence?
Where I was versus where I am now
Competitive
Damaging to the
environmentMeaningless
Not living my
human values
Inauthentic
Disempowered
Secretive
Soulless
“More”
growth /profit
Unfulfilled
Collaborative
Environmentally
regenerative Meaningful
Aligned with my
human values
Authentic
Empowered
Transparent
Soulful /
“heart”
Enough
Fulfilled
Emergent characteristics of the new
paradigm
31
Generous
connection
Sustainability
Love
Altruism
Vulnerability
Freedom
Spirituality
Truthfulness
Intuition
Women
rising
Openness towards…
And it’s one of the easiest, lowest-risk things I’ve ever done
Authenticity: by no means am I getting
things perfectly right
• By traditional or contemporary standards, I fail all the time.
• I’m just very good at forgiving myself.
• And I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.
32
"Whether humanity will consciously follow the law of love,
I do not know.
But that need not disturb me.
The law will work just as the law of gravitation works
whether we accept it or not."
~ Gandhi
33
Thank you.
34
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